I have only appreciated lamb as meat option for about five years. Prior to that, I had reservations. “Oh, lambs are so cuddly. Oh, my mother has a stuffed lamb collection in the house. Oh, I have seen them on the farm since I was a kid.”

Oh no. No longer. I am a huge fan. Lamb is delicious in almost every form I have tried it. Here’s a brief list of my faves:

Gyros (To me, the best way!), Shank, Chops, Skewered

I have toured all over this great nation seeking out the very best lamb recipes. In Arizona, I love My Big Fat Greek Restaurant’s Gyros. They bring tears to my eyes and I crave them at strange hours of the day (I have woken up at 2 AM craving gyros on more than one occasion!) I also love the lamb chops at Heirloom and the lamb-pops at Christopher’s.

For all of my adventurous foodie travels, I have never cooked lamb at home. I thought, “I will leave lamb to the experts. I don’t want to dry it out, screw it up blah, blah.” You get the point.

I have conquered my fear ladies and gentleman. With one simple recipe, I have proven that lamb is affordable, accessible and delicious. In my own kitchen!

In my spare time, I am moderately obsessed with reading cookbooks and cooking magazines. It’s a food porn sickness. But, it has made me a better chef ten fold! I was reading Rachael Ray’s mag (June/July 2009 which is filled w/ great recipes this month) last weekend in the Jacuzzi (my preferred place to read cookbooks) and I found this recipe and got very excited!  I headed out to Albertson’s and was very pleased to see they carry lamb in various forms. I picked up 1 lb of ground lamb for about $8. Well worth it!

 

 

Middle Eastern Sliders

            4 pita breads

            1-1/2 pounds ground beef (I used lamb because I didn’t even notice it was beef on the recipe!)

            1 teaspoon ground cumin

            Salt and pepper

            1 romaine heart, thinly sliced crosswise

            1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

            1/2 cup dill pickle slices

            1 tablespoon estra-virgin olive oil

            1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving

             3/4 cup store-bought hummus

Preheat a grill to medium-high. (I did this all on the stove top and warmed the pitas in the broiler)

Stack the pitas and wrap in heavy-duty foil; place on the grill and cover to warm.

In a large bowl, combine the beef with the cumin, 3/4 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper; shape into twelve 1/3-inch-thick patties.

In another large bowl, combine the romaine, tomatoes and pickles; toss with the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

 

Remove the pitas from the grill. Transfer the beef patties to the grill, cover and grill for 2 minutes on each side for medium.

 

 

Spread each pita with some of the hummus, then top with some of the salad and 3 patties. Serve with the lemon wedges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only 2 changes I made were: substitute lamb for beef and I added tzatziki sauce (yogurt, lemon juice, cucumber, garlic, dill, s & p) to the pitas when they were filled.

After taking his first bite, my husband made a noise akin to a “squeal” and said, “Wow these are amazing.” I thanked Rachael for YET AGAIN proving her recipes are simple, delicious and easy to make at home.

So foodies, try this at home! It will be well worth it!