Koobideh kabob are the juiciest and amazingly flavorful minced meat kebabs ever! Using minimal ingredients, these are the epitome of perfection when it comes to grilling ground meat. Check out the step-by-step instructions and detailed tips to help you make your perfect Koobideh kebabs. Here in America, there are a few super hot button topics: water shortages, the Lakers, and I’d add in kebabs. Okay, maybe it’s only amongst food people who love Persian food but where to get the best Persian food and, specifically, kebabs quickly gets heated. Perhaps other places do other Persian dishes better but the beef kebab (aka kebab barg) and Darya is so good that I talked them into showing me how they make it. The result is a lot of flavor for minimal work as it really involves nothing more than blending the marinade, letting it marinate as long as you can handle before your hunger gets the best of you, and then cooking — or, more aptly, searing it — on the grill. Though it’s often served over long-grain rice, I prefer the more mobile version where it’s wrapped up in warm lavosh, tossed with grilled tomatoes, onions, and greens and then topped with a dollop of tangy yogurt.

GRILLED KOOBIDE (MINCED MEAT KEBAB)

Author: Mehdi

INGREDIENTS

SCALE

2 pinches saffron threads
2 1/2 pounds New York Strip Steaks or Top Sirloin Steaks
1 medium white onion
finely chopped
6 medium garlic cloves
smashed
Juice from 1 Lime
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper
8 (12-inch) metal or wooden skewers
if wooden, soak in water for 15 minutes
12 small Roma tomatoes
extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Warmed whole wheat lavash or tortillas
Handful baby spinach or baby tatsoi
optional
1 medium yellow onion
thinly sliced, optional
1 Lime
cut into sixths for serving, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

Make The Kebab Marinade: Place saffron in a few tablespoons of hot water and let steep while you trim the meat. Trim any excess fat from the steaks, then cut into 1-inch cubes, and place in a large nonreactive bowl. Place the white onion, garlic, lime juice, salt, pepper, and saffron and saffron liquid, in a food processor and process until smooth.

Marinate The Beef: Pour mixture over meat, toss to coat, cover and marinate 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 12 hours in the refrigerator.

Prepare A Grill: When ready to cook, heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium (about 350°F) and rub the grill with a towel dipped in vegetable oil. Remove the meat from the marinade and let any excess marinade drip off.

Assemble The Skewers: Thread meat on skewers, leaving at least 1/2-inch space between each piece of meat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl and the tomatoes, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat thoroughly.

Grill The Kebabs: Place meat and tomatoes on grill. Cook meat, turning once, until charred and medium-rare, about 7 to 10 minutes. Cook tomatoes, turning rarely, until blistered and soft, about 10 minutes.

Serve: Remove meat and tomatoes from skewers. Stir together the cilantro and yogurt until well mixed. Assemble a sandwich as desired with the meat, tomatoes, lavash, yogurt, thinly sliced onions, and greens. Squeeze some lime over the top and serve.