Inspired by Serene Sayles who gave me this recipe years ago in London, she would grill the kafta in the oven. Here in Syracuse we have a wonderful restaurant called Byblos, one of their specialties is their delicious kafta. I peeked in Chef Kamal Al-Faqih’s cook book and liking his seasonings, served it this evening. I made it with beef but you can substitute lamb for the beef. We barbequed our meat on a charcoal grill. I made the traditional finger shapes but also made some hamburger patty shapes, you can do them either way. Some people shape the meat on a skewer, we did not do this. I really like the fact that you can make these the same day ahead, keep covered in the fridge until grilling, eat wrapped up in pita bread.
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef (80%)
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley (use green leaves and tender stems)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
shake of ground cloves
shake of ground nutmeg
Directions
Place all the
ingredients in a
 |
| Shown here as rather pudgy finger shapes, alongside some patties. |
well together with
your hands. Make
sure the onions and
parsley are thoroughly
mixed with the meat,
I added a touch more
balsamic vinegar as
the meat mixture felt
a bit dry. Form the
meat into fat finger
shapes, approximately
six inches long, cover
with plastic wrap and
refrigerate. Grill the
same day. They take
about 3 minutes to
grill rolling from side to side. Make sure the meat is cooked through but still moist, place in a silver foil pan and cover with silver foil and set aside to allow the kafta to steam for a further 3 - 5 minutes.
