Is Yiros. Is Good!

I love a hamburger, I love a doner kebab. But nothing beats a yiros. And the fact that it’s so easy to make at home says it all. Simple ingredients, simply combined.

Pita bread is softer than lebanese bread, and much softer than lavash. This makes it perfect for warming on the grill without becoming brittle.

When ordering the lamb, I ask my butcher to debone and butterfly the leg. If done well, you get a single piece of lamb, one side with a layer of fat, one side lean, and of fairly even thickness. If that’s not what you get, find another butcher (or ask more explicitly next time, as I’ve often found that butchers and other artisans like being asked to show off their skills, rather than all day serving up standard cuts). Ask for the bones too, and place in your stock bag in your freezer.

But it's not so difficult, and kind of fun, to do it yourself, so I've included a youtube how-to video at the bottom of this post.

For a single meal for me and my boys (say 2 or 3 yiros each) this leaves enough tasty lamb for a couple lunches and another meal at least.

Recipe: Yiros

Ingredients

Lamb

• 1 leg of lamb, boned and butterflied
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lemons, juiced

Yogurt sauce

• 1 cup Greek style yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Other accompaniments

• 3 tomatoes
• .5 iceberg lettuce
• 2 onions

Method

Lamb

Combine oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic and oregano.

Place lamb in a baking dish or similar, and rub marinade over the surface of the lamb, making sure the surface is well covered. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for 2 hours at least.

Yogurt sauce

The yogurt sauce can be done and kept overnight too, as the flavours develop over time.

Greek style yogurt is creamy and smooth. If using regular yogurt, it’s best to hang it overnight in cheese cloth. Even Greek yogurt can be strained in this way for an hour our two, which will give it more room to accommodate the lemon juice and retain its creamy consistency.

Crush garlic, and stir through yogurt with cumin.

Accompaniments

Finely slice tomatoes and lettuce Finely slice onions and soak in lemon juice

Pita bread

Heat your bbq plate (or frying pan) to medium heat. Brush pita bread with olive oil. Place oiled side onto cooking surface. When the underside is browned and ready, quickly bush the upside and flip. Do this one, two or three at a time depending on how big the cooking surface is, and keep warm.

Lamb continued

Bring BBQ grill to high heat and place lamb fat side down for five minutes. Turn and cook for another five. Drop heat to low for another five. Remove from heat and let rest, covered, for ten.

Assembly

Now it’s assembly time!

I like having squares of grease-proof paper (get it?) or white paper bags on hand, because the kids love it, and it feels normal.

Brush the pita bread with the garlic and yogurt sauce. Kids may prefer supermarket tomato or or bbq sauce, but if you add a little of the white stuff, they might not notice - and the journey has begun!

Slice the lamb into thin slices and add, along with sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and onions.

Roll ’em. Eat ’em. Is yiros. Is yum!

How to butterfly a leg of lamb

Israeli eggs

Shakshuka is the Israeli variant of a common Mid-Eastern/North African dish, popular as a breakfast, but versatile enough for any meal.

It is basically - eggs poached over a spicy tomato salsa. Simple and tasty, but with something extra that lifts it above the ordinary.

If you’re looking for a main meal version try, as I did, adding a bed of couscous, as well as crumbling in feta and adding sliced mushrooms. Sliced chorizo is nice to add also, but this plays merry hell with its Kosherness! Finely chopped red and yellow capsicum can also be added to the onion and garlic at the beginning. All good!

Recipe - Shakshuka

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups tomato salsa
• 2 tomatoes
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups couscous
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sprigs parsley or coriander to garnish

Method

• Chop garlic and onion and, in a heavy based frying pan, sauté in olive oil over medium heat
• Chop tomatoes
• Once the onion turns transparent and begins to brown, stir in cumin, cayenne and paprika
• Add chopped tomatoes, simmer for 5 minutes. Add tomato salsa and simmer for another 10. Add salt and pepper to taste
• Place couscous in a bowl. Boil the water, and pour over couscous. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes
• Break eggs, evenly spaced, onto the simmering tomato mixture in the pan. Once the eggs are poached the way you like it (you might want to pot them under the griller to finish them off), they are ready to serve
• Serve on a bed of couscous, garnish with parsley or coriander