8th October 2012

Nerd Recipes: Who wants some Shawarma? Avengers Style!

“Have you ever tried shawarma? … I don’t know what it is, but I want to try it.”

Among the first thoughts that entered the mouth of newly conscious Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in the penultimate scene of this summer’s blockbuster, The Avengers.

If you stuck around til the end of the credits (the very end!), you know the Avengers assembled once more after the big fight to save Manhattan for a bite to eat at the shawarma joint.

(If you missed it, check out the scene here.)

It turns out, an authentic shawarma sandwich is not easy to make at home. Most of us don’t own a giant conical spit to continually roast large cuts of lamb or chicken. This recipe is, however, a very good substitute. I used lamb chops removed from the bone. Feel free to use whatever cut of meat you like: a mix of pork and beef, chicken or turkey.

Let’s Make The Avengers Shawarma Sandwich

To make the Shawarma-Style Lamb Meat, you need:

1 lb lamb meat (beef/pork mix, chicken or turkey also acceptable)
1 TBS vegetable oil
2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp cinnamon

Got your ingredients? Here’s your steps:

* In a small bowl, mix together the spices until fully combined.

* Remove meat from bones, if needed. Use a meat tenderizer or heavy pestle to pound the meat to half it’s original thickness.

* In a shallow baking dish, toss meat with vegetable oil and 3 tsp of the spices. Mix with your hands until fully coated. Allow to marinate 30 mins to 1 hour.

* Brush a grill pan with cooking oil, then heat over medium-high heat. Grill strips of meat, about 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

NOTE: If you are not going to serve all of the meat immediately, consider cooking some of the meat only to medium/medium rare so that the meat doesn’t get overcooked if you reheat for a second serving.

To assemble sandwiches, you need:

1 Pita bread (homemade or buy premade if you’re in a rush. Go for the flat bread style pitas, rather than the pockets.)
¼ recipe shawarma-style lamb meat
thinly sliced red onion
sliced tomato
lettuce (optional)
hummus (homemade is outstanding, but again, your favorite store-bought will do.)
1 ½ cups Greek yogurt
1 small cucumber diced
¼ cup chopped dill
1 ½ tsp minced garlic
½ tsp shawarma seasoning

Got your ingredients, now you can:

* Mix the Greek yogurt, cucumber, dill, garlic and shawarma seasoning in a small bowl; cover and place in the refrigerator until time to serve.

* Start with a warm pita and slather 2 TBS yogurt sauce and 2 TBS hummus in the middle. Layer lamb, then top with onion, tomato and lettuce, if you wish. Fold and enjoy!

Emma Carew Grovum is a digital journalist working in Washington, D.C. She previously worked as the Digital Editor for The Cooking Club of America and blogs at kitchendreamer.blogspot.com Emma loves Star Wars, pandas and all things Joss Whedon. Find her on twitter at @emmacarew.

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8th October 2012

Nerd Recipes: Who wants some Shawarma? Avengers Style!

Let’s Make The Avengers Shawarma Sandwich

The End