Pomegranate-Marinated Lamb Skewers
Lamb cubes soaked in pomegranate concentrate, threaded on sticks, cooked over coals at the car-camp fire.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 8 oz
- cal / oz
- 65
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 18 min
- total time
- 43 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Boneless leg of lamb | 1 1/2 lb | trimmed of fat, cut into 2-inch cubes |
|---|---|---|
| Unsweetened pomegranate juice | 1 1/4 cups | or 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses plus water |
| Onion | 1 medium | minced fine |
| Garlic | 2 large cloves | minced |
| Shallot | 1 large | minced |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp | fresh if you have it |
| Cayenne pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Corn or other neutral oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
Method
- At home, combine the juice, onion, garlic, shallot, parsley, cayenne, and salt in a zip bag. Add the lamb, press the air out, and seal it.
- Marinate in the fridge overnight. Pack the bag flat at the bottom of the cooler on ice.
- At camp, burn a fire down to a bed of coals, or run charcoal until it is grey. You want steady heat, not flames.
- Pull the lamb out of the bag and blot the cubes dry on a paper towel. Wet meat steams instead of browning.
- Thread the cubes onto four metal skewers, leaving a little space between them. Brush with oil.
- Lay the skewers on a grill grate over the coals. Turn every two or three minutes. Twelve minutes gets you pink in the middle, twenty gets you well done.
- Slide the meat off onto foil and let it sit two minutes before eating.
Acid does the work here. Pomegranate juice is tart and tannic enough to loosen up leg of lamb overnight, which is a cut that otherwise wants a long braise. The onion and shallot go in raw and minced so they melt into the marinade rather than sitting on the meat.
This one stays in the cooler, so it is a day-one or day-two car-camp dinner, not a backpacking meal. Two details matter: dry the cubes before they hit the fire, and cook over coals rather than flame. Wet meat and open flame both give you a grey outside and a raw middle.
Packing
Marinate at home in a doubled zip bag and freeze it flat. It thaws in the cooler over day one and keeps the meat cold on the way. Skewers ride in the kitchen bin; bring metal ones, wood burns through.
Variations
- No pomegranate juice: 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses thinned with water does the same job and packs smaller.
- Thread rounds of onion and pepper between the cubes if you have grate space.
- Beef sirloin or pork shoulder cubes work on the same timing.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/russian-shashlik