La Ha Mish Wee and Tabbouleh Salad

We are entering the “last rose of summer” period of the year. I love the changing leaves, the warm September sun and the cool nights foreshadowing crisp fall days ahead. I love the “new beginning” feel of September when everyone seems to be filled with energy for the new school year and the new high activity season. What a contrast to lazy summer days. This is the season many people go up to their lake places to begin shutting down and to enjoy the few weekends of lovely weather left.


Hoping to treat ourselves to such a weekend, we trekked up to West Silent Lake to our friends the Smiths who so kindly invite us each year—this year with our daughter

Elizabeth (visiting from Boston) and her boyfriend, Sean. The weather started out hot and humid so was perfect for tubing behind the boat. The cold front blew through at night and the second day was better for canoeing. Both activities bolstered appetites so we were ready for some great meals from the grill.

I took my famous Middle-Eastern dish, La Ha Mish Wee, and a great tabouleh salad. La Ha Mish Wee is the Armenian name for shish kabob. It can (and usually is) made with boneless lamb, but that isn’t popular with everybody, so I opted for beef. Diane (the hostess) made a marinated flank steak. Both dishes starred beef and both were made from a cheaper cut of meat—mine was sirloin tip and hers flank—but that’s where the similarity stopped. Diane’s flank steak was as tender as could be and, although it was good, my meat was on the tough side. Both of us marinated our meat for 24 hours—so I decided to see what made the difference.

Some kind of acid or alcohol turns out to be the answer. Marinade for tougher cuts of beef must have wine, beer, citrus juice or vinegar (tomatoes help, too) in order to actually tenderize your meat. The marinade for La Ha Mish Wee is usually only olive oil and garlic. Lemon juice is the obvious choice for an acid. A little red wine wouldn’t hurt, either. I don’t recommend using a tenderizer like Adolf’s as it has an enzyme in it that tenderizes—but over a long marinating period it will give your meat a mushy texture that is very unpleasant.

La Ha Mish Wee (6-8 servings)

2 lbs sirloin tip roast
1 each large red, yellow, orange and green peppers
1 large white onion
8 ozs button mushrooms, cleaned and halved
2 cloves garlic
½ cup olive oil
Juice from 1 medium lemon
2 Tbsp dry red wine

Cut meat, peppers and onion into bite-size pieces to spear on a skewer. Marinate in olive oil, lemon juice, wine and garlic for 24 hours. String meat and vegetables on skewers. Heat grill. Place skewers directly over coals; close cover. Grill until meat is done and peppers are beginning to blacken a bit. Serve in warm pita halves. Pour Yogurt sauce over filling in pita.

Yogurt Sauce

1 8-oz carton of plain yogurt
1 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, peeled
½ lemon, squeezed for juice (or more to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until consistency is like heavy cream. Serve with La Ha Mish Wee.

Tabouleh (6-8 servings)

1 cup dry bulgur wheat (cracked wheat)
1 ½ cups boiling water
1 ½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, minced
½ cup chopped scallions (include greens)
¼ cup (packed) mint leaves, chopped fine
¼ cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium tomatoes, diced small
1 cup (packed) freshly chopped parsley

Combine bulgur, boiling water and salt in a bowl. Cover and let stand 30 minutes. Test to see if bulgur is al dente. Drain but do not rinse. Put into a bowl and add lemon juice, garlic, oil, mint, parsley and tomatoes. Mix thoroughly. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, preferably 24 hours. May be garnished with feta cheese and/or olives.

Marinated Flank Steak

1 2-lb flank steak
1 12-oz bottle low sodium soy sauce
1 12-oz bottle beer

Mix soy sauce and beer. Pour over steak in a shallow glass dish. Prick meat all over with a fork. Cover and refrigerate 24-36 hours, turning from time to time.

Heat grill to medium hot. Place steak on grill and cook, turning once, 5 minutes per side for rare, 6 minutes for medium and 7 minutes for well-done. Cut thinly on the diagonal and serve with a large green salad and garlic bread.