BBQ recipes

Pork Kebabs With Lemon TymePhil's BBQ recipe - pork kebabs with lemon thyme, sichuan pepper & cous cous

Lean pork makes very good kebab-style food. It's quite difficult to form onto skewers on its own, so I add a little egg white - great protein with no fat. Sichuan pepper is available in all supermarkets now, and has a wonderful, delicate sweet flavour.

Dried fruits and cous cous is not a new idea, a lot of North African food combines the two, and this alongside the pork is a great partnership.

Preparation time: 15 minutes / Cooking time: 25 minutes / Serves: two

Ingredients

Pork

  • 400g lean pork mince

  • 2 tbsp lemon thyme (7g) or lemon zest

  • 1 level tsp Sichuan pepper, crushed

  • sea salt and freshly milled black pepper

  • 1 medium egg white

  • 2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs, optional

  • 2 tsp vegetable oil

Ingredients

Cous Cous

  • 110g cous cous

  • 200 mls strong chicken stock

  • salt and freshly milled black pepper

  • 2 tbsp virgin olive oil

  • juice of ½ fresh lime

  • 50g ‘Ready to eat' dried peaches or apricots

Method

For the kebabs

  • Place the pork in a bowl and mix in the Sichuan pepper, lemon thyme or zest, salt, pepper and egg white. Mix well and add a few dried breadcrumbs if you need to tighten the mixture up. Just remember that the more breadcrumbs you add, the dryer the finished cooked meat will be, so take care.

  • Leave to marinate for 30 minutes, or up to a day in the fridge.

  • Mould on to Weber flat kebab skewers, and cook on the pre-heated bars for 6-8 minutes, turning once only. The secret is to not try to move the kebabs until well browned, as they will stick at first.

For the cous cous

  • Place the cous cous into a bowl. Pour on the boiling stock, season well with salt and pepper, add the finely chopped peaches, cover and leave for 20 minutes.

  • Next, add the olive oil, fresh lime and stir well.

To serve

  • Spoon the cous cous onto a plate and top with the cooked pork.

  • I sometimes serve this with a fruity Indian condiment, mango chutney or best of all, mango and yoghurt dip. The secret to this recipe is to always season the cous cous well - there is nothing worse than insipid cous cous!

For more of Phil's recipes and cooking tips, visit his official website www.vickery.tv