Lamb Kebabs with Cilantro Mint Cauliflower Puree

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These lightly spiced lamb kebabs with a cilantro mint cauliflower puree, puts your entertaining to the next level. They are the perfect bite sized appetizers to serve at your next party!

The awards season is in full session here and I have been meaning to bring you more party ideas to entertain friends and throw a viewing party. What’s better when entertaining for the red carpet season than an elegant appetizer?! These Lamb Kebabs with Cilantro Mint Cauliflower Puree are perfect bite sized appetizers, that will make your guests keep coming back for more. Entertaining need not always be about a sit down / buffet style dinner with several courses. Sometimes it is a lot more fun when you just mix it up with an assortment of appetizers and some really good wines to go with them.

You can, of course have your cheese plate to go with the wines but putting a little thought into the kind of wines you are serving and planning the appetizers so that they all go with either the red or the white that your guests prefer is important. I always like to have a few different wines out because not everyone likes the same kind.

I had these beautiful lamb kebabs out that were earthy and meaty enough with just a hint of spice, but not too much heat and the cilantro mint cauliflower puree with the sour cream balanced out any feeling of spice the kebabs had, if at all anyone felt that. I also served some Polenta Crostini with Wild Mushroom Sauté and Rosemary Truffle Popcorn along with the cheese plate.

I decided to pick out Dreaming Tree Wines’ Crush Red Blend, a soft red wine with nice fruit flavors and their Everyday White Wine, a bright and aromatic white with zesty fruit flavors.

The kebabs were not too spicy to overwhelm the red and the wine was soft enough to complement the kebabs. The Everyday White obviously had a nice finish to it when paired with the kebabs and the polenta. The polenta being fried and little greasy with the truffle in it to make it rich, made it a very good bite to go with the Crush Red Blend as well.

The Dreaming Tree Wines is a collaboration between the renowned musician Dave Mathews and award winning wine maker Sean McKenzie. With such a star cast behind these wines, I couldn’t think of better wines to serve at an awards night party! Their wines are very approachable and they currently have a Central Coast Chardonnay, North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon, California Pinot Noir and Sonoma Country Sauvignon Blanc along with these Central Coast “Everyday” white blend and the North Coast “Crush” red blend that I served.

Something more to love about these wines is that they are very sustainably conscious with their labels made with 100% recycled brown Kraft paper and the bottles are a quarter pond lighter than average wine bottles and natural corks that are recyclable. All leaving smaller carbon footprints throughout, so you can also feel good about drinking these wines.

The Crush Red Blend is definitely going to feature in our everyday wines and I can’t wait for the Everyday White Blend to make a more regular appearance once the weather gets a little warmer.

Have you tasted any of the wines from the Dreaming Tree Wines portfolio? If so, which ones are your favorites? You can go check them out here (FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Dreaming Tree Wines Website) for more details and to keep up to date about their wines. Be sure to check out your local retailer for wine tasting demos!

Lamb Kebabs with Cilantro Mint Cauliflower Puree – The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 16 oz ground lamb
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon powdered cumin
• ½ teaspoon powdered coriander
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• salt and fresh crushed black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoon olive oil

For the Cilantro Mint Cauliflower Puree

• ¼ head of a cauliflower, about 2 – 2 ½ cups
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ cup cilantro, loosely packed
• 6-7 mint leaves
• ½ cup sour cream
• salt, to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix all the ingredients together for the lamb kebabs and make small balls out of it. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray and line the kebab balls on it. Bake for 30 mins.

For the Cauliflower Puree – Cook the cauliflower in salted boiling water until soft. Drain and put it in a food processor along with the garlic powder, cilantro, mint, sour cream and little more salt. Puree till soft.

Serve with a little of the Cauliflower Puree smeared on a plate topped with one kebab and a toothpick to easily pick it up with.