Seriously, give me a challenge or go away. So, like many of the other competitors I've never even touched one of the purple headed monsters. So what! Does that mean it's over? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! So last week I ran out to the local Wally-World and picked up four of the big beasties...

Well, after a little bit of considered research (tobacco plants!!) I decided that I wanted to keep the dish something cool, easy, summery even. The eggplant just said "Mediterranean" to me for some reason so I figured this was a great chance for me to try out a recipe I recently came across. Like many other foodies my inbox can get rather cluttered with newsletters from this e-store and that website, this cooking list and that updater service. But of all the newsletters the only one I haven't immediately unsubscribed from was the one from King Arthur Flour Company. Sure, they wanna sell you things there, but that's ok as long as there is plenty of good content to offset the commercialism.

The KAF newsletter week before last had a writeup for what looked to be the ultimate flatbread. Now, when I say ultimate flatbread you gotta keep in mind that around here we kind know flatbreads. I mean our tortilla post has more hits than all the other posts on Nommy. Combined. So needless to say when I get excited about a flatbread recipe its gotta sound great. Well the thing is... once I made it... well... it kinda sucked. Their idea was putting boiling water into a large portion of the flour to speed it past the gluten-forming stage and straight into gellatanized-protien stage. And that worked, but it made the bread taste and feel gummy. Yuck. However, on my second batch I kept the same recipe as KAF used but replaced the boiling water with simple tap water and dumped all the ingredients into the KA mixer and let the dough hook have it's way with them. Turns out... I may never make tortillas again. The use of potatoe flakes was... well... inspired. And the oil was just enough emulsifier to keep the gluten in check so you end up with amazing flat breads. Really. Go ahead and give them a try, just skip the whole boiling water thing. Here's my version:

That's the wrap taken care of... next? Well, we need to deal with the kebobs that will be going on them. That means a marinade. Obviously marinade recipe posts on the internet are as common as plastic lightsabers at a Star Wars convention. This is one I've used before and it's good, the red pepper flakes give just enough kick to let you know its there while not drowning out whatever was swimming in it.

If I wanted Mediterranean kebobs there was really only one meat to put on there: lamb, baby! So here's something I didn't know before... Wally-World carries lamb in the butcher's department. Who knew?? Fifteen bucks later I had enough lamb meat for a fistful of kebobs. Cubed that up and tossed it along with the cubed up eggplant into the marinade then let it sit for an hour. And yes, you do want to marinade the 'plant too. Otherwise the grill will just dry it out all sad like and stuff. Nasty. Chop up some onion, wash up some shrooms and let the marinade do it's thing. Once the meat and 'plant is done with their swim build up your skewers. Simple process really: You want to skewer more of the meat and vegetables than you do your fingers. As long as you get more of the former than the latter you're golden. Place these on an open grill for about 5 minutes per side and only flip once.While those are grilling we need a sauce to lather over the wraps, right? Stick with me now, because we're still aiming for light, cool, summery, right? Try this baby on for size...

Now that all the players are in place... assemble. While holding a piece of flatbread cupped in your hand, place one or more layers of romain lettuce leaves on the wrap. Grab a skewer and pull enough off in one go to fill the wrap. Sprinkle with the dressing and enjoy! Naturally don't forget to have onhand a glass of cool wine. These recipes all used Chateau Ste. Michelle wines which are family favorites around the Sumo household. Chardonnay, specifically. Peace!