‪Pork Kebabs with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce #‎thebookclubcookbookCC

Here we are at the final #thebookclubcookbookCC event. Final. Can you believe it??

It's hard to fathom that our year-long journey to explore - and cook from - The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp* is drawing to a close. Judy, Vicki, and their publisher, Tarcher-Penguin, provided the hosting bloggers with copies of the book plus copies to giveaway each month of the project. We are so grateful for their generosity over the past year.

For the last month we celebrated with a Greek feast for Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres.  This is a new to me novel. Sadly I still haven't gotten a chance to read it.  It is on my bed stand just waiting for me next trip.  

The synopsis sounds good and I am pretty confident I will enjoy the novel.  It's a love story during WWII but this story takes place on a small Greek Island, not the typical France or Germany. Hence the Greek feast. Corelli and his Italian soldiers occupy the island. Corelli takes up residence with Dr. Iannis and his daughter Pelagia. Although unwelcome Corelli is charming.  The novel starts at the invasion of the island and spans through the effects after war. 

It has been horribly hot and humid around Connecticut.  We don't have A/C so I had the hardest time thinking of a Greek recipe.  Or to be more accurate all of the recipes I wanted to make required oven time and that was not going to happen. Finally I saw this recipe for kebabs. Meant to be made under the broiler but we made the pork kebabs or souvlaki on the grill.  Topped with a yogurt mint sauce these were a delicious dinner.
Want to join in the fun? Read all about this month's book selection from our host and leader Camilla in her invite post.

Here's how to participate in The Book Club Cookbook Cooking Crew #thebookclubcookbookCC:

1. Draw inspiration from the chosen recipe.
2. Blog about it! It doesn't have to be a lengthy post. Just share your dish.
3. Include a link back to the hosting blog somewhere in your post.
4. Your post must be current to June. Of course,we don't mind if your post is linked to other events. The more, the merrier!
5. Send your entries to Camilla at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com, and please be including:
     ~Your name
     ~Your blog's name and URL
     ~The name of your dish and the permalink to the specific post you'resubmitting
     ~Attach a photo of any size (or just give me permission to"pull" one from your post) 
     ~Indicate #thebookclubcookbookCC, especially if you post to other social media

Deadline for submission is: July 29, 2016
*watch for the roundup to be posted shortly after this deadline! 

Pork Kebabs with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus time to marin

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: grill Greek

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Ingredients (serves 4)

For the Kebabs

• 2 cups red wine
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 1 ½" cubes
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the Yogurt Sauce:

• 1 cucumber (about 12-oz.)
• 1 1⁄2 cups yogurt
• 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin sesame oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 4 pita breads, warmed

Instructions

Make the pork kebabs:Whisk together the wine, oregano, cumin, salt, thyme, cinnamon, and garlic in a large bowl. Add the cubes of pork and toss well to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to let marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove the pork from the marinade (reserve marinade), thread the cubes onto 4 metal or wooden skewers, and arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet. (If using wooden skewers, make sure to cover the ends completely with the pork cubes, to prevent the skewers from burning.)

Grill the kebabs on medium high heat until browned on all sides and cooked through, 20-25 minutes.

Make the yogurt sauce: Trim the ends off the cucumber and peel it. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, scrape out and discard the seeds from each half. Finely chop the cucumber and transfer it to a medium bowl. Stir in the yogurt, mint, oil, and garlic, and season with salt. Cover the sauce with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. (The sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

Arrange the skewers on a platter and scatter the scallions and parsley over them. Serve with the yogurt sauce and the pita.

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Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating as well!

A Day in the Life on the Farm
Adventures in All Things Food
Cheese Curd In Paradise
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Life on Food
Mostly Food and Crafts
The Pajama Chef
The Spiffy Cookie
Things I Make (for Dinner)
Tortillas and Honey
ZooeySuff

Giveaway

This month Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla, this month's host, is giving away two copies of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook!

TWO of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from July 1st till July 31st at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Disclosure: Camilla received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give two copies away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.