By David Draper

I've been traveling through Turkey for the past couple of weeks, both in Istanbul and along the Mediterranean coast. Most of my time was spent doing lots of “research” a.k.a. eating, and if there's one thing I took away from all this hard work it's that Turkey is a street-food country. Everywhere I traveled, there was someone on a street corner selling something to eat, whether it be roasted corn or chestnuts, simit (sort of like a sesame-encrusted bagel), rice-stuffed mussels, fresh melon, or, like most places in Europe, some type of grilled or roasted meat on a skewer.

Of the skewered meats, one of my favorites was an adana kebap, like those from Musam Ocakbasi just a block or so off Istanbul’s Taksim Square. Adana, or kiyma, kebap is made from ground meat, usually lamb, that gets molded onto a long, flat skewer and grilled over coals. A little crunchy on the outside and moist in the middle, the kebap is served with a warm flatbread and zerzavat, an onion salad (see recipe below). Some places also provide either a yogurt or spicy tomato sauce as well.

I couldn't help but think an adana kebap could translate into something from the Wild Chef freezer, so I did a little research and came up with this recipe using ground venison in place of the lamb. If you mix your ground venison a little heavy on the pork or beef tallow, all the better, as you want to keep the mixture as moist as possible. In the following recipe, I added an egg to help hold everything together.

Venison Adana Kebaps

Ingredients
- 1 pound ground venison
- 1 egg
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup parsley, chopped fine
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. salt

Directions
1. Add the ingredients to a large bowl and, using your hands, mix everything together quickly, but thoroughly. Cover and place the bowl in the refrigerator for about an hour to let the flavors combine and mixture set.

2. Remove the meat mix from the refrigerator and pull off a piece about the size of an egg. Form this tightly and evenly along the length of a flat skewer. (Try to find the widest, flattest skewers you can. These are close to what they use in Turkey, though not exact.) And if you don't have a flat skewer, you can form elongated patties, sort of like a flattened sausage. Repeat with the remaining mix.

3. Place the skewers over a medium-hot fire and grill, turning often, until the outside is a bit charred and the inside is cooked through. Serve with warm flat bread and zerzavat.

Zerzavat

Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion, sliced thin
- 1 tsp. sumac
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 lemon wedges

Directions
Mix first four ingredients together and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Comments (9)

from ejunk wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

yes!

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from jamesti wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

wow that actually looks good!

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from Levi Banks wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

Thanks for inspiring supper, we had a pound of venison in the fridge and weren't sure what to make with it, no skewers so it was really meatballs, but it was good, and we had ours with hummus and feta.

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from Sayfu wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

That ain't no venison! I own two labs, and pick those things up in my back yard everyday! I know the economy is bad, but that bad? :)

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from country road wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

The kebap sounds good, but I never heard of seasoning anything with sumac---where do you find it?

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from Double D wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

country road - They use a lot of sumac over there and it's good. I found myself sprinkling it on pretty much everything. I didn't know if I could find it over here, so I brought some home with me. I did Google it and found some stateside sources, including Williams-Sonoma.

sayfu - Yes, not an easy subject to make look like anything other than dog-food by-product, but trust me, they tasted better than that.

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from ejunk wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

made these this weekend and they were a big hit! thanks again, Dave.

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from hassan wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

I love Turkey! Haven't been in a bit but that photo really took me back. Those green peppers were the bomb! Thanks for the recipe!

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from ejunk wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

yes!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jamesti wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

wow that actually looks good!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Levi Banks wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

Thanks for inspiring supper, we had a pound of venison in the fridge and weren't sure what to make with it, no skewers so it was really meatballs, but it was good, and we had ours with hummus and feta.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from country road wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

The kebap sounds good, but I never heard of seasoning anything with sumac---where do you find it?

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Double D wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

country road - They use a lot of sumac over there and it's good. I found myself sprinkling it on pretty much everything. I didn't know if I could find it over here, so I brought some home with me. I did Google it and found some stateside sources, including Williams-Sonoma.

sayfu - Yes, not an easy subject to make look like anything other than dog-food by-product, but trust me, they tasted better than that.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ejunk wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

made these this weekend and they were a big hit! thanks again, Dave.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from hassan wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

I love Turkey! Haven't been in a bit but that photo really took me back. Those green peppers were the bomb! Thanks for the recipe!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Sayfu wrote 1 year 3 weeks ago

That ain't no venison! I own two labs, and pick those things up in my back yard everyday! I know the economy is bad, but that bad? :)

-1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.