I’ve mentioned living in Teheran in my childhood. Dad, USAF, was basically teaching their officer pilots to fly the newly acquired American F-84 and F-86 jets. Our assigned motor pool driver, Reza, a serving soldier in the Iranian Army, loved to cook and hunt. Dad & Reza hunted duck, pheasant and gazelle a number of times while we were there. One time, Reza shot a prairie chicken that was right along the roadside on one of our drives down to Isfahan. The area was wide-open desert terrain, no habitation, so why not? Reza hid the feathered bird in a cloth tucked under his arm as we entered the hotel restaurant that evening and were being seated. Reza asked the waiter if the chef would be willing to cook it up for us. In just a few minutes, the chef came to our table and said he’d be delighted to whip up a tasty braised Fesenjan (Reza’s self-proclaimed favorite food), if we could be patient. This chicken in this dish is braised in the oven and has walnuts and pomegranate kernels in the sauce. Took a long time, but man, was it ever worth waiting for when it came to the table! There’s not much meat on a single prairie chicken, but all 5 of us got a small portion. Luckily, we ordered plenty of other tasty dishes to round out the meal. I still make Fesenjan and definitely need to post in here here on the blog.
On the rare weekend, Reza would even cook one of his favorites in our home, to show off his culinary skills. On one such occasion he made us Kubideh on the grill, another of his favorites. Although I have been able to run down many recipes for it on-line. My version evokes the flavors of his. The jalapeno is not traditional but what can I say? I’m in Texas and we put jalapeno in most everything we grill! 
It does not make these overly spicy “hot”, just adds a nice flavor layer in my opinion. Your call on adding it or not.
Kubideh are traditionally made with lamb, but as I explained in my last post, I prefer using ground beef. When grilling your kubideh, you want them somewhere between the doneness stage of the kubideh on the left side of the platter and the kebabs on the right side of the platter in the photo above. Obviously my husband’s fire was uneven on this occasion. You’re aiming for a nice, light char on the meat. The skewers in photo right are some lamb kebabs we grilled to freeze for a second, future meal. We do that often when grilling. This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, Primal and Paleo.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. ground beef or lamb (preferably 80% lean)
1 egg, beaten
¼ c. parsley
1 oz. onion, minced very fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. black pepper
Optional: ½ jalapeno, seeded and minced fine
Optional: 1 T. bacon grease or softened butter, only if using 90% meat. Not needed for 80% or 70% meat.
DIRECTIONS: Soak wooden skewers for 20-30 minutes (if using). This retards scorching of sticks during grilling. Mix all ingredients well in a bowl with a fork or your hands like you would a meatloaf. Dry off the skewers. Form hot-dog like meat shapes on the wooden skewers, pressing the meat on tightly and as evenly as possible. Set them on a platter as you form them. Prepare a hot charcoal fire. Gently place the skewers of meat on your charcoal fire, disturbing the skewers as little as possible until the first side is lightly browned. Carefully, with a large spatula, flip the skewers over. If you use tongs, they are likely to tear up on you. The voice of experience here. Brown the second side of the kubideh. Serve at once with a nice creamed spinach, a cucumber-tzatziki or sour cream mint salad or perhaps a quinoa side. ENJOY!
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 kubideh, each contains:
371 cals, 30.4 g fat, 1.95 g carbs, 0.4g fiber, 1.55 g NET CARBS, 21.4g protein, 93 mg sodium (I add salt to meat at table so as not to dry meat out during cooking)