We have entered February guys! The month of huge amounts of chocolate consumption and sappy hallmark sentiments. But the best part? A new month of menus!

The month of February is being hosted by Cynthia and Sam of SamCyn’s Edible Adventures. Cynthia and Sam are still newlyweds, so it’s fitting don’t you say, that they ended up with February as their hosting month. And they started us well with their first menu choice, perfect for a cozy dinner for two:

Lamb Kebabs – page 348
Sticky Lemon Cake – page 410

Kebabs; or kebap, dabab, kebob, kabob, kibob, kebahv (whew talk about multiple personalities!). The traditional meat for kebab is lamb (as the recipe calls for it), but depending on local tastes and taboos, it may also be made with beef, goat, chicken, pork; fish and seafood; or even vegetarian foods like falafel or tofu. Like other ethnic foods brought by travelers, the kebab has become part of everyday cuisine in multicultural countries around the globe and numerous versions can be found all around the world.

If you have trouble finding lamb to make this, you can pretty much use any other types of meat as noted above. The book recommends serving this with a raita of cucumber and yogurt and you can find various recipes online for it – its quite simple to make it, and the ingredients needed are usually plain yogurt, cucumber, cilantro, mint some cumin and salt and pepper. Epicurious has a good one here.

Then to cool the kebabs we have the Sticky Lemon Cake, which is perfect because it’s also made with yogurt! And if there is anything we love more in my house are desserts made with lemons and almonds, so I’m looking forward to this one.

But, before I send you guys to the kitchen to cook, I like to welcome two new (or three actually) Gutsy Cooks into our fold. We have Tammy and Greg from “The Foodie Couple” and Michelle from “On and Off my Plate”. They both participated in the last menu and posted their creations, so if you have a chance, mosey over to their respective blogs and say a quick hello.

So, ready for a new month guys?

Ready, set, get Gutsy!