Grilled Lamb and Fig Skewers

To marinate the lamb, remove all the rosemary leaves from the branches, expect 2 inches from the top. Coarsely chopped the rosemary leaves that you removed from the branch. In a large bowl, season the lamb with the chopped rosemary, garlic, cracked pepper, olive oil and fig jam. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

To finish the lamb skewers, preheat your grill to medium-high. Skewer each piece of rosemary with the marinated lamb, lemon slices, bay leaves and a fig half. Season the skewers with salt and pepper. Grill and cook for 3 minutes on each side, rotating the skewers a few times to get even color.

In the meantime, make the bulgur pilaf. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook the diced onions, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add coriander sand the bulgur, and stir constantly for a few minutes until the bulgur smells toasty. Add the dried figs, thyme, bay leaf and water. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 25 minutes until the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat Fluff with a fork, then stir in the lemon juice, scallions, mint and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

To make the fig tzatziki, in a medium bowl, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt over the grated cucumber and set aside for 20 minutes. Then squeeze the cucumbers to release as much liquid as possible. Discard the liquid. Stir the yoghurt, figs, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and mint. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the warm bulgur salad onto a warm platter, and arrange the skewers on top. Spoon some of the tzatziki sauce over the lamb.