In this thread Stark Raven Mad describes an American shish kebab. Basically, chunks of beef with alternating mushrooms, onion chunks, cherry tomatoes and bell pepper chunks on a sweker and cooked on an outdoor grill (preferably charcoal).
Bu I prefer ‘sikh kebabs’, as served in Indian restaurants.
Would anyone like to post their recipes for making a traditional European kebab-shop-style kebabs? (Beef is easier to get than lamb, but I assume it can be substituted.)
I c&p’d this from -hell, Zenster?-here. Confirm it is yummy:
Soujouk
Arabic Kebab Sausage
Preparation time: 2 hours
Serves: 4-8 People
Ingredients:
1-2 Pounds ground lamb
Spiced with: (per pound of meat)
1 Tsp Ground allspice
½ Tsp Garlic powder
½ Tsp Salt
¼ Tsp pepper
Dash of Cayenne powder (optional)
Preparation:
Soak 10-20 bamboo skewers in a tall container of water for 30 minutes. Up end the skewers and submerge their other end at least once to assure that their entire length is soaked with water.
Mix all of the dry spices in a small bowl. Scatter one quarter of the dry spice mix in the bottom of another large bowl. Crumble half of the meat into medium size chunks. Scatter half the remaining spices over the crumbled meat. Finish crumbling the meat into the bowl and dust with the final portion of dry spices.
Use your hands to mix and knead the meat until the spices are thoroughly distributed in it. There should be an even color and noticeable tinge to the meat from the allspice. If in doubt, cook off a small sample of the meat to test for correct flavor balance. There should be enough salt to where none will be desired at table. The pepper and garlic should be equally matched and marching behind the allspice in the flavor parade.
Permit the meat and spices to marry up for one hour while heating up the grill. When ready, fashion the spiced meat into long narrow logs less than one inch in diameter and about six inches long. Thread the skewer through the center of each log leaving a few inches of bamboo exposed at each end.
The mixed meat should have a fairly solid consistency. The trick is not attempting to place too much of it on a single skewer. Roll out a log that is firmly packed and only one inch in diameter at most. Thread the pre-soaked skewer through this and allow it to rest for ten minutes before placing on the grill. To prevent the meat from sticking, be sure to clean your grill’s rack with a wire brush beforehand. It is also helpful to oil the grill before using it.
Do not try to move or turn the kabobs for at least ten minutes after they have been placed on the grill. Attempting to do so will possibly tear them or remove some of the crust that is forming. If you have a lot of difficulty with the meat sticking, you can lightly coating the exterior of each kabob with a sheen of olive or vegetable oil. For best results, be sure to have your grill at low heat or on its lowest setting and place the kabobs on the second or third rack above it.
I hope this helps to clarify the cooking technique
Grill the kebabs over very low heat (~350-425°F), preferably on a second or third shelf above the main grill. It is desirable to get a nice browning action and grill marks before the meat cooks through. Watch for flames and promptly extinguish any that start with a squirt gun or spray bottle. Small kebabs will cook in 30 minutes, larger ones will require 45 minutes of cooking time.
Note: Serve the soujouk with warm pita bread, foul madumas, hummus or tabouleh. Garnish with harissa or dip into tzatziki yoghourt sauce.
I have no idea if this is similar to Indian kebabs.Sounds tasty!
I have a small Weber grill, BTW. No ‘settings’ as such.
Now I’ll have to find a recipe for tzaziki. (Which will be useful for my falafel mix, as well.)
Susie Derkins posted a recipe you might like in the recent IMHO thread, “Recommend a healthy snack”: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315854
Souvlaki, the traditional Greek kebab is pretty straight forward, and very tasty. They use chunks of leg of lamb marinated in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, copious amounts of garlic, and greek oregano.
You can be fast and loose on your measurements and season it to your taste and whisk it all together- you are basically making a dressing/vinagerette. (One thing, I do recommend using greek oregano if you can get it… it makes all the difference and will fall short in authenticity and taste, otherwise.)
Let the meat marinate for a few hours and grill the kebabs (typically it is just the meat…no veggies) at high heat about ten minutes- occasionally baste the souvlaki with the remaining marinade.
The Guru speaks on gyros and tzatziki.
(Cecil is The Perfect Master, but AB is The Guru - to me, anyways).
I would really recommend seeking out the lamb, if possible, although in most European places I’ve been to, it doesn’t seem lamb is really used. Personally, I recommend trying a mixture of 1/3 beef 1/3 pork and 1/3 lamb (or 1/3 veal). This is my favorite combination, and is what’s common throughout Serbia and Croatia in their own take on the kebap: the chevap.
Just kinda curious, how do you describe the “sikh kebab”? The European style I envision is the gyro looking one, but the recipes here still use the skewer. If this uses a skewer, how would a sikh kebab be different from a shish kebab?
[hijack](Pssst! Do you frequent the GEFP. or belong to the Yahoo group?)[/hijack]
Whoops! I just noticed you were asking about kebaps made with chunks of meat. I gave you a recipe for a type of kebap that’s made with ground meat (like the Middle Eastern kofte, or the Serbian chevap). Anyhow, if you’re feeling like trying something different, give it a shot. For Serbian-style chevapi, I add finely chopped onion and garlic, as well as some Vegeta (a vegetable boullion powder-type thing), to taste. Mold the ground meat around a skewer, and grill. Or you can make them into hamburger patties and call them pljeskavica on the menu.
My recipe from the ‘Oswald Bar & Grille’:
Green peppers
Tomatos (quartered)
Whole mushrooms
Carrot coins
Beef
Onions (quartered)
Cucumber coins
Take the aforementioned ingredients, and slide them onto a soaked bamboo skewer (soak 'em to keep 'em from igniting and burning). Liberally douse olive oil and worcestershire sauce on to keep ingredients moist and tasty. Flip every ten minutes or so until done to taste.
Trust me, the olive oil does wonders to keep the juices and flavors in, and the worcestershire adds to things.
Tripler
I live by my grill. “There are many gills like it, but this one is mine. . .”
“There are many grills like it. . .” that is. . .
No, I don’t. What’s that all about?
A sikh kebab is made of lamb (as I said, I’d prefer deadcow). I’ve found the marinade they use: Lemon juice, crushed garlic, yoghurt, salt, pepper and cilantro.
The shawerma-like ones you eat on gyros are kefta kababs. I found a recipe for them, too. Kefta is made with deadcow.
Kefta/kofte/köfte can be made from a variety of meats. All the local Middle Eastern places around here that I’ve been to make it from lamb. I’m pretty sure given the culture and cuisine, that lamb is the traditional meat, not cow. Although now you have a lot of places that will do beef-only or beef-and-lamb kofte.
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/Good_Eats/: the usual message list, plus files and stuff.
http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/: a very eclectic message board, show transcripts, interviews and a bunch of other GE- and AB-related stuff.