This is another one of those threads that could fit into more than one forum. It’s a poll of sorts, but has to do with food and entertaining. If I’ve inappropriately placed it, feel free to relocate it!
I’m not entirely certain I’ve spelled Shishkabob correctly, but I made them on Friday night. They turned out great, but I was a little unsure as to the perfect order of sliding things on the skewers.
I used bare rosemary twigs for my skewers and loaded on chunks of chuck steak that I had marinated in lime juice, ginger, soy sauce, and a little oil/vinegar. I alternated the meat with chunks of yellow squash, red onion, bell pepper, whole button mushrooms, and sweet grape tomatoes. Everything got a brush with the marinade before it went on the grill.
My husband suggested I always start and finish with a vegetable, so the ends would not stick, and then the bobs would be easier to turn.
Any truth to that? Also, what’s your idea of the perfect Shishkabob?
I have a couple of combinations I like to make, but I’ll usually have separate skewers for the meats and veggies, depending on how long they’ll have to cook. Plus there’s usually some vegetarians around that don’t want any meat, chicken, fish, or shrimp on theirs. I always have to put on a coupla skewers of chunk pineapple for my SO she loves it!
Rosemary twigs sound interesting as a skewer. I always have a problem with those dry wooden skewers from the dollar store catching on fire when I don’t remember to soak them ahead of time.
Dunno about the vegetables on either end thing, but that sounds wonderful.
I’m partial to beef or lamb marinated in Italian salad dressing with cherry tomatoes, various colors of bell peppers, pineapple (fresh or canned), summer squashes(!), and potatoes also marinated in the dressing.
I soaked the rosemary twigs, too, just to be sure. I have The Insidious Encroaching Rosemary Shrub from Hayell™ next to the front walk. After my spring pruning yielded roughly a metric ton of clippings, I am on the lookout for any use to which I can put it all.
btw- The pineapple idea sounds wonderful! I’ll have to try it next time, and the Lamb!
For me the perfect one is a mix of Donner, Shish, and Kofte meat. and salad, All in a pita bread.
(they are not just a skewered thing. You can get them stuffed in pita bread.
I agree with the veggie at both ends, it does make things easy. I like to soak the cheap dollar store wood skewers in cooking sherry, but I have a little tupperware thing that fits them perfectly, so nary a drop goes to waste. I pack em tight and don’t care if the ends burn.
A must is to throw some smoking wood in. Hickory is good. I use one of those cheap metal smoker boxes in my gas grill.
I like chunks of pork (with a little fat on them) chargrilled this way - turkey thigh is actually a good substitute.
Also good is to skewer a rasher of streaky bacon, then weave it back and forth, skewering each time after you add a chunk of meat - the bacon ends up being zigzagged through the whole thing.
A 1 inch section of corn cob is quite good for keeping things on the skewer and chargrilled corn is delicious!
To be really, really pedantic the correct spelling is şiş kebap, but in English it’s shish kebab. The best translation proabaly is: ‘skewered, roasted (meat)’
Lamb is by far the best meat to use, any other kind of meat just doesn’t work as well. You shouldn’t cook vegetables (vegtables and meat take differnt times to cook, so your always going to end up with one overcooked or undercooked) on the same şişi as you cook your meat, infact I’d avoid skewering vegtables altogher and have it with a decent salad instead. The meat should be grilled and serevd well-salted. Only babarians eat shish directly from the skewer, you shoulkd either serve it on a plate or put it in a piece of pita bread.
My favourite way of eating shish is as part of a mixed kebab (with köfte, döner, şeftali), with chips, rice, salad pita bread and a pot of greek yoghurt as a dip.
Ah, but let’s talk marinades, shall we? I did this one last summer, and it rocked.
From*Please to the Table: 400 Glorious Recipes from the Baltics to Uzbekistan,[/]Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman:
Uzbek Lamb Kebabs, pp. 175-176
1 small onion, grated
1-1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika [use cayenne if you can’t find hot paprika]
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds boneless lean lamb, cut into 1"cubes
Thinly sliced red onion, srinkled wit chopped fresh parsley
In a glass or ceramic bowl, combine the grated onion, cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds, paprikas, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, and salt. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 12 hours and up to 24, tossing the lamb occasionally.
Prepare coals for grilling until coated with white ash, or preheat the broiler. Have a bowl of warm salted water ready for sprinling the meat.
Remove the lamb pieces from the marinade and thread on long metal skewers, pressing them firmly together.
Grill or broil the lamb 4 inches away from the heat, turning and sprinkling with salted water every few minutes. Allow up to 10 to 12 minutes for pink lamb, and 15 minutes for well done. Serve immediately, accompanied by parsley-sprinkled sliced onions.
Next time I’m going to try the marinade with pomegranate juice, garlic, peppercorns, and mint…