I was happy to see kebabs chosen as DOTQ. Grilled-meat-and-veg is our favorite summer go-to, often in the form of kebabs.
WFD tonight was grilled, Japanese-style NY strip kebabs with mushrooms and sweet peppers. The garlic-soy beef marinade recipe, which I resort to often, came from The Japanese Grill, by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat. You can find it online here. It was my favorite recipe from the cookbook, and the only one which I continue making year after year.
Turkish chicken kebabs.
I don’t recall the origin of this marinade, and thus have no understanding of why it is called “Turkish”. I just know I’ve made it for years and we like it. The kebabs always come out tender and juicy.
The following amount is for 3 boneless-skinless chicken thighs cut into roughly 1” pieces:
¼ c. olive oil
¼ c. dry white wine
1 T. lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. dried oregano
¾ t. sweet paprika
½ t. dried marjoram
Marinade the chicken pieces, stirring occasionally, for no more than 2 hours. Salt and pepper the kebabs well just before grilling.
It was a full-on summertime meal tonight.
Greek Lemon-Oregano-Thyme Chicken Kebabs (I used chicken thigh meat skinned and cut from the bone) with onions and red bell peppers, all grilled on the grill pan.
Served on Near East rice pilaf with homemade tzaziki sauce alongside, as well as localish (southern NH) COTC, of which 2 were microwaved for dinner. The remaining 10 ears will be cut off the cobs for freezing (both corn kernels and cobs for future corn stock). I’ll probably buy more before the season is done to stock my freezer with fresh corn.
Wine.
Achari Swordfish Tikkas, with tomato and cucumber salad. Garlic scape chutney and flatbreads off screen. Recipe adapted from Indian Kitchen by Maunika Gowardhan.
The fish are marinated for 20 minutes in yogurt with garlic, a spoonful of lime pickle, and a crushed spice blend including fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, nigella seeds, and cumin seeds. I also added a little salt and black pepper. Then grill for about 8 minutes total, turning and basting with butter as needed.
Voting for the August Cookbook of the Month is happening now. One option is to continue our current book, which has quite a few kebabs in it, but the other nominees are promising as well.
Beef kebabs tonight, in a simple spice paste I picked up years ago from Epicurious. Copious crushed fresh garlic, equal parts ground cumin and coriander, cayenne to taste, salt, a squeeze of lemon and as much olive oil as you need to get it to nicely coat and stick to the meat. I used flap steak tonight, which is my favorite cut for any large-chunk kebab recipe (whereas I would probably choose flank steak or even eye of round if I were going to do thin slices). Which cuts do you HOs prefer for your skewering needs?
I’ve been using pork tenderloin for souvlaki, boneless chicken thigh for chicken kabobs.
Leg of lamb or boneless lamb sirloin for lamb souvlaki or shashlik
I enjoyed the previously mentioned chicken thighs for my Greek Lemon Oregano kebabs.
For beef, I’ve used sirloin tips/steak tips cut in half or more if they’re humongous, and not packed tightly on the skewer.
For pork, a large boneless center-cut pork chop cut into medium-thick strips works for me.
I don’t make pork skewers all that frequently, but when I do I prefer to use thinly sliced shoulder. I never feel like marinades/spice pastes penetrate larger pieces of pork well, and the leaner cuts don’t seem to work as well with this treatment - by the time you get some good char on the outside, they are overcooked. Any tricks for getting those cuts to take flavor?
I marinate for 4 h - overnight . I admit- I roast my kabobs in the oven . I don’t have a gas bbq, and don’t set up a hibachi for 3 people on a weeknight. I haven’t BBQed for a decade or more. I don’t end up with char. I’ve never mastered broiling.
Excellent thread. Love kebabs and shao kao. Typically don’t do much other than lamb with salt/pepper and lots of cumin. Then grill about a minute a side.
Wow, great idea. Thanks!
I like my Penzeys Tsardust Memories seasoning sprinkled on the lightly oiled strips, but that’s not always a kebab-ish seasoning.
I always forget how good fish tikkas taste, and they’re so easy too. Thanks for the reminder - and your recipe!
I use pork tenderloin for this simplified pinchos morunos recipe.
The combination of a flavorful spice rub at the beginning and the dressing at the end infuse a lot of flavor. It cooks really fast - so they suggest bigger chunks than one might otherwise use with another cut.
Do you bunch it up on the skewers or thread them through?
There’s an Indian dish called pasinda/pasanda (kabab) that uses that trick for beef, which is usually very tough there (thin strips are pounded first, then a yogurt marinade, finally threaded onto skewers).
Typically I bunch any thin sliced meat (beef, lamb, pork) - I like the way bunched meat holds on to marinades/pastes and how you get variations in texture with some crunchy charred bits and more tender inner parts.
My favorite marinade for making lamb kebabs on our kamado style grill – enough for about 4 lbs. of deboned and trimmed lamb meat:
3/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. fresh lemon juice
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
6 large garlic cloves, minced
4 t. kosher salt
4 t. lemon zest
2 t. freshly ground black pepper
2 t. ground coriander
1 t. ground cumin
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
4 lbs. trimmed lamb meat, cut into 1-2” cubes
1/4 large onion, thinly sliced
Reserve ½ c. of the marinade for basting. Pour the rest over the lamb meat and sliced onions and marinade the meat pieces, stirring occasionally, for 12 hours. If you have it, soak some applewood chips and rosemary sprigs for smoking. Scrape off the onion before skewering. While grilling, baste the kebabs occasionally with the reserved marinade. I usually cook on an open grill with direct heat at about 400 degrees to an internal temp of 130.
That marinade looks amazing! I will try it next week.
I hope you love it! Please post results and let us know how it works out for you.
