Adventures in Food
3 secrets to better shish kabobs
Food + stick = bliss. Yeah, I’m talking shish kabobs one of my favorite reasons to fire up the grill. But kabobs are deceptively tricky–the meat/veggie combo means you have to balance getting your meat cooked just right while not burning the veggies past recognition.
Here’s a few ideas for better kabobs:
Keep ‘em separate. I don’t grill the meat and the veggies together anymore. Nope. I make skewers with all one item to make sure I can grill it just right (confession: hubby mans the bbq). Chicken. Sausage. Peppers. Onions. They all get their own skewer.
Skewer savvy. Hey, but what about that lovely photo that has them combined?, you ask. I put them together post-grill. Yes, this takes more work but everything is cooked perfectly that way. Since I’m doing just one ingredient per skewer, I use larger skewers for the grill, then when I re-skewer I put the pieces on smaller ones. You can use the hole that’s already there or make a new one. If it’s just my family, I don’t even bother to re-skewer, I just put the cooked pieces in the middle of the table on a large platter. When I make these to take to a picnic, I’ll re-skewer then leave them in a just-warm oven until it’s time to go.
Photo credit: Goya
Mojo. Why go through all the trouble of creating your own marinade when you can use Mojo sauce? Goya has several varieties. I like criollo (basic) or chipotle. If your meat is frozen, let it sit overnight in the fridge to thaw in the marinade.
Your turn–kabob fan? Any tricks you want to share?
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about 1 year ago
Would never have occurred to me to keep the ingredients separate, but I can see how that makes sense in terms of cooking each item to perfection.
about 1 year ago
Why does food-onna-stick taste better? I don’t know, but it is true. Thanks for the tips. I’ll admit, I’d not thought to do this either!
about 1 year ago
Yes, I like my veggies crisp–but not burnt and that’s what always seemed to happen when we’d mix everything together. Pretty, but it didn’t grill right.
about 1 year ago
Seriously, it’s our inner caveman, right?
about 1 year ago
as we usually have both meat eaters and vegetarians round the table, we’ve always made separate skewers. what are some of the more unusual vegetables you tried I wonder? some seem to work better for me just on the grill than on a skewer… but I’m thinking.
about 1 year ago
Let’s see, I like to mix in fruit with the kabobs, like fresh pineapple or mango chunks. But this year I’m going to try apples with pork and even thread some broccoli on a skewer–I love it roasted so why not grilled. Beyond sticks I saw a recipe the other day for a grilled salad using romaine lettuce that sounded divine. Of course, this week our grill ran out of gas so we need to fill up again!
about 1 year ago
Oh, I love these! Brings to mind that scene from “There’s Something About Mary,” where they discuss that there should be more meats on sticks.
about 1 year ago
Oh my gosh, do we ever love kebabs! We rarely make it ourselves, but whenever we go to Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants, we often order kebabs…our favorite being lamb kebabs from the Afghan Horsemen in Vancouver.
Good tip on keeping the meat and veggies separate!