There was a time, about 30 years ago, when I thought everybody’s Saturday nights smelled like shish kebabs.
Other people in our neighborhood used grills occasionally. But my dad elevated it to a religion. Every Saturday night in summer, he worked magic with puffs of smoke and carefully selected cuts of meat soaked in concoctions of crushed garlic, lemon juice and vegetable oil.
He flirted with hibachis and dabbled in hot-oil fondues. But he saved his real art for shish kebabs.
Kebabs were the height of fashion then. They sounded exotic. They used small cuts of meat so you could feed a family cheaply. And they let you get creative, with artful arrangements of beef cubes, cherry tomatoes and mushroom caps, geometric menus of onion triangles and summer-squash circles.
So why did shish kebabs fall out of favor? Perhaps because we did them so badly.
We got carried away with all those artful arrangements, forgetting that beef cubes and squash circles don’t cook in the same amounts of time. All those pretty cherry tomatoes tended to collapse like old water balloons just before they slid through the grill rack onto the coals. We used cheap cuts of stew beef and expected them to taste like sirloin.
Let’s start over, shall we? Thanks to the popularity of Asian foods, shish kebabs have made a comeback. They’re just disguised under different names, like satays.
It’s still the same idea, though: Dinner on a stick. And it’s still fun, as long as you remember a few pointers.
First, consider cooking rates. These days, it’s fashionable to separate skewers: all meat on some, all vegetables on others. That’s fine, and it can help keep one set from overcooking while the other set is still raw. But some of the fun is lost in the translation, along with the idea of imparting flavor by alternating meat and vegetables on skewers.
You can still do that. Just do it more carefully: Stick to vegetables like onions that really do add flavor and can cook as long as the meat. Delicate vegetables, like small tomatoes and squashes, deserve their own skewers. Things like green onions can be precooked briefly to hurry them up on the grill.
Pay attention to spacing on the skewers too. Things that need to cook through, like chicken, should be spaced about a finger’s width apart. Things that shouldn’t overcook, like rare steak, should be placed close together.
Next, look at your skewers. Bamboo skewers have become common. They’re cheap and easy to work with as long as you remember to soak them. But they can snap easily, so don’t overload them. And if you forget to soak them, you’ll need to wrap their ends with foil to keep them from burning.
Metal skewers still have their place. They range from plain, inexpensive ones to elaborate works of art. They cook foods a little faster because the metal conducts heat. But they can be difficult to turn if you don’t have a heat-proof glove or long tongs. And round ones can be infuriating when you try to turn food that spins instead of flips. To solve that problem, look for flat, not round, metal skewers, or try using two skewers side by side, sort of like an outrigger canoe.
Finally, take advantage of the fact that skewers are a fast way to cook, because you cut food into small pieces. So when you’re putting skewers together, look ahead for other uses. Put together a few skewers of oil-rubbed vegetables and use them in salads later in the week. Put together a few sticks of meats and use them in a fast soup the next night. Or use leftover grilled meat in a frittata or a stir-fry. That way, you fire up the grill once and get several meals.
My dad would definitely approve.
BEEF TERIYAKI ON A STICK
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Marinating time: 2-6 hours
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Yield: 18 pieces
This recipe, adapted from “The Best Grill Pan Cookbook Ever,” by Marge Poore, also works well on outdoor grills.
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dry vermouth
2 tablespoons each: dark brown sugar, vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 flank steak, about
1 1/2 pounds, trimmed
1. Combine soy sauce, vermouth and brown sugar in small saucepan. Heat to boil; cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in oil, garlic, vinegar and pepper. Transfer marinade to large bowl; let cool.
2. Slice meat crosswise on diagonal into thin strips. Toss meat with marinade in medium bowl. Refrigerate 2 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Cover bamboo skewers with water; soak 30 minutes.
3. Remove meat from marinade. Working over bowl to catch juices, thread meat strips onto bamboo skewers, leaving about 3 inches of the blunt ends for handles.
4. Heat grill pan over medium heat until hot. Place skewers on pan in batches if necessary. Grill, turning 2 or 3 times, until lightly browned and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes.
Nutrition information per piece:
Calories …………. 65 Fat ……….. 3.3 g Saturated fat .. 1.3 g
% calories from fat .. 47 Cholesterol … 20 mg Sodium …….. 140 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 0.6 g Protein ……… 8 g Fiber ………… 0 g
CHICKEN AND ORANGE KEBABS
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Marinating time: 1 1/2 -4 hours
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Yield: 24 skewers
Adapted from “Born to Grill,” by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison.
Marinade:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 drops red pepper sauce, Zest and juice of
1 orange
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads, optional
1/2 teaspoon salt
Skewers:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 oranges, peeled
4 to 5 green onions, tops trimmed, cut diagonally into 1-inch sections
1. For marinade, combine mayonnaise, oil, lemon juice, garlic and red pepper sauce in large bowl. Grate zest from orange into mayonnaise mixture. Halve orange; squeeze its juices into mixture. Add thyme, saffron and salt; stir well. Add chicken; toss. Refrigerate 90 minutes to 4 hours.
2. Prepare gas or charcoal grill for medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade; drain marinade into small saucepan. Cut oranges into chunks or sections. Thread skewers with piece of chicken, piece of orange, another piece of chicken and piece of green onion; repeat pattern until all chicken is used.
3. Heat marinade to full boil, stirring occasionally; cook until marinade is reduced to a creamy sauce, about 2 minutes.
4. Place skewers on well-oiled grill rack. Grill 8-10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through, turning several times and brushing occasionally with boiled sauce.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …………. 60 Fat ……….. 3.4 g Saturated fat .. 0.6 g
% calories from fat .. 49 Cholesterol … 18 mg Sodium ……… 80 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 2.1 g Protein ……… 6 g Fiber ………. 0.4 g
SCALLOP AND BACON KEBABS WITH CHILI-ONION MARINADE
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Cooking time: 45 minutes
The onion marmalade and salad in this recipe are optional if you want a simpler dinner. Adapted from “Sticks & Skewers,” by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern.
Chili-onion marmalade:
5 medium onions, peeled, finely sliced
1/4 cup olive oil 1 bay leaf
4 jalapeno chilies, seeded, finely sliced
1 tablespoon sugar Pinch salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon creme de cassis, optional
1/4 Teaspoon ground allspice
Skewers:
12 medium scallops
1 Tablespoon olive oil 5 to 6 green onions, cut into 1-inch lengths
4 to 8 slices smoked pancetta or bacon
Freshly ground pepper
Salad:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley Mixed salad greens
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1. For marmalade, combine onions, oil, bay leaf, chilies, sugar and salt in wide, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat. Cover; simmer until onions begin to soften, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Add vinegar, creme de cassis and allspice. Stir to combine; cook gently, without stirring, until onions are translucent, about 15 minutes longer. Remove from heat; cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Prepare charcoal or gas grill. Soak bamboo skewers in water 30 minutes. Trim scallops if necessary. Heat oil in skillet; cook green onions briefly to soften. Heat pancetta, if desired (if using bacon, cook it until limp in skillet).
3. For skewers, place scallop and piece of green onion together; wrap with strip of pancetta. Pierce with bamboo skewer through diameter of scallop circle. Repeat with remaining scallops. Place on grill; cook until scallops are opaque and lightly browned at edges, about 3 minutes per side.
4. For salad, combine oil, rice vinegar and parsley. Toss with salad greens. Pile greens on serving plates; top with several scallop skewers, Add spoonful of marmalade. Season with salt and pepper.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 420 Fat ……….. 34 g Saturated fat .. 7 g
% calories from fat .. 70 Cholesterol .. 20 mg Sodium …… 390 mg
Carbohydrates …… 20 g Protein ……. 12 g Fiber …….. 3.2 g
