Who doesn’t love a shish kebab? I don’t know of one single person that said, they do not like kebabs, if they don’t they must not eat meat, but there are a multitude of ways of making kebabs without meat. I have tried veggie kebabs, fruit kebabs, seafood kebabs and even cake kebabs, all finger licking good. My last show on ESPN, I prepared chicken, lamb and beef kebabs along with other foods. I was going to prepare everything with kebabs, even the dessert that I was making, but to change the table setting/display, I decided to not go that route. The kebabs were delicious, I had to smack a couple of hands to stop eating them before the show started. My goodness!
What are brochettes? They are the same as shish kebabs, just a different name adopted from the Middle East. They are both similar in how it is prepared, with meat and vegetables on skewers or long sticks to evenly cook small bite size pieces of food usually placed on a grill top surface. Easy enough. The key to the best meat kebabs is to marinate your meat, especially beef and lamb in a teriyaki and soy sauce combination with other seasonings and vegetables for at least 1 hour. Using a skewer, poke a little hole in the meat before marinating as the flavor seeps into the meat adding a little more flavor. Don’t poke too many holes as it will dry out your meat. Thank you.
I find the stainless steel skewers work best when preparing shish kebabs as they are easier to handle. The bamboo/wood skewers should be soaked for at least 30 minutes or longer in water to prevent it from burning on the grill. When placing on the grill, do not have your fire on high or your wooden skewers will be charred totally. You won’t be able to pick up the burnt end of the kebab, it will crumble in your hand. Place your kebabs on a low to medium temperature throughout the grilling process. You can thank me later for this advice as it will save you from having to re-skewer your kebabs for presentation purposes. Happy Grilling!!!!!
Aunt Carmen
