CALF_News_August_September_2021

36 CALF News • August | September 2021 • www.calfnews.net GRILL H O T O F F T H E A C A L F N E W S B B Q P A R T Y KABOBS FOR ALL T he time will come for even the best grill users. You have spent the time necessary to perfect your techniques, you know your grill, you can sear a steak or a burger or even an all-beef brat to perfection. You have no fear of what a glorious evening at the grill can bring and then, as you are planning to have some people over, you get the news,“Oh by the way, one of the guests does not eat meat.” Now we live in troubled, sometimes divisive times, but the grill is a place for harmony, a place where even the most massive differences can be bridged. So as the grill master, it is your job to learn at least one meal where even those who reject the wonders of beef (or even its lesser grill cousins, pork and chicken) and provide a meal that will satisfy all who attend. It is at this troublesome time that you can fall back on a tried-and- true dish that hearkens back to the ori- gins of cooking over fire, the kebob. Yes, food on a stick can help us all through the hard times. As you will know, kebobs are just that simple – pieces of meat and vegetables aligned on a stick, then cooked over fire. While kebobs are traditionally associ- By Brad Geiger Contributing Editor ated with cuisines from the Middle East, let’s face it, they almost certainly are an ancient technique. Surely one of our hunter ancestors combined his mammoth chunks on a stick, along with whatever the gathering party had picked up that day. Archeologists have unearthed skewer holders from the Minoans (big cow folks) dating back more than 3,000 years. While our modern grills are likely more convenient (no electric starters have been discovered in Minoan ruins), making kebobs puts us in a long-honored line. One great advantage of kebobs is the level of choice available. However, any good cook reading this article will want to start with the most important ques- tion, which cut of steak? Most recipes recommend sirloin, a flavorful lean cut that often comes in the right size for cutting into 1- to 1½-inch cubes. Other sites recommend even pricier cuts like flat iron steak or even filet, which seems somewhat excessive to those not flying their beef in on a private plane. The advantage to using a better cut is that it can be cooked quickly and still be tender. However, if you are getting to the bottom of your freezer, round steak can be used with a bit of preparation. As most reading this know, round steak usually requires some slower method to tenderize the tough fibers. However that result can be recreated through the use of a good marinade, which also adds flavor. I like to use a meat tenderizer on the round steak (the bladed kind, not the hammer) before cutting the round into the previously mentioned cubes and marinating them in a gallon zip-top bag overnight. Com- mercial marinades work great for this, although they can be pretty salty. If you want to make your own, start with soy sauce and Worcester- shire sauce as well as some acid such as balsamic vinegar or lime juice. Then toss in some garlic and whatever spices you have hanging around. Round steak needs at least eight hours in the marinade and does even better overnight. Now, on to those vegetables. Again, the wonder of kebobs is choice. Onions are pretty much mandatory, but after that, anything you can cut into slices or chunks will work. If you made the mistake of planting too many hills of squash or zucchini, this is a great time to use them. Cherry tomatoes add color, as do the various red orange or yellow bell peppers. Whole mushrooms are easy as long as they are about the same size, and it’s nearly impossible to overcook mushrooms, which is handy. Some folks swear by chunks of potatoes, regular and sweet, but those require both more time and more attention to doneness. What we are looking for here are vegetables that you can tell are done by looking. There is enough going on here without checking the temperature of 13 different items spread all over your grill. So now, about an hour before cooking is the time for cutting those vegetables. Mushrooms and cherry tomatoes are already arranged in bite size pieces, but for the rest you will need to show off your knife skills. Remember you want each piece if each type of vegetable to cook in approximately the same amount of time, which means you have to cut them into similar size. Onions are a bit tricky, as they tend to turn into little peels rather photo from www.twohealthkitchens.com