Kebabs have to be one of my all-time favorite barbecue meals. They allow you to dress up an otherwise bland piece of meat and make something spectacular out of it. And it’s on a stick. I mean, who doesn’t like food on a stick?
Shish Kebabs, or marinated meat roasted on a stick, have been around for centuries. The food is said to come from Turkey, according to research from foodtimeline.org and reference librarian Lynne Olver. The phrase comes originally from Turkish words meaining “skewer” and “roast meat”.
Three main types dominate: ones with a dry rub, marinated and ground meat pressed on a stick.
I’m a bigger fan of the marinated type, though I’ve had some great dry-rub types. A friend once made this delicious dry rub with cinnamon, cumin and other spices. Kabul’s on 45th Street in Seattle comes to mind when thinking of places to get great kebabs without making them yourself.
But Sunday was a stay-at-home kind of night, so I went hunting online for recipes.
My main criticism of most kebab recipes out there are the calls to alternate meat, onions and peppers or other veggies. While on the face of it, having those flavors mix in the cooking wouldn’t seem like a bad idea, but I’ve never had much success getting them all to cook at the same pace. My onions usually end up fairly raw while the meat blackens. So, I generally cook them separately.
But I came across a meat-only recipe that even tasted good reheated (recipe below). Continue reading
