Lamb skewers - general cooking principles
A good kebab is not just a snack, it is something grand. And the process of cooking results in a whole ritual. Of course, the dish can be cooked from almost any meat you wish, but lamb skewers, familiar to many people by hearsay, cannot be confused with any other. Being properly cooked, it turns out very fragrant, juicy and extremely tasty.
There is an infinite number of variations of cooking lamb kebabs. Starting with the simplest recipes without pre-marinating and ending with more complex, elegant ways using the most unusual marinades based on complex sauces, dry wine, mint, onion, spices and exotic spices. Anyway, cooking marinade for lamb shashlik is one of the most important and crucial moments. It is from what and how our nutritious basis for lamb is cooked that the final result, the juiciness of the meat, and its flavor will largely depend on it.
Lamb shashlik - food preparation
No less a role in the preparation of delicious kebabs will play, of course, the selected meat. With him, in fact, everything begins. So how to choose exactly what we need?
Without a doubt, lamb meat is considered to be the most ideal option for up to two to three months, but you can only taste such a delicacy in the spring. In addition, the gentle milk lamb - quite expensive. If you can not buy it, pay attention to the meat of young animals under the age of 9-12 months. As a rule, it differs in red color, elasticity and snow-white fat. The meat of older brethren has a dark color and yellow layers. In addition, fresh meat has a pleasant-sweet smell - keep this in mind when buying.
When you come home, cut the mutton into about 500 grams into pieces, rinse thoroughly, clean from tendons, films, cut off excess fat. Now you can cut into cubes the size of a walnut (or more). It is not necessary to get rid of small cartilage and bones, because they also have their piquancy and charm.
Lamb skewers - preparation of dishes and equipment
For cooking lamb kebabs, it would be nice to get a brazier or an electric grill. But if you want to feel that indisputable connection with nature, that memory, which is embedded in our genes from the times of ancient civilizations, when our ancestors anchored their hunting trophies on coals, build a hearth of unburned material (stones, bricks) and kindle a fire.
Utensils for marinating meat should be deep and non-oxidizable, because we will create an acidic environment for our kebabs. Perfect for these purposes, a large enamel pan or basin.
Recipe 1: Lamb shashlik in a Caucasian way
Caucasian-style kebabs are a sophisticated dish that is simply unacceptable to cook from thawed lamb. This whole art, preferring male hands! For such a responsible business, only the meat of a young animal will fit.
Ingredients:
- lamb 1 kg
- 4-5 onions
- ground pepper
- salt
- dry wine 150 gr.
- vegetable oil
Preparation:
Clean the lamb from unnecessary tendons and films, cut into small pieces. Season them with pepper, salt, mix with chopped onion rings, sprinkle with wine, add vegetable oil and mix well again. Leave it to marinate for a few minutes. Young meat is very gentle and quickly absorbs the aroma of spices. If the meat is not very young - leave it to marinate for a longer time (3-4 hours).
Next, put the pieces on metal skewers mixed with onions and fry over charcoal for ten or fifteen minutes. In the process of cooking, turn the skewer over and sprinkle the pieces with wine. To the finished kebab serve a lot of greens: basil, parsley, green onions, cilantro, etc.
Recipe 2: Lamb shashlik with yogurt
An unusual combination, is not it? For this recipe, it is advisable to use unsweetened yogurt. In the extreme case, it can be replaced with thick kefir (fat content of 3.2%). Ingredients:
- 1 kg of mutton
- a glass of yogurt
- 4 tbsp. l olive oil
- lemon one
- garlic 2-3 cloves
- half tsp. thyme
- half tsp rosemary
- mint
- black pepper, salt
Preparation:
Cut the lamb into approximately equal pieces. Salted, peppered. Mix yogurt with olive oil, thyme, rosemary. Rub the zest, squeeze the juice from the lemon, finely chop the mint. Add the zest, mint and juice to the mixture, mix everything. Pour the cooked marinade over the meat pieces and marinate for 5-9 hours. After that, you can start cooking kebabs on hot coals.
Recipe 3: Lamb shashlik with kiwi
The original outlandish recipe! For the marinade, along with the generally accepted ingredients, we will use mineral water, but the most unusual thing in this dish is kiwi.
Ingredients:
- 600 gr. lamb pulp
- half kiwi
- bunch of cilantro
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- half a lemon
- large tomato 1 piece
- 1 large onion head
- Sodium glutamate (sodium salt) 1 table. spoon
- 150 gr. vegetable oil
- mineral water 200 gr.
Preparation:
Cut the lamb into large pieces 2-2.5 cm thick. Cut onions in half (or quarters) and mince (garlic crusher) to give the juice and taste to the marinade. Cut tomatoes into slices and crush, garlic - with large plastics, chop cilantro finely.
Mix all ingredients in a deep bowl, squeeze out lemon juice and add monosodium glutamate (a natural flavor enhancer related to salts) to the marinade, mineral water. Expand the peeled kiwi and add it to the marinade, add vegetable oil. Mix everything thoroughly with cooked pieces of meat. Leave to marinate for 3-8 hours. Then you can start cooking kebabs.
Recipe 4: Classic lamb skewers
For this recipe, you can use the loin, the back leg of the lamb, the desired young. In addition, from components such as kidneys, liver, heart, you also get an excellent kebab. Grilled dish on the grill or electric grill. Ingredients:
- lamb 1 kg
- 6 onions (bulb)
- 3% vinegar half a glass
- 4 tomatoes
- Tkemali sauce 4-5 st. spoons
- Lemon 1 pc.
- dried barberries on the tip of a knife
- lamb fat 20 gr.
- salt, pepper, any greens
Preparation:
Cut the meat, as always, in small pieces, put in a dish, season with pepper, salt, finely chopped onions, vinegar (lemon juice), mix. Cover with a lid, leave for two to five hours to soak. After this time, string the pieces together with slices of onions, tomatoes on a skewer, and then grease them with lamb lard and grill. Keep the meat over the hot coals, constantly turning, you need 10-15 minutes. To ready shish kebabs serve tkemali sauce and a lot of greens. Enjoy your meal!
Lamb skewers - useful tips
For any kebabs most suitable coals of lime, cherry, oak or birch wood. It is better not to use raw coniferous trees, otherwise you will get kebabs with a characteristic resin flavor. Unacceptable and the use of gasoline, as well as other flammable substances.
In the frying process, rotate the skewer regularly to achieve even cooking. If the meat begins to dry out or burn prematurely, grease it with the remaining marinade. Do not forget to sprinkle the kebabs from time to time with water or wine acidified with vinegar. This will prevent premature burning and allow the meat to remain juicy inside.
