The May holidays are a wonderful opportunity to combine the useful with the pleasant: garden cares and picnic-shashlyk. No matter where you spend your weekend - at your summer cottage, in the garden, on the river or lake, even just in the courtyard - there is a place for barbecue everywhere. The main thing - the desire, good company and knowledge how to cook a delicious barbecue on the fire. Inspiration and friendly company for a raid on nature will certainly be found, and now I will share the recipe for a tasty kebab.
Ingredients for Kebab
For 8 large portions:
- 1 kg of meat;
- 7-8 medium onions;
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste;
- 3-4 tbsp. l mayonnaise.
Which meat is better to choose for kebabs?
The most delicious kebab, juicy and soft, is obtained from pork, but not from any piece, but from a necklace or tenderloin — soft meat with a little fat. Beef is best left for steak, as it is rather dry. But from chicken (thighs, legs) also get a good kebab.
How to pickle meat for a kebab?
Choosing the right meat is not enough - you need to marinate it. I use the simplest spices for marinade - salt, pepper, white onions and a bit of mayonnaise. You can add your favorite spices to this basic set of spices: garlic, paprika or dried herbs, ready-made seasoning mixtures. Fans of unusual flavors can try to season the skewers with ginger or mint. Sometimes wine is added to the marinade, or lemon juice and olive oil; Tomato juice (sauce) or kefir. Each component in its own way affects the taste of the dish. Such marinade components as sour juices and alcoholic beverages soften the meat; lemon juice and vinegar, in addition, give sourness (do not overdo it); mayonnaise adds fat, and dairy products or tomato - softness and juiciness.
Sometimes for the marinade they use more exotic ingredients: for the kebab in Greek - pomegranate juice; in Chinese - soy sauce combined with ginger, honey, dry wine, garlic and pepper. Some people pickle meat in kvass, beer or grape juice. What to choose from this variety, decide according to your taste.
There is also an opinion that dry meat marinade is best for meat on kebabs, that is, a mixture of spices without adding liquid. How many cooks - so many options. It will be interesting if you, dear readers, share in the comments your ways of marinating meat.
What kind of firewood is needed for shish kebab?
The best kebab can be done on the wood of fruit trees: plum, cherry, apple. The aroma of fruit crops is transferred to the dish, and the kebab turns out delicious. You can also take oak or maple firewood, but conifers are absolutely not suitable for kebabs.
It is better to select the branches and logs for the fire of equal thickness and length so that they burn through simultaneously. And, of course, the wood must be dry.
How to cook skewers?
Having dealt with the nuances, proceed to the actual preparation of kebabs. Rinse the meat, dry it, cut it into cubes with a side of about 3-5 cm and put it in an enameled bowl. Aluminum is better not to use, because under the action of the marinade dishes oxidized. Wooden container is also not the best option, since the tree absorbs the juice and smell, and we need both to remain in the kebab, and not in the pot.
Peel the onions, wash them and cut them into 2-3 mm thick rings.
Connect the meat and onions, salt and pepper.
Add a little mayonnaise, mix thoroughly and leave the kebab for at least 2 hours at room temperature (you can overnight).
While the meat is pickled, we make a fire so that the embers have time to burn out.
The general principles of the device barbecue are as follows: its depth should be approximately 15-20 cm; a layer of coal at the bottom is about 5 cm, and the kebab should be placed at a height of 15 cm above the embers. You can adjust the height in the cooking process, focusing on the appearance of the kebab: if the meat is not roasted, you need to rearrange it lower, and if, on the contrary, it begins to char, then raise it higher.
How to understand that it is time to put a kebab on the grill?
Hold your hand over the coals at a height of 15 cm. If you can withstand just a couple of seconds, it is still early. And if the hand withstands the heat for 4-5 seconds - it's time. For a bird, a lower temperature is required than for meat - the “test for aging” lasts 10 seconds.
String meat on skewers, placing the pieces along the fibers and alternating with onion rings. Baked onions - my favorite ingredient in kebab! And if you add to the “company” tomato circles, slices of eggplant, pieces of bell pepper - the kebab will be even brighter and tastier. String tightly so that during cooking the meat and vegetables are soaked with the juice and flavor of each other.
And to make it easier to string, you can lubricate the skewer with sunflower oil. But be careful - take care of your hands!
Place the kebabs over the coals and cook, turning them from time to time. If the heat is not enough, you can periodically inflate the coals, waving plywood or something similar. If, on the contrary, the heat is too strong, we raise the skewers higher, and when the flame breaks out - slightly sprinkle with water.
How to determine the readiness of the kebab?
Shish kebab cooking time is about 25-35 minutes. To understand whether the meat is ready, you need to cut one piece of kebab and look at the juice. If it is reddish - we continue to cook, the kebab is still raw in the middle. The pinkish tint is the average degree of roastiness, and the clear juice means that the kebab is ready.
Remove the skewers from the barbecue on a dish or tray and immediately serve hot, decorating with vegetables and herbs. Enjoy your meal!
