Off-campus Kitchen: Marinated Beef Shish Kebabs
My thesis is nearly done and I've decided it's grilling season. This past weekend, a friend and I trekked up to my extended family's place in rural Vermont for a day of wandering the fields in the spring sun. We finished off the afternoon with amazing marinated shish kebabs, which we grilled outside while showcasing our dismal frisbee skills.
In this column, I've generally tried to skirt writing about foods that hail from culinary traditions other than that in which I was raised. I actually make curries, pad thai, stir fry and other dishes all the time, but I never want to claim that my versions—influenced by restaurants, friends, cookbooks and the Internet—remotely approach the true historic essence of the dishes I'm trying to emulate. So bear that disclaimer in mind with this recipe; think of this more as a delicious marinade for grilled meat than an authentic shish kebab, and I'd always encourage you to explore the authentic version. Also bear in mind that the bulk of time for this dish is in the marination, so plan ahead!
You will need:
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp grated ginger
1 cup oyster sauce
1 cup tawny port (use beef broth instead if you're under 21)
2 tsp each: cardamom, fennel, thyme, maple sugar (use more brown if you don't have maple)
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 pounds steak, ideally cut into chunks
3 bell peppers
2 onions
2 tomatoes (substitute other veggies if desired- zucchini and portabella mushrooms would be excellent)
Bamboo skewers or metal sticks
Serves four - buy more steak and veggies to stretch the meal
1. Cut steak into 1-inch square chunks if they are not pre-cut. Cut desired veggies into comparable pieces. Mix herbs and maple sugar together. Mix port, oyster sauce, ginger and brown sugar together.
2. Rub steak with herbs and maple sugar. Let marinate in wet mix for 1 1/2 hours. Dust with unsweetened cocoa powder (just a little!)
3. Make skewers: alternate piercing veggies with meat on skewers. Leave at least 1 cm between items to allow for proper cooking.
4. Fire up your grill! Grill until meat is cooked through and browned on the outside. On my grill, this took no more than six minutes.
