Get Stuffed! On a Stick!

In rediscovering my youth, I have taken to reading history books about the Crusades and knights in shiny armor doing chivalrous things like burning whole villages to the ground and putting entire beliefs to the sword. This brings me to Kebabs, which have technically been around ever since Neanderthal one saw Neanderthal two burn it’s fingers off after trying to roast some meat on the communal fire and decided “Ugh, rrrrrrrrrrrr,gggrrrommmwuggggHooHoo…” meaning: “I am absolutely certain that if I stuck my large quivering mass of half rotted saber toothed tiger meat on the end of a long stick, I will not be horribly burned like my friend Neanderthal Two. I suppose if I use a fresh cut stick it will not burn easily, as when we add green wood to the sacred fire, so I will be able to retrieve my cooked flesh and enjoy it with vigor!” Spearing stuff on a metal skewer is quite often popularized as being done most often during the Middle Ages when everyone seemed to have a big sword. What happened to those days? Heavy sigh...

Apicius even mentions in his cookbook of the late Roman Empire the roasting of bits of meat on sticks. Roasting on a spit however has been around since before written history. It’s the chopping of bits up and then impaling them on bits of wood or metal that has developed the controversy. Today the spearing of meat and vegetables and roasting is incredibly popular in the Levant, North Africa, Egypt, the islands of the Mediterranean, lower parts of Spain (Held by the Moors for centuries, today it survives as Pinchos little grilled skewers of meat or vegetables) and Greece.

For some reason this method of cooking seemed to die out the farther north you go, where simple roasting and boiling took over.

Personally I think there is nothing quite as invigorating as running some dead meat through with a spike and roasting it over and open flame. I do not recommend a return to Roman Cooking, personally because it seems harder and harder to get a hold of a pound of otter’s noses (They seem very attached to them) and chopped nightingales tongues (Same). So stabbing bits of meat or dead vegetables onto sticks sounds like jolly good fun, probably there is something very Freudian going on there. Oh well, here goes, classic Shish Kebabs.

Ingredients:

2 ½ Pounds of Lamb shoulder or beef boned and cut into 1 ½ inch chunks

4 Tablespoons of olive oil

½ Cup of white wine

1 Tablespoon of lemon juice

1 Eggplant cut into 1 ½ inch cubes, sprinkled with salt and placed in a colander for 20 minutes.

2 Cloves of garlic chopped

12-20 Cherry tomatoes

2 Green Peppers cut into 1 Inch squares

2 Onions cut into 1 Inch squares

Salt and Pepper

For two entirely different tastes these are tried and true the first is savory and simple, the other is still simple but the flavor is different, the use of standard household spices to create something rather exotic and very aromatic. These herb and spice proportions are toned down, I usually use double but I am used to it:

2 Tablespoons of Italian seasoning (Or a mix of: Basil, Oregano, Rosemary and Marjoram)

1 Tablespoon of cumin, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of coriander, 1 teaspoon of paprika.

Method:

Mix the oil, wine, garlic and lemon juice pour half over the beef or lamb and half over the vegetables except the cherry tomatoes. Leave to marinate overnight.

If using bamboo skewers soak for at least half an hour in warm water so that they do not spontaneously combust. Then thread meaty chunks alternating with vegetables or just vegetable skewers reserving marinade. Season with salt and pepper and one of the blends listed above.

Broil or grill until meat is cooked to desired doneness and or vegetables are tender. Brush with reserved marinade several times during the cooking process. Serves six

Serve with a green salad or with Turkish rice I'll post that one tomorrow, yes they are raisins not Rabbit pellets.