Grilled Kebabs
Howdy folks, and thanks for stopping by the website! Feel like grillin’ this weekend? I’ve just picked up some tender cuts of NY Strip and some ripe vegetables from the garden. It’s perfect weather to throw some kebabs on and invite some folks over for a cookout.
Start with Fresh Ingredients
For kebabs, I like to use a Certified Angus Beef NY Strip Steak. It’s a naturally tender cut of meat and is so delicious to eat off of a skewer. Don’t worry, though, you can use whatever you prefer with this recipe. What makes a kebab extra delicious is when you just pick a zucchini and a couple of peppers from the garden or the farmer’s market and you put them on the grill the same day. There is just something so satisfying about eating food in it’s simplest form.
Marinate with Lime Juice
Before you start slicing up the vegetables, start by slicing the meat into 2″ chunks or thereabouts. What size you make them is up to you, as long as they’re all the same size. That way you won’t have half of them undercooked and the other half charred to death.
Tip: Cut the steak into pieces of the same size, so they’ll all be cooked to the same degree.
While lime juice will not affect the taste of the steak, it will break down the connective tissue in the muscle and it will make whatever cut you’re grilling even more tender. Cover really well in Original Seasoning and put in a vacuum sealed bag for 30 minutes or so.
Tip: Vacuum sealed bags or plastic zipper bag with most of the air removed will help the marinade tenderize the meat even more.
Kebab Vegetables
I sure do love a fresh yellow squash from the garden. You can feed the whole county for a month if you get two good squash vines going, so there’s a lot of it when I make kebabs. The other veggies I like on kebabs are red, white and yellow onions, bell peppers, zucchini, and a good jalapeno.
For squash, you want to cut them into uniform chunks. They’re soft so you can cut them pretty thick. Onions and peppers have thicker skins so slice those thinner. Some like pineapple on a kebab, and if you do, go for it. I prefer my pineapple when I make pork kebabs. You make these however it is you want.
Skewer the Kebabs
If you’re using the wooden kind of kebab, soak in water for two hours before you put them on the fire so they don’t burn up and drop your food into the fire. Once the skewers are ready to go, grab all of your meat and veggie chunks and assemble.
Tip: When grilling, always warm up your beef to room temperature before you grill it.
Start off with a jalapeno down at the end. Leave a little space and add a piece of meat. Next up, well, take a look at the picture here and do it like this:
Tip: Leave a little space between each piece to allow the fire to cook everything well.
Season all over one last time with some Original Seasoning so the vegetables are seasoned and it’s time to go on the grill.
Preheat your grill to about 400 degrees F using hardwood lump charcoal. Trust me, you want to use this stuff instead of a briquet for incredible flavor. We’re going to smoke them a little – I like a fruit wood like cherry and some oak for these.
Once the grill is heated up, place the kebabs over indirect heat for 15 minutes on each side with the lid closed – we’ll char them at the end. When the meat is just about medium rare, crank up the fire, char about a minute on each side, and get out of the way because everybody’s gonna come at you ready for some food the way these are smelling.
Grilled Kebabs – Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 2 Ribeye Steaks 1-1/4-inch thick
- lime juice
- Kent Rollins’ Original Seasoning or salt and pepper
- 1 yellow squash sliced ¾ inch thick
- 1 zucchini squash sliced ¾ inch thick
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 purple onion sliced in into 1 inch chunks
- 1 white onion sliced into 1 inch chunks sliced in into 1 inch chunks
- 4 jalapenos sliced into fourths
Instructions
- Cut the steaks into 1-inch chunks and rub well with lime juice. Season with Kent Rollins’ Original Seasoning or salt and pepper. Be sure to coat all sides. Place in a vacuum seal bag and seal.
- Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Clean and preheat the grill to 400F, placing coals on one end of the grill, for direct and indirect heat.
- Place one piece of the jalapeno on the skewer, then steak, then the yellow squash, meat, onion, meat, bell pepper, zucchini, meat, white onion, meat, etc. and top with the jalapeno.
- Place skewers on the indirect side of the grill and shut the lid. Add some apple or cherry wood chunks and cook for 10 minutes.
- Flip them over and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes on the indirect side. Place the skewers over the direct fire and cook for about 2 to minutes to char on all sides.
- Remove from skewers and let rest for about 3 minutes, then serve.