No one can argue the unmistakable flavors imparted on meat, vegetables, fish and all foods that are grilled. There's even an age-old debate over charcoal versus gas grilling. Charcoal grilling undoubtedly yields its own unique profiles, but who's to say that the many accumulated pieces of burnt food particles in a gas grill doesn't do the same? It's all elemental carbon anyway right? But, we're not here to debate. We're here to celebrate the oldest and, not to mention, my personal favorite culinary technique with a recipe that is sure to knock your tongs out of your hand. But first, let's get educational.
Grilling is a dry heat application that uses thermal radiation to transfer heat to the surface of the food. It is not to be mistaken with broiling which uses the same method except that the heating source is above the food not below. The most common forms of grilling uses charcoal, wood briquettes, or propane gas to cook meat, fish, or vegetables on a suspended wire grate. The two words "barbecuing" and "grilling" are used interchangeably nowadays but, in reality, they mean totally different things. Barbecuing is characterized by long cooking times, low heat, and plenty of smoke.
The recipe I chose for this week was purely developed by my love for skewered meats. For a long time now, I have exploited a family recipe for an Asian pork skewer. I get rave reviews at every party or barbecue I bring them to. "Mike, I loved those shish kebabs!" It's such a simple recipe but the flavors compliment each other extremely well. I've always wondered why so many people use the term "shish kebab" for my skewers. The term shish kebab originates in the Middle East dating all the way back to Persian times. Different cultures have developed similar renditions of skewered meats. The Japanese have yakitori, the Thai have satay, the Portuguese have espetadas. I guess when a magnificent culinary invention is spawned it spreads like wildfire.
In order to influence my creativity, I decided to brainstorm and create a new skewer recipe in my head and just go for it. I knew I wanted to do a combo of shrimp and chicken for the meat, and the sounds of a sweet and sour, Hawaiian glaze also kept resonating in my head. The distinct flavor of a fresh herb would need to be injected throughout the dish and so I decided to use cilantro which went well with both shrimp and chicken. Appropriate levels of acidity would come from freshly squeezed lime juice, and the glaze would have a hint of ginger in it. I also decided that the skewer would have vegetables on it. Specifically, I would use red and green peppers, red onions, some of the pineapple chunks, and mushrooms. This would give it a nice balance of flavors, textures, and colors. At this point, adding anything else would be borderline overkill so I began working out the details of my recipe.
The sweet and sour glaze started with pineapple juice, chunks of pineapple, chicken broth, and brown sugar. I then added ginger and let the whole mixture reduce by half. To thicken it into a glaze, I used a water-cornstarch mixture. There's a dual purpose to the cornstarch, besides thickening it also gives the glaze a hint of shine. Once the consistency was to my liking, I turned off the heat and let it cool.
I cut up chicken breast into 1" cubes and washed and cleaned black tiger shrimp. The shrimp were rather large, somewhere in the realm of a 16-20 count per pound.
Side note: Shrimp sizes are expressed by "count per pound". For example, a 16-20 count shrimp means an average of 18 of these shrimp will yield a pound. This infers the size of the shrimp. The smaller the count per pound the bigger the shrimp.
The art of skewering and grilling a meat and vegetable combination is an art in itself. To get the proper doneness on both ingredients each has to be cut to a certain size with the cooking temperature in mind. If this isn't done correctly, the meats could be under/overcooked and/or the vegetables could still have that unappetizing raw taste. No one likes to bite into a salad on a stick.
From my grilling research, I learned the lesson of the week - It is important to preheat your grill 15 to 30 minutes prior to cooking. I preheated the grill's front burner to low and made sure to oil it so sticking didn't become a problem. With every flip of a skewer, I immediately followed with a healthy brushing of the sweet and sour glaze. After about 25 minutes, the vegetables were tender and the chicken and shrimp looked nearly perfect.
I created a cream drizzle for the skewers by adding a half cup of heavy cream to the leftover glaze and pineapple chunks with a quarter cup of chicken broth. After 10 minutes over low heat, I seasoned it with paprika, salt and pepper and drizzled it over the skewers hot off the grill.
Overall, I'd give myself an A- for this week's dish. The execution could have been better because the shrimp's were slightly overcooked. I think in the future I will keep the shrimp and chicken separate to improve on this. The flavors were top-notch. I don't think I would change much in that respect. Grilling creates unmatched flavors in any dish making it one of my favorite cooking techniques. Since the dawn of humanity, it has been practiced and perfected by millions of people and cultures. A secondary technique I used this week was the art of skewering meat. I have never known a person to turn down a culinary treat of this nature and I would venture to say that I never will. Meat on a stick has its own history and I would not dare attempt to do it justice in this blog entry. But rest assured, skewered meats will have its time. Until next time, I wish you good eats!
I cut up chicken breast into 1" cubes and washed and cleaned black tiger shrimp. The shrimp were rather large, somewhere in the realm of a 16-20 count per pound.
Side note: Shrimp sizes are expressed by "count per pound". For example, a 16-20 count shrimp means an average of 18 of these shrimp will yield a pound. This infers the size of the shrimp. The smaller the count per pound the bigger the shrimp.
The art of skewering and grilling a meat and vegetable combination is an art in itself. To get the proper doneness on both ingredients each has to be cut to a certain size with the cooking temperature in mind. If this isn't done correctly, the meats could be under/overcooked and/or the vegetables could still have that unappetizing raw taste. No one likes to bite into a salad on a stick.
From my grilling research, I learned the lesson of the week - It is important to preheat your grill 15 to 30 minutes prior to cooking. I preheated the grill's front burner to low and made sure to oil it so sticking didn't become a problem. With every flip of a skewer, I immediately followed with a healthy brushing of the sweet and sour glaze. After about 25 minutes, the vegetables were tender and the chicken and shrimp looked nearly perfect.
I created a cream drizzle for the skewers by adding a half cup of heavy cream to the leftover glaze and pineapple chunks with a quarter cup of chicken broth. After 10 minutes over low heat, I seasoned it with paprika, salt and pepper and drizzled it over the skewers hot off the grill.
Overall, I'd give myself an A- for this week's dish. The execution could have been better because the shrimp's were slightly overcooked. I think in the future I will keep the shrimp and chicken separate to improve on this. The flavors were top-notch. I don't think I would change much in that respect. Grilling creates unmatched flavors in any dish making it one of my favorite cooking techniques. Since the dawn of humanity, it has been practiced and perfected by millions of people and cultures. A secondary technique I used this week was the art of skewering meat. I have never known a person to turn down a culinary treat of this nature and I would venture to say that I never will. Meat on a stick has its own history and I would not dare attempt to do it justice in this blog entry. But rest assured, skewered meats will have its time. Until next time, I wish you good eats!
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