Rule 1. No frozen meat. Only chilled is suitable for barbecue.
Rule 2. We carefully inspect the pieces: there should be no dark spots or unpleasant odor on the meat. The pieces should be of an even color - If you do get frozen pieces, see Rule 1.
Raw kebab should have an even color and smell pleasant
Mutton. The pulp from a lamb's butt or leg is perfect for barbecue. Ask immediately at the market to have the meat separated from the bones. Along the way, grab the fat tail, which will make the taste of fried meat richer. Next, the system of actions is as follows: cut the pulp into pieces of approximately 4x5 cm. For the marinade, use salt, pepper, paprika and garlic. If you want variety, then pomegranate juice, coriander and cilantro go well with lamb. Marinate the meat for no more than 30 minutes. Place pieces of lamb on skewers, alternating with pieces of fat tail - it will be more flavorful and juicy. And eating tail fat is not at all necessary.
Pork. The ideal material for barbecue is pork neck with a small amount of fatty layers. Lean meat, like tenderloin, is guaranteed to turn out dry, but fried lard is still not for everyone. We cut the kebab not too finely, into pieces 4x5 cm. As for me, the best marinade for pork is tomato juice with garlic, salt and pepper. Keep the meat in the marinade for about 30 minutes.
Chicken. Turkey is a little dry, so I prefer chicken over it. Chicken thighs are especially good for barbecue. You can fry them with or without the bone; the flesh from the thighs is also called “shawarma”. Marinate the pieces in salt, pepper, paprika with the addition of vegetable oil. You can send chicken wings in the same marinade and then fry them on the grill.
Beef. I sincerely do not recommend torturing beef with skewers. It is better to fry medallions on a grill from soft and juicy beef tenderloin. Or take ready-made steaks for grilling. The remaining skewers of the cow will be too dry and tough.
Signature kebabs from Andrey Zavarnitsin: from appetizer to dessert
Lamb shashlik
Shish kebab is not often prepared from lamb, but in vain. Lamb meat is tender and delicate, and also does not have such a pronounced smell as that of an adult, especially a fat-tailed sheep. And to give it a little more character, aroma and tenderness, you can pre-marinate it.
Lamb shashlik
Khachapuri on skewer
Try to find a special suluguni for grilling in the form of a long sausage, but you can also use a regular round head. You can add mozzarella to the pizza filling. And as a sauce for these, it would be delicious to serve adjika, feijoa pulp pureed with sugar, or any sauce of your choice.
Khachapuri on skewer
Few people would think of roasting ordinary marshmallows. But marshmallows are a different matter. Soft, chewy, is a classic element of American barbecue culture. No outdoor party is complete without it.
Grilled marshmallows in chocolate sauce
With the onset of spring, tired of the winter cold, people rush to the bosom of nature to pamper their bodies under the rays of the gentle sun, breathe in fresh air and, of course, “relax their souls” in communication with friends. But what picnic would be complete without a traditional barbecue? And it is noteworthy that as many people go out into nature, they take with them so many varieties of marinated meat.
In order not to “disgrace yourself” in front of your friends, did you decide to cook kebabs? But we were at a loss, not knowing which recipe to choose in order to surprise our friends. Yes, there are many recipes, and each of them is good in its own way. The main thing is to follow the recipe so as not to spoil the meat. The product itself should be cut into small cubes with a side of 5 cm.
One of the simplest and most traditional ones is a vinegar-based marinade. To marinate 1 kg of meat, you need to mix 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vinegar with 1/3 cup of vegetable oil. Salt, pepper and other spices are added to taste. After 3 hours, the meat can be put on skewers.
This recipe can be varied by using lemon juice instead of vinegar, and adding starch and tomato slices. And then you can string tomatoes and onion rings mixed with meat onto skewers.
Having marinated the meat in mayonnaise, you can start cooking kebabs within an hour. To prepare the marinade, first you need to grind half a kilogram of onions in a meat grinder and mix it with a 200-gram tube of mayonnaise. The readiness of the kebab can be judged by the reddish crust that covers the fried meat.
The eternal companion of mayonnaise at feasts, tomato sauce or ketchup can also be used as an ingredient for marinating meat. Ketchup is slightly diluted with boiled water and mixed with chopped onions. Other spices are added to taste. The meat is kept in this marinade for at least 6 hours.
For tomato marinade, tomato juice is used instead of ketchup. You can take a ready-made drink, or you can mash fresh tomatoes with a fork into a paste, mix with grated onions and pour this mixture over the meat, which should marinate under pressure for at least a day. If desired, you can add torn cilantro, chili pepper and orange slices to the marinade. But it’s best to salt the meat half an hour before putting it on the skewers.
People have learned to marinate meat in kefir. And such kebabs turn out quite tender. Meat, cut into pieces, and onion rings are laid out in multi-tiered layers in a marinating container. In this case, each layer should be peppered. Then kefir is poured in so that the meat is completely covered with it.
The whole difficulty here is that the meat should be marinated in kefir for at least 10 hours. Half an hour before the meat is skewered, it will need to be salted and mixed by hand. During the frying process, the kebab should be poured from time to time with kefir, in which the meat was marinated. And when serving the finished dish to the table, don’t forget about the cilantro.
Kefir can be replaced with milk. But then you will have to add a little vinegar or lemon juice to the drink. The meat is soaked in milk for at least a day.
True gourmets prefer shish kebab made from meat marinated in wine. And it doesn’t matter that this will take almost a day. But the shish kebab will be finger-licking good. When placing the meat in a pan for marinating, it is interspersed with onion rings and lemon slices. Then everything is poured with marinade prepared from one and a half liters of water and the same amount of white sour wine.
As for spices, salt, pepper (black and red), bay leaf, garlic, etc. are added to the wine marinade to taste. It is advisable to keep the meat drenched in marinade under pressure for 12 to 24 hours. But you can marinate meat for 8 hours if you use warm boiled water.
Meat is no less piquant when marinated with citrus fruits (pork is especially good). Onions, cut into four parts, should be carefully disassembled into petals and put pieces of meat into them. Orange and lemon juice (in equal quantities) are mixed with barbecue spices and poured into a marinating container. There should be enough juice to cover the meat. After keeping the pork in the marinade for 10 hours, add salt, stir and place on skewers.
When marinating meat, you can get by with lemons alone. For one and a half kilograms of meat you will need 2 lemons and 3 onions. In this case, the pork is salted and peppered immediately, mixed with fresh cilantro and onions, and poured with lemon juice. After 6 hours you can fry the kebab.
Another exotic fruit has recently been actively used for cooking barbecue - kiwi. But it is recommended for those who are on a salt-free diet. The kiwi pulp is grated and mixed with chopped meat. Garlic and onions twisted in a meat grinder, spices and a little ketchup are also added here. After the meat has been marinated, it is strung on skewers mixed with tomatoes, onion rings, eggplants and bell peppers and, sprinkled with vegetable oil, placed on the grill.
There are people who like to marinate meat in sparkling water. For this, narzan is best suited, to which lemon pulp and a drop of cardamom are added. Time for marinating – 3-4 hours. This marinade is more suitable for beef, which is soaked in this solution as a whole piece. After the meat is marinated, excess fat is cut off, the veins are cut off, and then the beef is cut into small pieces.
After this, the meat is sprinkled with onions mixed with adjika, twisted in a meat grinder. And marinate again for a day. The process, of course, is long and tedious, but it is worth it - the meat turns out juicy, soft and aromatic.
If you like the marinade recipes described above, but don’t have enough time for marinating, there is a reason to opt not for meat, but for poultry. All marinating recipes can be applied to chicken legs. It will take much less time for marinating, the kebab itself will cook faster, and the taste will be no worse than pork, beef or lamb.
But fish kebabs cook even faster. To marinate fish fillets, 20-30 minutes is enough. The kebab will turn out surprisingly tasty. Which fish to choose depends on your own preferences.
But if you can’t imagine a picnic without meat kebab, then you can speed up the marinating process by slightly heating the pan in which the meat is marinated. Or don’t spare a bottle of vodka for this task. Mix salted meat with cilantro and add alcohol. After 15 minutes you can fry the kebabs. Fast, cheerful and amazingly delicious!
The above recipes for cooking kebabs are just a drop in the ocean of modern cooking. Taking them as a basis, everyone can add their own flavor to the dishes, making the recipe original and worthy of praise. And even the process of preparing barbecue in nature can be turned into an entertaining competition for the most delicious, or the most beautiful, or perhaps the most unusual dish. Then the picnic itself will take on a completely different meaning.
You should try this delicious kebab marinated in salty coffee at least once in your life, if, of course, you are a fan of this dish.
It is as easy to prepare as all other kebabs. But the taste of this meat will amaze any gourmet!
And even Not gourmets will be pleasantly surprised by this unexpectedly tasty kebab.
So let's get down to business.
To prepare shish kebab in coffee marinade you will need:
the following products:
— Pork meat – 1 kg
— Onions – 2-3 pcs. large
— Olive oil – 2 tbsp. l.
— Dried basil – to taste
- Ground pepper and chili pepper - to taste
- Ground coffee - 1 tbsp. l.
– Water – 500 ml
— Salt – 1-2 tsp.
Cooking method
Cut the kebab meat into cubes, 4-5 cm on a side - such pieces are fried most evenly and burn less.
Cut the onion into rings.
Place meat and onions in a bowl for marinating meat, add pepper and basil to your taste, pour in olive oil. Stir. Someone will ask: “Why add olive oil to kebab?” - I will answer: “It acts as a vehicle here - it delivers the marinade inside the pieces of meat faster.”
Then pour salted, slightly hot coffee over the meat.
Brew the coffee for the marinade as follows:
Brew a tablespoon of ground coffee in half a liter of water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Leave for 10 minutes. Strain. Then dissolve salt in the coffee (no more than 2 teaspoons, so as not to oversalt).
Cover the kebab with almost hot coffee and leave to marinate at room temperature for 3 hours.
BON APPETIT!
Pork neck shashlik marinated in pomegranate juice
Photo: courtesy of the Khmeli&Suneli restaurant
This recipe was shared Chef of the Khmeli&Suneli restaurant Garik Manukyan. He says that pork neck with thin streaks of fat is best for making barbecue. This kind of meat makes kebab juicy, soft and just melts in your mouth! The chef recommends marinating shish kebab in pomegranate juice; in his opinion, the sweet, sour and aromatic juice gives the meat the best taste!
Ingredients
- Pork neck – 1 kg
- Pomegranate juice – 200 ml
- Onions – 1 kg
- Ground coriander – 6 g
- Ground paprika – 6 g
- Ground black pepper - 4 g
- Salt -10 g
How to cook
Rinse the pork well in running water and cut into approximately equal-sized pieces (the size of a chicken egg). Place the chopped meat in a marinating container, add salt and pepper, add coriander and paprika, and leave for a while so that the meat is saturated with spices. At this time, peel the onion, chop finely (for example, into thin feathers) and mix with the meat.
Then it’s the turn of pomegranate juice. Add it to the meat in small portions, stirring well all the time. The juice should be evenly distributed throughout the mass. Cover the meat with a plate or lid and leave to marinate for 6-10 hours.
Place the pieces so that the skewer pierces them along the grain. Fry the pieces of meat on the grill. The heat should be strong and even. Serve with fresh vegetables, pita bread and herbs.
Shish kebab from veal liver, heart and cheeks
If you want something completely special, prepare a skewers of assorted veal hearts, livers and cheeks. You'll see how simple, fast and delicious it is! He shared his recipes for this and the next two kebabs with MIR 24 readers Chef of the Valenok restaurant Sergei Vekshin.
Ingredients
- Veal cheeks – 500 g
- Hearts – 500 g
- Liver – 500 g
- Dill – 50 g
- Parsley – 50 g
- Pomegranate seeds – 50 g
- Lavash – 350 g
How to cook
Veal cheeks, heart and liver should be washed well and cut into equal pieces (preferably not large ones, a little more than half the size of a chicken egg). Put them on a skewer. Place the skewer on the grill and fry for 12-15 minutes, turning over every 3-4 minutes so that the kebabs are evenly coated with a golden brown crust.
Serve the finished kebab on pita bread. Garnish with red onion rings, pomegranate seeds, herbs and lemon slices.
Chicken wings in marinade
Photo: courtesy of the Valenok restaurant
Ingredients
- Chicken wings –1 kg
- Tomato paste – 150 g
- Salt, pepper - to taste
How to cook
Add salt and pepper to the tomato paste. Brush the chicken wings with the resulting marinade. Place them together and leave to marinate for an hour and a half, covered. Place on skewers as shown in the photo. Cook on the grill, making sure that the wings brown evenly and do not burn under any circumstances.
Salmon kebab
Photo: courtesy of the Valenok restaurant
Salmon skewers are a wonderful, tasty, simple and clearly underrated dish. And you don't need to marinate the salmon. And it’s ready in 10 minutes! Sergei Vekshin suggests baking pieces of salmon on coals along with sweet peppers and eggplant slices: the vegetables successfully complement the taste of the fish.
Ingredients
- Salmon – 1 kg
- Yellow pepper – 240 g
- Eggplant – 240 g
- Dill – 20 g
- Parsley – 20 g
- Pomegranate seeds – 20 g
- Red onion – 40 g
- Lavash – 150 g
- Lemon – 1 pc.
How to cook
Cut the salmon fillet into large pieces. Cut yellow peppers and eggplants randomly into slices of such a size that when strung, they are no wider than pieces of fish and do not stick out in all directions from the kebab. Place the ingredients on a skewer in the following sequence: vegetables, fish, vegetables again, fish and so on. Place the skewer on the grill and grill for 12-15 minutes, turning every three to four minutes.
Serve the finished kebab on pita bread, with half a lemon so that it is convenient to squeeze the juice onto the fish. Garnish with herbs, red onion and pomegranate seeds.
Pork ribs in adjika
Pork rib kebab is incredibly tasty if cooked correctly. This and the following recipe were shared with us by a young Chef of the Kazbek restaurant, Tbilisi resident Mamiya Jojua.
Ingredients
- Pork ribs – 1 kg
- Onions – 800 g
- Black peppercorns – 12 g
- Paprika – 8 g
- Dry thyme – 8 g
- Coarse salt – 25 g
- Vegetable oil – 600 g
How to cook
Cut the ribs into flat wide pieces, onion into half rings, and grind the pepper. Mix onions with spices and vegetable oil. Mix everything with the ribs and marinate for 12 hours (you can just leave it overnight). Place the meat on the grill on a well-heated grill and fry for 6 minutes, turning several times. Serve shish kebab with pickled red onions and pomegranate seeds.
Salmon shish kebab
Photo: courtesy of the Kazbek restaurant
Salmon shish kebab is an amazing dish for real gourmets. This is another recipe from Mamiya Jojua.
Ingredients
- Salmon fillet 900 g
- Mayonnaise 30 g
- Paprika 3 g
- Black peppercorns 3 g (grind)
- Tomato paste 30 g
- Salt 15 g
- Lemon juice 15 g
- Pomegranate seeds 75 g
How to cook
Make the marinade: mix all the ingredients for it, put coarsely chopped pieces of salmon into the mixture, stir, cover, put in the refrigerator and leave for at least two to three hours (overnight is possible).
Thread the marinated salmon onto a skewer and grill on the grill for 15 minutes. Garnish with a slice of lemon, pomegranate seeds, and serve with Narsharab sauce.
Bon appetit! Let your kebab turn out to be the most delicious!
You can divide the variety of kebabs that are present in many cafes by the type of raw material (meat, fish, poultry) and by the method of marinating it.
What to put on the skewer?
- Meat. The classic of the genre is lamb; pork kebab is often found, and veal is somewhat less common. Those who have the opportunity to cook game shish kebab enjoy it. In general, you can use any meat for this dish. The main thing is good quality, the presence of at least light fat and the absence of veins and films.
- Bird. Chicken, turkey and even ostrich meat, which is now often sold in hypermarkets, are quite suitable. The requirements for poultry pulp are the same as for meat.
- Fish. For barbecue, you can take both sea and river fish. It should be large, without small bones and quite fatty. Sturgeon or catfish shashlik turns out well.
- Offal. Pork or beef liver is the leader in this category. It cooks quickly, however, to ensure that the liver from the skewer is not dry, alternate it with vegetables or even pieces of lard. Pre-marinating the liver is not necessary.
Marinades and spices
There are a great many ways to marinate raw materials for barbecue. Each barbecue owner brings his own personality to them, choosing a bouquet of seasonings at his own discretion, however, marinades for barbecue can be divided according to the liquid component base.
- Protein marinades. This category includes kefir, yogurt, mayonnaise and even regular milk. The peculiarities of protein marinades include the length of time (up to a day) during which the meat should be aged. Kebab turns out especially well in carbonated ayran.
- From vegetables or fruits. The juices of many vegetables or fruits soften the meat and give it a characteristic flavor. In this role, you can use lemon, pomegranate, tomato and onion - each option can be independent or combined with another. For example, onion-tomato or onion-lemon marinade for barbecue. Natural juices work great (preferably with “sourness”). You can marinate meat in apple, grape, cranberry, tomato and other juices, as well as in their mixtures, without the risk of getting a dose of chemical dyes, preservatives or flavor enhancers. Shish kebab turns out especially well in tomato juice (namely juice!, not paste).
- Alcohol-containing marinades. Alcohol can also make meat more tender. For soaking, the pieces are poured with dry white or red wine, cognac, vodka or beer.
- Marinades from sauces. A common method of marinating meat in a variety of sauces is ketchup, adjika, various types of soy sauce, etc. Since they contain ingredients that help soften the meat and seasonings that add taste and aroma, this method is quite effective.
- Exotic marinades. Such recipes have nothing to do with classic kebab recipes; they can most likely be called original. However, since many people like the effect of such marinades, the recipes have a right to exist. One option is a mixture of vinegar and vegetable oil. Vinegar softens the meat, and vegetable oil “locks” moisture inside the pieces, making the kebab juicy. Another recipe, according to its authors and supporters, is based on the fermentation process and consists of pouring cooled, fresh, strong tea leaves over pieces of meat. Under the influence of enzymes, the meat acquires softness and a special taste.
The best marinades for pork kebabs(based on 1 kg of meat)
Classic recipe for barbecue marinade with vinegar, onion and black pepper.
Three hundred grams of onions, a heaped teaspoon of black allspice (you can replace a tablespoon and black pepper with a mixture of peppers. Salt, if added, is in small quantities, for old meat or tougher meat from the back of pork, lamb and beef Marinating lasts from 1 hour to a day, depending on the storage temperature and the tenderness of the kebab meat. Suitable for any type of kebab - pork, lamb, beef, poultry. For fish kebab, we recommend making the marinade with lemon juice and diluting it twice with mineral water. wine or grape juice of light grape varieties.
Marinade for barbecue with lemon, lemon or pomegranate juice.
Peel one large lemon and chop finely. Or pour a quarter to half a glass of lemon or pomegranate juice into the sliced kebab, stirring it at the same time. The recipe for marinade with lemon juice and pomegranate marinade for barbecue can be used without black pepper and onion. And this marinade is similar to the classic marinade recipe for pork or lamb shish kebab with vinegar, onion and black pepper. A more tender and delicate marinade. However, not everyone likes the aftertaste of lemon and pomegranate juice in the finished kebab. The combination with poultry and fish is almost perfect.
Caucasian marinade for barbecue with wine.
Mix a glass of young red wine, a teaspoon of black pepper or spicy tomato adjika and heat it up. Marinade with wine enhances the taste of shish kebab very well when adding suneli hops and other spices. At any market you can find a mixture of spices for barbecue and make the marinade yourself. But! No gourmet would do this! There such strong flavors are formed that the taste of charcoal-grilled meat in a kebab is completely lost. Ideal for any type of kebab, including red fish kebab. For white fish kebab - sturgeon or halibut, we recommend white pepper with salt and white wine.
Marinade for shish kebab with kefir, ayran, etc.
We especially recommend ayran or a mixture of kefir and mineral water for marinade. Pork and lamb meat is prepared very well in sour cream. Marinating meat is achieved not through the action of spices, but through the work of lactic acid bacteria. No hot or hot spices are added to the kefir marinade. The advantage in marinating pork, chicken and fish for barbecue with kefir is given to spicy and aromatic spices with delicate and subtle nuances of taste, according to the principle of “natural taste and nothing extra”: saffron, ground white pepper, a little bit of coriander, cumin, almonds.
Marinade for shish kebab with mineral water.
The best option for a kilogram of meat is a glass of carbonated mineral water - like Essentuki. Marinating meat occurs due to carbon dioxide, a solution of which in water produces a slightly acidic environment. One chef I know, a specialist in Caucasian cuisine, marinated meat with a mixture of peppers and red wine carbonated in a siphon. Marinade with mineral water is suitable for any barbecue except fish.
Marinade with tomatoes or tomato paste for barbecue.
Half a glass of tomato paste or a ripe fresh tomato passed through a meat grinder or blender, mixed with a teaspoon of sour cream or a tablespoon of kefir or yogurt, a teaspoon of black pepper in half with salt or a mixture of peppers, half an onion. This recipe is more suitable for beef or old pork and lamb.
Soy sauce marinade.
Three tablespoons of soy sauce (hot, spicy, delicious) per kilogram of kebab.
Marinade with honey.
In fact, a marinade with honey for barbecue is more of an impregnation and taste regulator than a classic marinade for preparing meat or poultry. But recipes for shish kebab with honey (similarly with jam from plums, gooseberries, cherry plums, and seasonings like adjika and tkemali) are very piquant and are recommended for shish kebab from chicken or tender pork. Also popular is shish kebab made from young lamb loin with honey and coriander.
The best way to compare all the recipes is to try the results of each of them. Here you will hardly be able to do without the help of chefs in the cafe, otherwise you could spend the rest of your life preparing and tasting different types of kebabs. In addition, the cafe has already selected the most delicious types, which greatly simplifies the task.
Shish kebab in Stalin's style
Slaughter a two-week-old lamb that has never tasted anything other than its mother's milk. It must be brought from the Yaroslavl or Tula regions, Georgia or Crimea. Cut up the animal in the presence of a veterinarian - if there is the slightest defect in the internal organs, throw it away. Place the carcass in the refrigerator for a day. Cut the meat into small pieces, place in an enamel bowl, sprinkle with onions. Pour “Tsolikauri” - white Georgian wine. Marinate for two hours. 90 minutes before cooking, add medium-fat kefir. Salt it a little. Cook in the fireplace on cupronickel skewers.
According to the memoirs of Colonel Ivan Orlov, Stalin closely monitored the preparation of shish kebab: “Sometimes, unable to bear it, he said: “You don’t know how.” This is how it should be,” and he got down to business.”
The longest kebab in the world, 222 meters long, was prepared in Zhitomir. Meat weighing more than 320 kg was fried over birch coals on a grill a quarter of a kilometer long. The readiness of the kebab was checked by an expert restaurateur who took a sample every 20 meters along the entire length of the skewer. In Taldom near Moscow they made a 210-meter shish kebab.
