cooking @ home

Did this one with a decidedly Moroccan influence in the marinade. Yes I know, when you see in the list below I’ve used soy sauce, you’ll surely recognize that isn’t exactly at the top of the list of ingredients for Rabat. Point is it works (and why I say the marinade was “influenced” as opposed to straight out “Moroccan”.)

Btw, you might also think lamb more than beef when considering this North African country, and you’d be correct that lamb, goat and such are high on the list. But beef is a close second to lamb there these days. That said then, do feel free to substitute lamb if you wish. I just can’t give a 100% guarantee that the amounts of spices in the marinade would work without making adjustments or not. Right now, every thing is calculated for the stronger beef flavor. If you try it with lamb, my instincts tell me to half the cumin, and to then add the same amount you just subtracted with the same amount of dried mint. If you have fresh, all the better.

Mistakes. Got to make at least one and share it with you so you don’t do the same.

First time I made this I thought I could do a bit of cost-cutting by buying stewing beef. The thinking behind this was that the combination of the marinade before cooking, along with the “raw” fire from the grill would be plenty enough to break down the fibers of the cheaper cut. Sadly, it wasn’t enough. I ended up with something amazingly flavorful but overly chewy. (Told you about the mistake, but not the fix: Ended up cutting the pieces to every thing smaller, added to a pan, put in water and red wine, then carrots, mushrooms and some pieces of other leftover veggies. Stewed for an hour and a half and served atop egg noodles.)

True, one might think that a longer stay on the grill would have a difference, and it may have, but it would also have definitely burned the veggies on the skewers to a char. (In short, that wouldn’t have worked either.) This next time I made it, I took care of that “mistake” from the very start of the process: Purchase a nice slab of beef and then cut to cubes yourself. Nothing expensive, nothing too cheap, in this case the “Goldilocks” middle works out nicely. Another advantage by doing this, the precut stewing beef in the case doesn’t try to be unform; makes sense as it’s not as important in a stew. When it comes to kabobs though, the more uniform each cut of meat is and keeping the chunks of veggies on the skewers similiar sizes, makes for the best cooking.

Beef Shish Kabobs
©2007 Harry Kenney

ingredients:
2 pounds beef, precut into chunks
2 medium red onions, chunks
1 red pepper, chunks
1 green bell pepper, chunks

marinade:

2/3 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp tumeric
2 tbsp minced garlic
salt
pepper
lemon juice

Marinade in fridge for at least one hour. Longer the better, if you can do two to four hours, fantastic. You can keep the marinade to baste while on the grill, but I did not find that necessary.

Alternate onto metal skewers: beef, onion, red pepper, beef, onion, green pepper.

Place on grill. Keep turning sides as necessary, about every two minutes. Should be done in 10-12 minutes for medium doneness.

Btw, here’s “ye olde temperature chart” for beef: rare 120°F-125°F, mediium rare 130°F-135°F, medium 140°F-145°F, medium well 150°F-155°F, well done 160°F and over.

To keep this recipe with its Moroccan theme intact, suggest serving kabobs with or over couscous; second choice: saffron rice. That said, any nice rice will do. The marinade is so very flavorful even a regular, unadorned, slightly buttery long-grain white rice will be perfect.

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