Who doesn’t like to relax in nature and eat delicious kebab of meat, fish, and vegetables cooked over a fire? Moreover, they retain more vitamins and microelements than during conventional cooking. During the picnic season, these tips will be useful to everyone who decides to relax in the fresh air and enjoy some food.
How to cook the perfect shish kebab
Grill or barbecue
If you have recently purchased a summer house and have not yet managed to acquire a large stationary structure for cooking on coals, you are faced with the question: what to buy - a long-familiar grill or a still poorly mastered barbecue machine?
There is no fundamental difference when comparing devices in the mid-price range. The main difference is that a barbecue oven has holes in the bowl that allow you to regulate the airflow and therefore the temperature of the coals. The second is the presence of a lid. It makes it easier to ensure uniform temperature so that the dish turns out juicier and more tender.
Have you been cooking on the grill for many years? Then you don't need to change your habits and adapt to a new device. For a beginner, it’s better to choose a barbecue.
Everything is disposable
Do you occasionally go out into nature? Along with disposable tableware, buy a disposable grill. The kit usually includes coals. When the food is ready and the grill has cooled down, you can throw it away right with the dishes.
For those who usually go on a picnic with a large group, it is better to buy a folding barbecue; a disposable barbecue will not cope with a barbecue for a large number of eaters.
Kebab meat: marinade recipes
If you are going to cook meat over a fire, then the main thing is to marinate it deliciously. So, choose the marinade.
- In sour cream, kefir or mayonnaise
All three products make meat more tender, softer and juicier. But keep in mind: mayonnaise adds fat, so it is especially good for turkey, rabbit or beef, but for pork and lamb it will be too much.
If you want to add a spicy note, add meat or poultry spices to taste. Ground hot pepper or finely chopped chili pepper will add spiciness. It is enough to keep the meat in the “white” marinade for 4 hours, and then cook.
- In fruits
Excellent companions for meat are kiwi, pineapple, plums, peaches. Choose the fruit that you like best, make a paste (you can punch it with a blender or grate it) and mix it with meat. It would also be nice to add garlic, spices and finely chopped herbs to taste. It is better to marinate meat in fruit for 3-6 hours. This is an excellent marinade for tenderizing meat.
- In beer or kvass
You can use any beer - light or dark, and kvass - not bottled, but from a barrel, so that it is without gas and excess sugar. To these drinks you need to add spices to taste and pour over the meat, leave it in the refrigerator overnight. The meat becomes softer and more tender.
- In mineral water and onion
This is one of the natural and “fast-acting” marinades that does not change the taste of meat at all. Cut a large amount of onion (about a kilogram) into half rings and mix with pieces of meat, chop the greens there, squeeze out lemon juice and pour a glass of Borjomi or Essentuki mineral water. Mix everything and after an hour and a half you can thread it onto skewers.
- In tomatoes
Another marinade option for tough meat. Add spices to tomato juice to taste, pour over the meat and leave for 4-6 hours. Or twist ripe tomatoes, season with spices, pour over the meat and leave for the same number of hours.
- In honey
If you want to go a little more gourmet, this recipe is for you: a quarter tbsp. liquid honey, 2 tbsp. spoons of mustard, 0.25 tbsp. soy sauce, 0.5 tsp chopped coriander, a quarter tbsp. olive oil (optional without it). The meat has a spicy flavor.
Do not add salt to the marinade, it draws juice out of the meat and as a result the kebab may turn out dry. It is better to salt before threading on skewers.
Doctors warn that you can eat no more than 200 g of kebab without consequences for the liver and digestive organs. In terms of raw meat, this is about 300 g. Use this information when deciding how much meat to buy for a picnic.
Firewood
The taste of food cooked over coals depends largely on the wood. If you do not use ready-made coals, but firewood, choose them depending on what you are going to cook.
- Birch and linden are more suitable for pork and lamb.
- Beef, poultry and fish taste better on coals made from wood from plums, apples, pears and other fruit trees.
- Do not use firewood from coniferous trees - the food will taste like resin, and also do not use aspen firewood - they produce too little heat.
If you don’t know how to light a fire with one match, it’s better to use lighter fluid. Buy one that is made with paraffin. It may be more expensive, but your food will not taste like chemicals, as often happens when using cheap hydrocarbon liquid. The main thing is to use it correctly. This is worth dwelling on in more detail.
If you expect a catch from barbecue, it’s probably from the stomach – if it can’t cope with the load. But compared to the danger of burns, the prospect of getting an exacerbation of gastritis seems like sheer nonsense. And anyone who decides to “hurry up” the coals with the help of lighter fluid can suffer – that is, the majority of barbecue makers, since ignition is included in the standard set of things, without which one does not go to barbecue.
The cause of the emergency was the improper use of flammable liquid. And the main mistake that leads to burns is when the ignition is poured onto smoldering coals. In this case, it can flare up instantly and the one who is currently at the grill runs the risk of getting severe burns - up to 20-40% of the entire body! Even if the victim found himself without clothes (on the one hand, it protects, on the other, it aggravates the problem) and managed to jump away, he may receive burns to his hands and face. Sometimes entire families are taken from the barbecue to the burn department, including very young children, who have never touched the container with the ignition. They just need to be next to the barbecue when the parents decide to force the action with the help of a flammable liquid.
A lighter is a completely optional attribute when going to a barbecue, because coals can be lit in many other, safer ways. But if you take the ignition with you, remember this.
- Do not buy it anywhere - from hand, along the roads, in spontaneous markets. The risk of running into counterfeit goods, which could be anything, has not been canceled. According to experts, liquids that contain paraffin, which burns slowly, are safer.
- Carefully read the instructions, which clearly describe the method of using the ignition: they moisten the coals with it in advance! You can set them on fire only after a pause of several minutes, when the liquid is absorbed.
- Do not allow children to touch the lighter bottle, move around, or generally approach the grill.
- Any flammable liquid should be kept as far as possible from the grill.
- Never throw lighter bottles into a fire - even empty ones can explode.
What to do in case of a burn?
If an accident does occur, remember:
- First aid for a burn is cooling. You can use anything - cold water (pour on the skin, lower the affected limb into a container, plunge entirely), ice, any frozen object wrapped in a clean cloth or bag. The faster you start cooling the burn site, the less deep it will be. You need to do this until the pain subsides.
- You cannot smear, pour or apply anything from the traditional folk arsenal to the burn: ointments, oils, animal fats, urine, plant juices!
- If a person's clothing catches fire, the first thing to do is to extinguish the fire - knock it down with a towel, throw on a blanket, then remove the victim's clothes and cool them.
- You need to call an ambulance as soon as possible. If the burns are not severe, the victim must be taken to a hospital or emergency room - this applies at any time of the day.
We hope that our humble tips on how to cook the perfect kebab were useful. Enjoy your holiday and enjoy your meal!
On average, to taste kebab, an initial 300 grams of raw meat is enough for an adult. Do further arithmetic yourself, based on the appetites of the company and the time of the feast.
First of all, kebab is high-quality meat. Sellers are so good at using modern technologies to disguise a spoiled product that at first glance you won’t notice the catch. So let’s call upon all our senses and capabilities to correctly choose exactly that piece of meat that will be destined to become the most delicious kebab, may vegetarians forgive us.
Any meat for barbecue:
- should not be steamed (the meat must be bled and kept at a temperature from 0 to -1 ºС for at least 24 hours), otherwise it will be tough and tasteless when finished;
- be free of the smell of chlorine or any other unpleasant or foreign odor.
- the surface should not be slippery or sticky;
- the fat should not be pink (if the meat begins to weather, it can be treated with potassium permanganate, so to speak, to refresh it, hence the color of the fat layer);
- the edges should not be very soft and shapeless (the meat can be soaked in a vinegar solution, which softens the fibers);
- It is dangerous if the meat is treated with fuchsin. This is a poison that destroys microorganisms and is dangerous to humans. Press the napkin onto the surface of the meat. If a bright pink trace remains (the blood will give a different shade), then “chemists” have worked on the meat. Even if the deception was not immediately recognized, when cooking such meat the liquid will turn a specific pink color. Eating it is strictly prohibited!
- does not separate freely into fibers and is not separated from the bone without the use of a knife.
Quality meat:
- when you press on a piece of meat, the hole is quickly restored, the exception is the so-called aged (ripened) meat, but it has a slightly different appearance;
- fat layers are white, without yellowness;
- Slightly dried (chapped) thin edges are allowed, especially for lean meat.
- good meat smells good, i.e. has a slightly perceptible aroma of freshness;
The color should be uniform, natural for its appearance, both on the surface and on a fresh cut:
| Pork - pink, with frequent white fatty layers | |
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Beef is red (the darker the color, the older the animal and the tougher the meat will be) with more pronounced meat fibers than pork and a dense film on the surface of the piece |
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Veal is pinkish-red. Darker than pork, but lighter than beef |
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Lamb is red, more saturated in color than older beef, and only has white fatty layers. The meat of mature animals has a specific smell that nothing can get rid of. Check - hold a piece of meat on the fire, if it smells only of burnt meat, then you can take it. |
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Chicken - breast light, white-pink, thighs - pink, drumstick - dark pink. Chicken meat must be cooked with the skin on, so the meat will not be dry. |
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If you take a whole carcass, then look under the chicken’s wing. It is from this place that spoilage begins and the smell appears. |
What about frozen meat?
Of course, it is better to cook meat that has not been frozen. If you do purchase a frozen product, then the main thing is that there is no re-freezing. To determine this, hold your finger on the frozen piece for a while. If the melted point has changed the brightness of the color and has become more intense, then you can take it, the storage conditions have not been violated. If the meat does not change color or becomes grayish or dark, then play it safe and leave it in the store.
If the meat is also vacuum packed, make sure there are no pink ice crystals or frozen streaks. In addition, the meat should not “hang out” inside. The film should fit tightly.
Be sure to defrost in the refrigerator, then the fiber structure will suffer less and the meat will retain its juiciness.
Refrigerated meat in sealed packaging can be treated with carbon monoxide - "carbon monoxide". If really fresh meat was packaged this way and the sell-by date is fair, then this way they preserve their presentation without harming the quality. But when packaging stale meat, the appearance remains beautiful, and inside a favorable oxygen-free atmosphere is created for the development of botulism and salmonella.
Suitable carcass parts for barbecue
Meat is muscle. Those parts of the carcass that moved little during the animal's life will be the softest and most preferable for cooking.
Pork and chicken are the most popular raw materials for barbecue. This meat is more affordable and is available in a wider range on the shelves. It is somewhat easier to prepare such kebabs, so get your first experience on this basis.
The pig must be female (if you hold a small piece of meat with fat over the fire, a specific foul odor should not appear). A boar at the counter is rare, but there are plenty of unscrupulous sellers behind the counter.
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The neck occupies a dominant place among the barbecue preparations, then the bone-in balyk (cutlet) or the loin - these names are obtained by different cutting from one dorsal-costal part of the carcass. |
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The top of the flesh from the hind leg (the area above the kidneys), usually triangular in shape with a small pit on the inside, is also an excellent option. |
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Ribs with untrimmed meat and fat are even tastier than the neck and cheaper. However, the bones in such a kebab are almost half the weight, which needs to be taken into account when purchasing. |
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Tenderloin is the rarest and most expensive cut of any type of meat. It is practically fat-free, but... This muscle never moves, and the meat turns out to be the most tender and delicious. This piece of meat should be sold in one long piece, tapered at one edge and should be about 1 kg in weight and up to 30 cm in length, no more. Some sellers may offer regular pulp as tenderloin. It is better not to use other meat parts of pork for barbecue. |
You can cook everything in chicken except the back and neck (there is little meat there). The main thing is not to remove the skin; it can be removed from the finished kebab. The left leg is preferable because The hen’s right one is “working”, the bird “rows” more than it and stands on it more often.
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Beef kebab will be the most expensive because the most suitable cut is the tenderloin. Please pay attention to the size of the beef tenderloin: weight up to 2 kg, length no more than 45 cm. You can cook the meat from the inside of the hind leg; the rest of the flesh is tough and dry for frying without fat. |
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Young lamb has the most delicious meat on the ribs, the loin, it is cut like that, with a small bone. The back leg is also suitable, the tenderloin is, of course, elite. |
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They say that lamb shish kebab should be eaten hot, because... fat hardens quickly. However, this does not apply to young meat, which does not contain refractory fat. |
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Cutting meat for barbecue
The meat must be cut across the grain into approximately equal-sized pieces. The thinner the piece, the faster it will cook, but it will lose more juice.
The optimal size is 40x40x40 mm (plus 10 mm), the length can be increased to 60 mm.
The pieces are strung on a skewer along the fibers, close to each other. There should be no hanging fat or meat.
You can fry meat not only on skewers; large flat pieces can be cooked more conveniently and better on a grill (barbecue), although the name of this dish will be different.
The chicken is not cut into pieces. Its parts are prepared with skin and bones; only drumsticks, wings or thighs are strung on one skewer, or evenly placed on the grill.
The breast can also be fried in one piece on the bone. Many people cook fillet on skewers, keeping the meat in a fat-containing marinade.
If the meat contains little fat, then when frying it will turn out dry. Pieces of lard or slices of tomato strung between the meat will improve matters a little.
Fish is also used for barbecue. Most often in the form of steaks (pieces cut across the ridge). The fish is marinated for no more than 1 hour and fried approximately twice as fast as meat, but not on skewers, but on a grill.
The right grill
The grill should not be deep. The distance from the coals to the meat should be 5 - 10 cm and the lower the bottom, the more coals you will need. The optimal depth is 160 - 200 mm, width 300 mm and length up to 1 m. Wall thickness is at least 3 - 5 mm. It’s good if the holes in the grill are closed after preparing the coals. This way the coals will last longer and will not quickly burn into ashes. An ideal grill - with the ability to adjust the height of the skewers. Portable, folding barbecues are very flimsy and almost disposable. Having a thin wall, they cannot withstand repeated heating and warp.
A very effective “earth” grill.
It's not difficult to build. You need to dig a shallow trench for the coals and install two columns of bricks or metal arcs along the edges. The heat will persist for a long time due to the surface influx of oxygen and poor thermal conductivity of the soil. By changing the number of bricks or immersing the arc, you can adjust the height of the skewers above the coals.
What and how to grill shish kebab?
A classic, but not generally available material is dry grapevine. The most suitable analogue is fruit and berry trees and shrubs. Avoid birch from deciduous trees, it will blacken the meat. Coniferous wood cannot be used, because the resin will be present in the smoke and will settle on the meat.
Thin branches (brushwood) are first placed in the grill, then thicker branches and chopped logs. To get a sufficient amount of coals, and not a mixture of ashes and burning brands, you need to burn the wood at one time, without adding firewood. Finished coals are black on the outside and fiery hot on the inside. Occasionally, flames may walk across the surface. To prevent ignition from dripping fat, generously sprinkle salt on the coals. It will maintain heat and absorb fat.
To speed up the cooking process, you can use ready-made purchased coals. They cook almost immediately after lighting. Oak and coconut coals burn longer, while birch coals produce more heat.
Loose coal flares up quickly and evenly, but also burns out faster.
Briquetted coal requires skill in ignition and the ability to “stoker”, properly stir and distribute coals of varying degrees of readiness. The briquette retains its temperature for a long time and, if it does not burn out completely, then after extinguishing it can be reused.
It is important not to miscalculate the volume of firewood and coal. The amount of coal for frying meat mainly depends on the size of the grill and weather conditions. The approximate calculation is 1:1, i.e. how many kilograms of meat, take so many coals. It's better to take extra. The remaining coals will not be wasted. It is more difficult to decide on the amount of firewood, because... a lot depends on the type of wood. A very rough guideline: for one round of frying, take two to three times more firewood than the volume of the grill.
Lighter fluid is not welcomed by all barbecue lovers, so stock up on newspaper and brushwood.
Fresh cherry branches give the meat a beautiful ruddy color and smoky aroma; they need to be thrown onto the coals at the end of frying.
If the meat will be fried in several batches, then rake the remaining coals into one pile in the corner of the grill. When re-ignited, they can be evenly distributed along the bottom and covered with fresh material.
Meat should be fried at a temperature of 200-240 ºС. The temperature can be determined from paper (from a notebook or office paper). If the paper begins to char but does not burn, you can cook. At first, the pieces of meat should form a protective crust that will retain the juice. Therefore, the skewers need to be turned several times with an interval of 30-60 seconds. Then the temperature on the coals should drop. If this does not happen, pour hot water over the coals, boiling water if possible. Cold water, when it hits the meat, will cool it sharply. Therefore, it is very important not to water the kebab with anything at all. The inside of the pieces of meat should maintain a temperature of about 95 ºС, then the kebab will be juicy and cooked in 15-20 minutes.
Try dipping the skewers with meat into very cold water for 20-30 seconds and immediately place them on the grill. From the first strong heat, the chilled meat will not burn, but will be sealed with a thin crust, which will preserve the internal juice.
Cook barbecue without leaving the grill. It is very important to turn the skewers in time so as not to lose precious juice. Watch the meat. When heated, fat and liquid begin to release from the pieces; when the secretion actively intensifies, turn the skewer over.
Do not dry out the fried kebab. Check the readiness by cutting the piece. When the liquid in the cut is clear, without blood, immediately remove the skewers.
Marinating meat and what raw kebab should look like
The container for marinating must be acid-resistant, i.e. do not oxidize under the influence of acid. Glass, enameled (necessarily without chips of the enamel), ceramic with a glazed coating or stainless steel are suitable.
If you like fried pickled onions on your barbecue, then marinate them separately from the meat. The onions from the marinade give their juice and taste to the meat, so it’s better not to waste it and throw it away. It is also better to fry the onions separately, because... The sugars contained in the vegetable begin to burn before the kebab is ready.
When the meat is placed in the marinade, be sure to place a weight (water bottle) on top. This way the meat will retain its juice and be saturated with marinade.
For barbecue, it is better not to salt raw meat or use large, or at least ordinary stone, meat.
The marinated meat should be threaded onto a skewer without gaps between the pieces and without any toppings (onions, herbs, thick coating, etc. that can burn).
There is a saying that good meat does not need marinade. But it’s not always possible to choose such meat, but you want the kebab to turn out juicy and flavorful. Therefore, in order to correct some of the shortcomings of the raw material and to give a special taste to the dish, marinades are used. On average, 1 kg of meat requires 300 grams of liquid marinade. We offer several types of marinating:
Dry marinade
Recipe No. 1 with spices
Ingredients:
1 kg of meat (any)
3 tsp spices (any to your taste, but a mixture of peppers or at least ground black pepper is a must)
1 tbsp. and (you can use ordinary stone)
5 tbsp. vegetable oil
0.5 lemon
Preparation:
mix with spices.
Roll the prepared pieces of meat in this mixture, place tightly in a marinating bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice and pour vegetable oil over each layer of meat.
If desired, you can cut the onion into half rings, sprinkle it, lightly rub it with your hands and transfer it between layers of meat.
Marinate for at least 2-3 hours in a cool place.
Recipe No. 2 with greens
Ingredients:
Cut 2 kg of pork into cubes 50x50x50 (60-70) cm. It turns out very tasty if you take a steak on the bone (cutlet), but the weight should be 30% more, taking into account the bone.
5-6 bunches of parsley and dill.
1.5 kg onions
3 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp.
Preparation:
Lightly beat the parsley and dill in a plastic bag so that the greens release juice. Cut the onion into rings, sprinkle and rub with your hands.
Mix the prepared meat with sprigs of herbs, add onion and mix again.
Marinate for approximately 1-1.5 hours.
Juice-based marinades
Recipe No. 1 with tomato juice
Preparation:
Mix prepared meat and onions. Place in a marinating container and add tomato juice. The juice should completely cover the meat. Don't forget about the oppression (load).
Marinate for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.
Add salt before cooking.
Recipe No. 2with citrus juice
If you want a little exotic, make a marinade based on citrus juices, but only freshly squeezed, not packaged.
Ingredients:
2 kg pork with fat
300 grams of juice (we use lemon or orange). You will need about 0.6-0.7 kg of fruit.
1.5 kg onions
1 bunch of parsley
Preparation:
Pour fresh juice over the prepared meat, you can dip each piece in the juice and place it in a container for marinating. Leave for 1 hour.
Cut the onion into half rings, add salt and rub with your hands. Add pepper, stir.
Place the parsley in a plastic bag and lightly beat or crush.
Add onion and parsley sprigs to the meat. Stir and leave in a cool place for 3-4 hours.
Recipe No. 3with pomegranate juice
Preparation:
Pass the onion through a meat grinder and squeeze out the juice through cheesecloth.
Mix pomegranate and onion juice.
Place the prepared meat in a bowl for marinating, season with spices and mix. Pour in juice (the meat should be completely immersed in liquid), press down with a weight.
Leave to marinate for 12 hours.
Then add oil, mix, press down with a weight and marinate for another 1 hour.
just before cooking or ready-made kebab.
Marinade with soy sauce
Fans of Asian cuisine use soy sauce with all their might. It contains a large amount of salt, so it should be added to the marinade in limited quantities.
Ingredients:
1.5 kg meat
100 ml soy sauce
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin (cumin)
1 tsp ground black pepper or grill spices without salt
Preparation:
Mix soy sauce, spices and vegetable oil. Dip pieces of meat into the marinade and place in a deep container, weigh down with pressure and leave for 3-4 hours in a cool place.
Marination with kiwi
It is better to cut the kiwi or mash the whole fruit with your hands so that there is no mush left on the meat after marinating. During frying, this coating burns, and the bones crunch on the teeth.
Ingredients:
2 kg meat
1.5 kg onions
1 kiwi fruit
1.5 tsp. ground black pepper
Preparation:
Cut the onion into half rings, add salt and rub with your hands. Add pepper, stir.
Sprinkle the prepared meat with onions and mix. Add chopped kiwi, mix again, place in a bowl for marinating.
Cook immediately after 30-40 minutes.
If you have time, do the usual marinating with onions, and 30-40 minutes before frying the kebab, add kiwi to the meat.
If you have never cooked meat with kiwi, try a small portion first, because... Some people don't like this combination.
Sour milk marinade
When marinated in fermented milk products, the meat turns out tender and juicy. However, be careful because... Bacteria are used to ferment milk, and without antiseptic spices they can behave in a far from beneficial manner with meat.
Ingredients:
2 kg pork
1.5 kg onions
1 liter of kefir or whey
3 tsp ground black pepper (you can add other spices)
Preparation:
Sprinkle the prepared meat with onions, mix, and place in a bowl for marinating. Pour in kefir and mix again. Press down with a weight. Marinate for 4-5 hours in the refrigerator.
Salt before cooking or ready-made kebab.
Marinade with beer or kvass
A beer or kvass marinade will soften the meat and allow you to create a beautiful, tasty crust when cooking. The beer must be “live”, light, not pasteurized. If you want to use kvass, it is better to use regular homemade kvass on rye bread or barley, or on sea rice.
Ingredients:
2 kg pork
1 kg onion
0.5 l beer or kvass
1 kg tomatoes
3 tsp ground black pepper (you can add other spices)
Preparation:
Cut the onion into half rings, add salt and rub with your hands. Add pepper (spices), stir.
Cut the tomatoes into quarters, if large, then into 6-8 pieces.
Place the prepared meat in a marinating bowl, sprinkle with onions. Mix.
Add tomatoes, stir again. Press down with a weight. Leave for 1 hour.
Then pour beer or kvass, stir, press down with a weight. Marinate for another 1.5-2 hours in the refrigerator.
Marinating in wine
Preparation:
Cut the onion into half rings.
Heat the wine to 50-60 ºС, add oil, onion and pepper. Stir, turn off the stove. Cool until warm (about 40 ºС).
Place the prepared meat in a bowl for marinating. Add a little marinade and stir. Repeat. The meat should absorb liquid, but not float.
Press down with a weight and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours.
If you are sure that there is no way, then salt the meat before preparing the kebab.
Tea marinade
Tea can also act as a marinade, because... contains organic acids. The kebab will be soft, with a beautiful, appetizing color.
Ingredients:
2 kg pork or beef
100 grams of black tea (preferably granulated), unflavored
1 liter of water
Preparation:
Boil water, add tea and boil for 5 minutes. Cool the solution to room temperature, strain and pour over the meat for 2 hours.
If desired, after marinating, you can treat the meat with spices.
Marinade based on vinegar, mayonnaise or mineral water is not only not recognized by barbecue gurus, but also sharply criticized. However, this does not affect the popularity of these recipes due to their availability and simplicity. Therefore, we will not ignore the original Soviet recipes, but with some amendments.
Recipe No. 1 with vinegar
If you use not alcohol vinegar, but apple or wine vinegar, then, contrary to claims, the meat will not be dry. The meat must contain fat (lard).
Ingredients:
2 kg pork
70 - 100 g vinegar 6%
140-200 g of water
1.5 kg onions
1.5 tsp ground black pepper (barbecue spices without salt)
100 g vegetable oil
Preparation:
Cut the onion into half rings, add salt and rub with your hands. Add pepper (spices), stir.
Sprinkle the prepared meat with onions, mix, and place in a bowl for marinating.
Mix vinegar with water and pour over meat, stir.
Leave to marinate under load for 2 hours in a cool place.
Before cooking, add oil, stir, leave to marinate for another 1 hour.
Try replacing vinegar with vodka or cognac. Mixing with spices, alcohol turns into an aromatic tincture and gives the meat a special aroma. Moreover, strong alcohol will partially dissolve the fat in the lard, and the kebab will turn out less fatty.
Recipe No. 2 with mayonnaise
Marinade with mayonnaise softens the meat, making it juicier and fattier.
Ingredients:
1 kg of meat (lean pork, beef or chicken)
200 grams of mayonnaise (with fat content more than 50%)
0.5 kg onions
2 tsp barbecue spices or just ground black pepper
Preparation:
Cut the onion into rings.
Add spices to mayonnaise and mix.
Mix the chopped meat with the sauce, place in a marinating bowl, sprinkle with onions.
Load with pressure and leave in a cool place for 3-4 hours.
This recipe can be supplemented with 2 tbsp. ketchup or tomato sauce. It must be added to mayonnaise. Then everything remains unchanged.
Some other types of marinades
There is no point in simply pouring carbonated mineral water over the meat. Because carbon dioxide evaporates faster than it can have any effect on the meat. But if you add lemon juice, then thanks to the carbon dioxide bubbles, the marinade will slowly (over 12 hours) and evenly penetrate the meat. The ratio of water and juice is 3:1.
You can marinate meat simply in onions or sweet peppers ground in a meat grinder (it contains enough acid for marinating). The ratio of vegetables and meat is 1:1. Marinating time is at least 6 hours. Spices are added in the same quantities as usual when cooking meat.
There are an endless variety of marinades, but one thing remains the same - the quality of kebab depends on the meat, the marinade can only complement its taste. Therefore, choose good meat, try, experiment, find your unique recipe for the most delicious kebab and be happy!
P.S. A few more recipes
How to cook shashlik, To make it really crispy, juicy and very tasty, you need to follow all the rules.
First of all - meat.
Whatever the kebab is made from: chicken, fish, lamb, pork, beef or veal - the main thing is to make the right choice. Any meat should not be steamed or frozen, but must be fresh and chilled. Frozen has less nutrients and kebab from it will never be juicy.
Shashlik pork- This is a delicious dish known since ancient times. It is generally accepted that the most delicious and tender kebab is made from pork; it is valued for its juiciness and incredible aroma. Pork ham is great for barbecue. First you need to cut the ham into cubes with a side size of 1.5-2 cm. There must be lard on these pieces. If you cook on a grill, then you need to cut the pieces according to its size: large pieces may not be cooked on a small grill.
How marinate Pork kebab.
You need to take care of the marinade in advance, because the marinating time ranges from several hours to several days. There are many ways to marinate shish kebab.
Salt, pepper and onion are the basis of any marinade, which can be used as acidic liquids: wine, lemon and pomegranate juices, sour and fresh milk, yogurt. And no vinegar! It is coarse and is usually used to disguise stale or very tough meat.
Most simple recipe marinating:
Onion
Pepper Spices
Finely chop the onion, mix with the meat, add salt and pepper, add spices to taste and lemon juice.
You can also cook beer marinade:
For 2.5 kg of pork you will need:
5 onions
1 liter of light beer
2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine bite
Bay leaf
black pepper
Cut the onion into rings, meat into pieces. Place in layers in an enamel bowl, sprinkle spices on top, pour in wine vinegar, oil and beer. Marinate for 3 hours.
Pork shashlik marinated in mineral water:
For 2 kg. pork you will need:
1 liter of mineral water
4 onions
ground black pepper
coriander
Cut the onion into half rings. Pepper the meat and sprinkle with ground coriander, place the meat in a pan and add mineral water. Marinate for 4 hours, then add salt to taste.
More one of the easiest ways marinate the meat: Place the meat in an enamel bowl. Salt, pepper, add mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Then cut the onion into rings, add to the meat with mayonnaise and mix thoroughly again. Place the marinated meat in the refrigerator for 12 hours or more.
If the meat is well marinated (for a day), the kebab is fried for 5-7 minutes and retains all the juice of the meat. It all depends on the type of meat, the degree of freshness, the size of individual pieces and the desired result. Meat marinated longer will, of course, be more tender and soft. Pork is soaked in half the marinade than other meats. You need to marinate in enamel, clay or glass containers.
Brazier.
To prepare kebabs, you can use kebabs and metal skewers made of non-oxidizing metals. A traditional barbecue is best suited for this, but when installing it, you need to monitor the height. The fire should not burn the kebabs: they should fry, not burn. You can make a barbecue with grates (a grate with small holes) and a blower. All these simple devices help regulate traction depending on the wind and other weather conditions. But you can understand and taste all the beauty of kebab only by cooking it on skewers, so the meat will be fried on all sides and will turn out very juicy and soft.
How to string.
How you thread the meat onto the skewers also matters.
Based on the size of the grill and the position of the skewers on it, we leave a little space at the end of the “blade”, usually 7-10 centimeters. Don’t forget to drip-drip the rows of meat on the skewers with marinade or beer. If you feel that the meat is almost ready, then before the last 2-3 turning cycles, it should be salted.
How to fry.
It is better to grease the skewers (or grill) with vegetable oil and preheat them. Place the skewers very tightly next to each other - the fire burns less, there is more smoke, as a result - tastier kebab. The shish kebab should be cooked at a distance of 15 cm above the hot coals (in no case above the fire!) As soon as you see that the fire is flaring up under the meat, immediately move it towards the coals, or remove it from the grill altogether. If the fire does not subside, lightly extinguish it with water. During the cooking process, the skewers must be turned several times. During cooking, meat should be basted from time to time with fat, a mixture of water with lemon or water with marinade (it remains at the bottom of the container in which you marinated the meat).
Kebab readiness checked by making a neat cut or piercing individual pieces with a knife or toothpick. If the juice is clear, it can be served; if it is pink, the meat is not ready. If there is no juice, something irreparable has happened: you have dried out the kebab, you can safely throw it away and experiment with the next portion. With good coals, the meat will be ready in 15-20 minutes.
Firewood for barbecue.
To prepare barbecue, it is best to use birch, linden, oak and all types of fruit trees (apple, pear, plum, cherry, sweet cherry, apricot, peach and others), and grapevine. Firewood from coniferous trees with resinous wood is strictly excluded; they will give the meat a flavor that is not “clogged” by any sauces.
Sh Ashlyk is considereddish of Caucasian cuisine , and derive its name from the Turkic word “shish” - spit. Thus, “kebab” in the literal sense is a dish fried on a spit. However, if we delve into the linguistic subtleties, then in the most numerous Turkic-speaking people of Transcaucasia - Azerbaijan - the notorious kebab is called “kebab”, and in Turkey generally “shish-kebab”. By the way, shish kebab is also called kebab in Bulgaria, whose language and gastronomy were strongly influenced by Turkey. At the same time, in the Caucasus, the skewers themselves on which meat is skewered are called skewers, which undoubtedly goes back to the word “ramrod”. But it was on ramrods from muskets and arquebuses that hunters and soldiers fried meat in the old days. Although, in general, looking for the historical ancestral home of shish kebab is a thankless task. After all, cooking over an open fire is the oldest method of culinary processing of a product. It is accepted by all peoples without exception, both highly civilized and deprived of the benefits of civilization.
Moreover, this dish, despite its apparent simplicity, is considered invariably festive everywhere. Roasting whole boar and bison carcasses on a spit from hoary antiquity until the middle of the 18th century was equally common in both the East and Western Europe. In the “Painting of Royal Food” and other monuments of the 16th-17th centuries, “turned” chickens, ducks, meat and hares are mentioned. We can assume that we are talking about dishes fried on a spit - otherwise, what were all these “spits” on?
In the West and in America, “turned” dishes have become “turned” - there it is customary to cook meat on a grill in a roasting pan called a “barbecue”.
In Russia, when you get out into nature, it is customary to feast on barbecue - and it is rare that a man does not consider himself an expert in preparing this, by all accounts, simple dish. Shish kebab, being a typically Caucasian dish, is familiar to all pastoral and pastoral peoples, especially mountain people.
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In Georgia, kebab is called "mtsvadi", in Armenia - "khorovats", and in Azerbaijan - "kebab". In Transcaucasia, for every nation, shashlik is a national dish and therefore not only has its own name, but also the Azerbaijanis, Georgians and Armenians prepare it in different ways - and everyone believes that only in their homeland is shish kebab prepared correctly, in compliance with all the peculiarities, and it turns out most delicious. And it would be strange if it were otherwise.
Shish kebab is prepared from the loin or hind leg of a lamb carcass, liver, kidneys, kidney part. Or from pork, sometimes they use pieces of beef tenderloin or veal. Poultry and fish kebabs are good. Tomatoes, eggplants, onions are fried on a spit...
The main method of frying kebabs
The usual method for preparing kebabs is as follows. The kebab meat is cut into small pieces, placed in a non-oxidizing container and marinated. To do this, salt it (or not), sprinkle with black pepper (or not), add chopped onions, vinegar (or lemon juice, or wine, or tomato sauce, or kefir, or chifir) and mix.
Cover the dish with a lid and place it in a cold place for marinating for 2-3 hours. Then the pieces of meat are threaded onto a metal skewer, interspersed with onions cut into rings. And only at the last stage do all experts agree that shish kebab should be grilled over hot, flameless coals on a brazier called a “barbecue” for 15-20 minutes, turning the spit so that the meat is fried evenly. If there is no barbecue, shish kebab can be fried in an electric grill or in a frying pan, which is already a significant deviation from the rules.
However, here too there are differences in how to determine the degree of readiness. There are as many ways of frying as there are people in the world. The shish kebab is served with onions chopped into rings, cut into pieces, green onions, lemon, tomatoes and eggplants fried on a spit. They are sprinkled with dried barberry and generally finely chopped cilantro, dill and parsley.
In Russia, it is customary to serve shish kebab with tomato sauce and ketchups of varying degrees of spiciness, but in the Caucasus this is considered an excess, only in Georgia they approve of flavoring kebab meat with adjika or tkemali sauce.
As for firewood and barbecues, according to experts, the best wood for barbecues is wood made from grapevines. Further in descending order of quality, white acacia, dogwood, sloe, beech, and oak are suitable. Only deciduous trees are suitable. Coniferous wood with resinous wood is strictly excluded; it will give the meat a flavor that cannot be destroyed by any sauces. The quality criterion is the quantity and heat of coals. Firewood from trees with poisonous wood is strictly excluded (except for beech, its poisons decompose when burned), for example Japanese sophora. If you have ready-made charcoal, feel free to use it. It is usually made from birch logs. The criteria are as follows: the firewood should burn almost smokelessly, produce a lot of coal with good heat and not be resinous.
The best brazier for cooking shish kebab is a traditional grill, but not the same one used for plucking shish kebab - it is very high. The height of the barbecue for picnics should be such that the meat is located 4-5 cm above the coals, or even lower. If you don’t have a barbecue, you can make a fireplace out of available non-combustible material - bricks, stones, etc....
General rules for cooking barbecue
Meat and fish that you want to roast on a spit or grill must be fresh. The meat should be taken young and juicy. You can bake chicken, fish and cutlets on the grill - the main thing is that the dish you take on is within your power.
Avoid cooking kebabs from frozen meat. Frozen meat does not have even a third of the nutrients that fresh meat contains. No matter how you cook it, marinate it, or beat it, it will remain tough, and even if it softens, it will remain tasteless.
Avoid preparing kebabs from fresh meat, from a freshly slaughtered animal. The blood should drain from the carcass, the meat should lie down, “rest” for several hours, and finally marinate.
The same applies to game. In ancient manuals, it was generally considered bad taste to cook shot game before two or three days had passed after returning from the hunt.
However, it is equally unacceptable to cook kebabs from stale fish. You just need to take it of the highest freshness (especially sturgeon breeds) and under no circumstances prepare kebabs from it if there is the slightest suspicion about its suitability. This is especially true in the summer. If you really want to eat stale fish, then boil it thoroughly in the ear, simmer it in a pan with spices and under no circumstances put it on a skewer.
If the meat is still frozen, then it must be completely defrosted before baking and allowed to sit for a certain time. Stringy meat is not suitable for grilling.
The spit or grill should be pre-greased with vegetable oil and heated for at least 5 minutes. The intense heat tightens the pores of the meat and retains the juices.
If you are roasting a whole chicken on a rotating spit, you should baste it with fat from time to time. Drier meats also benefit from being pre-greased or wrapped in thin slices of bacon. Bake meat or fish for as long as indicated in the instructions. Otherwise the meat will turn out dry.
Seasonings are added to the meat. To make the meat more juicy, while it is still warm, you can put a piece of butter on top of it.
If the pieces of meat are quite large, then they are first fried at a higher temperature to close the pores, and, after they are fried, continue at a lower temperature.
While frying meat, you should constantly monitor the spit or grill and not be distracted by any activities. If you've already started cooking, then you have to endure both acrid smoke and hellish heat - it's very easy to ruin a kebab - just turn away for a minute.
When preparing a barbecue, the meat should be turned over using two spoons, special tongs or a spatula, and not with a fork, so that the juice does not leak out of it.
Under the electric grill or spit, you must place a vessel where the juice will flow. After the meat is cooked, the juice can be drained, seasoned and then poured over the meat. Meat cooked on the grill is never served with a thick sauce. The most suitable barbecue sauces are the juice formed when frying meat, mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup.
Meat cooked on the grill can be eaten immediately, since after additional heating it loses its specific taste.
After each use, the spit and grill should be thoroughly cleaned, as small pieces of meat stuck to the grill or spit will burn and give the meat an unpleasant taste.
Duration of grilling kebabs
Lard or bacon - cut off the skin and fry for 3-5 minutes on one side only.
Ham - fry for 3-4 minutes on each side, then reduce the temperature and hold for another 5-6 minutes on each side.
Sausages - remove the cellophane casing, prick with a fork in several places, brush with sunflower oil or melted butter and fry at high temperature for 4-5 minutes, turning over from time to time. then fry for 5-6 minutes at a lower temperature.
Beefsteak (1.5 cm thick) - spread with melted butter. fry at high temperature for 2-3 minutes on each side, then reduce the temperature. If you want the meat to remain pink in the middle, you should bake it for an additional 2 minutes on each side. If you want the steak to be medium-rare, fry it for 2-3 minutes on each side on high and 4-5 minutes on low. For a well-done steak, you need to fry it for 2-3 minutes on high and 6 to 10 minutes on low.
Lamb cutlets or chops - spread with melted butter, fry for 3-4 minutes on each side at a high temperature and 8 minutes on each side at a lower temperature.
Pork chops - trim off the fat (optional), brush them with melted butter, fry for 5 minutes on each side at a high temperature and 10-15 minutes at a lower temperature.
Liver - clean from veins and films and cut off the harder places, grease with melted butter, fry for 2-3 minutes on each side on a wire rack on high and 2-3 minutes on low.
Chicken - it is preferable to use a broiler for frying. If you use a spit, the chicken is roasted whole, and if you use a rack, you can cut it in half or into four parts. Brush chicken meat or a whole carcass with melted butter and rub with seasonings, fry for 4-5 minutes on each side, reduce the temperature and continue for another 15-20 minutes until the chicken turns golden and is cooked properly.
Fish. If the pieces of fish are thin, they should be fried for 2-5 minutes without turning them over. If the pieces of fish are thicker, they are fried for 8-10 minutes, turned from one side to the other and brushed with melted butter. Fish on the barbecue - spread the fish with vegetable oil and sprinkle with lemon juice, then wrap in foil.
Shish kebab is a meat product that is perceived by many as a main course or as an appetizer. Many feasts are not complete without it, as pieces of meat cooked in smoke win the hearts of millions of gourmets from around the world.
In order for such a dish to be truly tasty, you need to know how to cook it correctly. There are a large number of their varieties in the cuisines of different peoples of the world, however, as practice shows, the most delicious was and remains Caucasian shish kebab.
How to cook shish kebab? What subtleties does this process have? What sauce is ideal for smoked meat? More on all this below.
How to choose meat
Any proper kebab is made from meat. To do this, you can choose different types: chicken, pork, lamb, beef and any others. Any novice cook must remember that the key to a tasty and juicy kebab is the right choice of meat, not by grade, but by quality.
The first thing you should pay attention to is the freshness of the main ingredient. It is ideal if the meat is chilled and not frozen. When choosing it on the market, you should pay attention to those pieces that will have clear juice and bright color. The aroma of fresh meat should also be pleasant, barely perceptible.
For cooking with smoke, it is advisable to choose the meat of a young animal - it is from this that you can prepare the softest kebab. From pork you should choose the pinkish pieces, and from lamb and beef - the reddest (you can have layers of white), because this color indicates the best quality of the main ingredient.
Features of preparing lamb dishes
How to cook juicy lamb shish kebab? It is for the correct preparation of this type of meat that certain culinary skills of the cook are required.
First of all, you need to pay attention to the quality of the meat. To prepare shish kebab, you should choose dairy lambs under the age of one year. The ideal parts of the carcass to create such a meat snack would be the loin, tenderloin or back of the leg.
Another feature of lamb shish kebab is that it must be eaten immediately after cooking. Otherwise, the meat will become hard and difficult to chew.
Lamb marinade recipe
How to cook lamb shish kebab? In order for it to turn out very tasty and juicy, it is not enough to choose excellent meat - you will also need to choose the right marinade, the components of which will perfectly nourish each piece. Let's consider one of these options.
To prepare the marinade for a kilogram of lamb, take a generous amount of a mixture of peppers (or separately ground black pepper), as well as salt. Make a mixture of spices and thoroughly rub each piece of meat with it. After this, the main ingredient should be placed in a bowl for marinating and 4 large onions should be cut into it. Sprinkle 150 ml of wine on top of all the ingredients (it’s best to take dry wine), as well as vegetable oil to taste. All combined components must be mixed well and left for ten minutes. If the meat of an old animal is used to prepare shish kebab, it should be marinated for 3-4 hours.
After the meat is marinated, it can be cooked on the grill or in an electric kebab grill.
Features of cooking pork shish kebab
A huge number of lovers of this hot meat dish prefer the version made from pork meat. According to many gourmets, it is the pork kebab that turns out to be especially tender. What is his secret? Of course, in the right meat.
How to choose meat for pork barbecue? First of all, you need to remember that it must be fatty - only this way the finished meat will be truly tender. In addition to the fattest parts, you can also use pork tenderloin, ribs or loin, however, as many cooks advise, preference should be given to the neck.
The chosen meat should be young - this can be easily understood by its color: pink-red is considered the correct color.
To make the dish more piquant, onions should be used in the marinade, which gives it additional juiciness.
Pork marinade recipe
How to marinate meat? For a kilogram of quality meat, cut into small pieces, add three thinly sliced lemons. To prepare the sauce for this kebab, combine a couple of teaspoons of coriander, one ground red pepper, half a spoonful of ground ginger, as well as two tablespoons of dried basil, salt and black pepper in one bowl. To these ingredients you should add chopped bay leaf, as well as five tablespoons of olive oil. All ingredients must be mixed well with the meat, covered tightly with a lid and left to marinate overnight.
Georgian marinade
This simple type of marinade was invented in a country where dishes cooked over an open fire are made according to the most savory recipes - in Georgia. How to cook shish kebab according to a traditional Georgian recipe? To do this, take a generous amount of onions (6 heads per 600 g of pork meat), cut them into rings and add a generous amount of a mixture of ground peppers to it. After this, add the meat cut into small cubes to the onion, stir well again and cover with film or a lid and put in a cold place for 5-6 hours.
After the meat is ready, it must be strung on a skewer, alternating with pickled onions, as well as sliced tomatoes, and fry until done. It is advisable to serve the finished dish with herbs - in national Georgian cuisine, cilantro is used for this purpose.
If it is not possible to light a live fire and cook barbecue over an open fire, you can use an electric barbecue maker, which is sold in hardware stores. You can cook any meat this way. The advantage of this method is the speed of preparation of the dish, which is especially helpful, for example, during a feast. For cooking meat in an electric kebab maker, as a rule, marinades are especially in demand, which quickly saturate pieces of meat. Let's consider one of them.
For 1200 g of pork meat (it is advisable to use tenderloin for this purpose), take a couple of onions and cut them into rings. To them you need to add 100 g of mayonnaise, as well as salt and spices to taste (you can use a ready-made package, which is easy to find in the store). The listed ingredients need to be mixed thoroughly and the meat cut into small pieces should be added.
In this marinade, meat can be marinated for an hour or overnight - in any case, the result will be a tender and aromatic dish. After it is ready for frying, each piece should be strung on a skewer, alternating with onion rings, and placed in an electric kebab maker. The dish will be ready in literally 15 minutes.
Features of preparing beef shish kebab
Not many novice cooks know how to cook beef kebab. Some people prefer not to deal with this type of meat at all, since experience shows that it turns out to be quite tough at the end. The main secret to cooking beef shish kebab is to marinate for a longer time.
As for the choice of meat, for this type of kebab it is best to give preference to fillet, brisket or hind leg. All other pieces will most likely be unusable.
Beef marinade recipe
A properly selected marinade is the key to success. So how to marinate meat? To do this, cut it into small pieces, place it in a large bowl and sprinkle with a mixture of salt and pepper. Next, place three onions, cut into rings, into the bowl. In a separate bowl, you need to dilute a couple of tablespoons of vinegar essence and 500 ml of water, then pour the resulting liquid over the meat. You should also add a tablespoon of sunflower oil, mix thoroughly and leave overnight, covered with a lid.
Using this delicious shish kebab recipe, you can end up with a spicy hot meat dish that will have a slightly sour taste.
Garlic sauce for barbecue
Many lovers of this meat dish prefer to use ready-made products that are offered on store shelves as barbecue sauce: ketchup, adjika, mustard, mayonnaise and others. However, only true gourmets prepare it themselves, selecting ingredients by hand and experimenting. How to make barbecue sauce? An original version of this could be white garlic, which will make the taste of meat more piquant.
To prepare it, take three cloves of garlic and pass them through a crush. To them you need to add chopped herbs, three teaspoons of soy sauce and a glass of sour cream. All ingredients should be salt and pepper to taste, then thoroughly grind until the mass is homogeneous.
It is advisable to let this sauce brew for about half an hour before serving - this will make its taste more vibrant. You should also remember that it is advisable to use it immediately, since the shelf life of such sauce is short - about 8-10 hours. This fact is due to the fact that it is created on the basis of a perishable fermented milk product.
Mustard sauce for barbecue
Another interesting sauce option that is suitable for barbecue made from pork or lamb. In order to make it, you need to combine a couple of hard-boiled chicken yolks, 1.5 teaspoons of mustard, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and 10 ml of soy sauce in one bowl. All ingredients must be ground until smooth. After this, to the listed ingredients you should add ground black pepper to taste, a pinch of sugar and 180 ml of sour cream (it is best to take one that is not sour). All ingredients should be thoroughly ground and, tightly closed with a lid, placed in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
To prepare such an original sauce, you can use any mustard - many chefs recommend using French mustard (with grains). When prepared, mustard sauce has a very delicate consistency and a particularly pleasant taste, which will surprise all guests and your household.
How to grill kebab
Correctly selected meat and suitable marinade are, of course, the key to a tasty dish. However, if a novice cook does not know how to properly cook shish kebab on a grill, he can simply dry out the meat and thereby ruin it. So what are the secrets to roasting meat over an open fire?
First of all, you should pay attention to the density of the pieces of meat on the skewers - they should not fit too closely to each other. After the meat has been skewered, it is necessary to place it over the coals, which must have already burned significantly before this. Professional barbecue makers recommend starting the process of cooking meat over higher heat and maintaining its intensity until the pieces become golden brown. After this happens, the heat should be reduced by watering the coals with pre-prepared water, and cooking should continue on low heat and mostly smoke.
How to determine the readiness of meat? It’s very simple: when cut, it releases clear juice.
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