Cook for them.
Shish ka bobs.
Beautiful gorgeous shish ka bobs.
People will follow you around and want to suckle the sweet marinade off your fingers.
Or at least point out that you have charred little onion bits mixed into the mushroom and tomato guts on your face from having inhaled the bits in a rabid frenzy.
It’s oh so sexy. I mean seriously.
Key tips re: Shish Kabobing.
#1. Soak your skewers in water. As long as you can have the foresight for this. Otherwise you will cry. Bitterly.
#2. Buy a variety of colorful vegs that don’t behave bitterly under the flame. This evening I went with onions, cherry tomatoes, red and orange bell peppers, squash, pineapple, and mushrooms. I eschew green peppers. They get too bitter for me. Red onion and white onions add a nice snap. When selecting mushrooms choose in order of priority firmness, color, and balance with the other sized bits going on your skewer. Funny how less than $65 worth of ingredients can make about 50 kabobs and turn you into BBQ superhero. Alton Brown would be so proud of me. I bought just under 2Lbs of beef that I had the butcher select and cut fresh for me before we headed over. A quick 20 minute Korean style marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, rice wine, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds with fresh black pepper and chopped chives.
#3. A quick marinade either homemade vinaigrette or bottle of salad dressing always is a nice zing for the veg’s. I like the Girard champaign salad dressing. Marvy, quick, simple, and damn tasty. Extra garlic or garlicky powder and fresh black pepper are good zing it up a touch as well. Mushrooms go in last into the marinade as they absorb the flavors the quickest. Squash and peppers should go first. Don’t even bother with the tomatoes. They get plenty enough flavor just over flame.
#4. Poke your friends in the ribs and make them help. You have sharp pointy sticks. (Those skewers) If they are not motivated to help you, poke them with said sharp pointy stick. Wow! It works!
#5. Have lots of large platters: ie: 1 veggie uncooked platter of kabobs =>1 veggie cooked platter of kabobs + 1 platter of meaty tasty uncooked kabobs => 1 platter of meaty tasty perfectly medium rare kabobs.
#6. Make sure that whoever’s Manning the grill RESERVES enough of your labor of love for you to eat. By the time I got done with the laughing squid party this evening, there were scarcely 3 of my lovely tasty meaty kabobs left. I shared with my cohorts. But man, I could have had at least 1 more.
All I can say is…. Damn. I’m good.
