Dad's Steak Shish Kabobs

Happy Memorial Day friends! I hope it's wonderful so far. Full of lots of friends, celebration, thankfulness, and remembrance.

One of my favorite things about visiting home, aside from spending time with family and hopefully seeing from friends (which sadly didn't happen this time) is cooking together. The internet can teach you recipes, but family will teach you how to cook.

I'm pretty lucking in that both Mom and Dad are good cooks. My sister and I grew up on simple, healthy, and delicious meals that are still some of my favorites as an adult. A special treat frequently  requested for Birthdays and other occasions are these shish kabobs.

We made a ton of shish kabobs. For a normal dinner, you could use about half of the ingredients listed. This recipe made 15. The best thing about serving shish kabobs at a cookout is that you can prepare everything in advance and let everyone make their own according to preference. These instructions are to make them to Dad's tried and tested method.

You will need:

2-3 lbs Top sirloin steaks, trimmed and cubed to 1-1/2" pieces
Extra virgin olive oil, covered enough to coat but not to swim
McCormick Grillmates Montreal Seasoning, Dad has tried many and feels this is definitely the best
3 cubed peppers, green and red
2 large cubed Sweet Vidalia onions
2 lb Whole white mushrooms
1 pt Tomatoes, we used grape this time but Dad prefer's cherry


Marinade the meat with the olive oil and a healthy sprinkling of the Montreal seasoning. This is easiest to do in a dish with a tightly closing lid. Apparently the secret to a good marinade session is being able to shake it and evenly distribute the goods. Dad likes the Tupperware marinade set. Refrigerate in marinade at least 2 hours, flipping or shaking the container at least a few times throughout. Ideally, the marinade would sit a whole day, or even overnight. When you're done marinading don't throw out the leftover oil/seasoning, you're going to need it when grilling!

Lay out all of your cubed veggies and start adding to your skewers. According to both parents, the most important part of building a shish kabob is putting a green pepper in the bottom to keep the rest from moving around.

Dad recommends grilling with charcoal, as many grill aficionados will suggest. He let the coals heat up for a good 30-45 until they were nice and grey. (Dad just got a new grill. It is not for the faint of heart.)

Remember when I said to save the leftover marinade? Now is when we use that. Add a little extra olive oil and Montreal seasoning and brush the mixture over the assembled kabobs. You’ll do the same thing again while the kabobs are on the grill.  

Grill 'em up!

Tend constantly and turn frequently. Cook to desired doneness. Our family prefers medium rare which doesn't take quite as long.



Add some more marinade.

Admire the deliciousness.

Serve with rice and good company.

Well, it's time for me to hit the road back to South Carolina! What is your favorite family tradition meal? Are you a griller? I've never tried but have always wanted to. I'd love to know.

Sheila :)

Zucchini Boats

I have a tendency to make things up as I go along; song lyrics I'm trying to hum with the radio, good stories, recipes. Especially recipes.

I also have a tendency to get a little too enthusiastic in the produce section and buy fresh items without an idea in mind.

Only occasionally do these two habits coincide. This. Is one of those moments.

I present for your culinary enjoyment: "Zucchini Boats."

Here's what I used but you could try all kinds of substitutes.

-2 medium zucchinis
-1 lb ground chicken
-baby spinach
-1 half of a small onion, diced
-2 garlic cloves, diced
-baby spinach
-frozen corn
-mozzarella
-salt and pepper (and other seasonings to taste)

1. Cut your zucchinis in half the long way. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the middle. Chop up the zucchini innards (one of my favorite words) and set aside in a medium bowl.
2. Dice your onion and garlic cloves and add to the zucchini innards (I'm going to use it as many times as possible).
3. Put a little splash of water in a skillet to cook your spinach. Once fully cooked, add it to your innards bowl. *Now is a good time to start preheating your oven to 350.

4. Brown your ground chicken. I just used the same skillet I cooked the spinach in.
5. Add salt and pepper and other seasoning as desired. The roomie is not much for spices or I would have experimented a little more. Tony Chachere's creole spice is delicious on everything if you like a kick.
6. Drain your meat and add your bowl of innards and veggies to the skillet. I also added some frozen corn at this stage and let it all cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
7. While your chicken and veggies are getting to know each other in the skillet, shred your cheese of choice. Mozzarella was good but I think cheddar would have added a totally different element. Especially with the creole seasoning... Next time, next time...

8. Prep your zucchini halves by laying them out on the cute mini-stoneware your Mom got you for Christmas. Or use a cookie sheet like a normal person. Spoon your stuffing into the emptied zucchini halves, now "boats" and sprinkle the cheese on top. I filled mine pretty full, but that's because I only actually had 1 zucchini and a TON of stuffing.
9. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 so the cheese has time to melt and the flavors all run together. The zucchini should also get pretty soft.
10. Enjoy! I had just one half and that was plenty for me for dinner. It's a compact, but filling meal. I ended up using a knife and fork to eat it, just as a tip.

Not only do I love getting to use up a bunch of things in the fridge, but I love that it's a whole meal contained within the zucchini boat! Veggie and protein heavy but carb light, if you care about that sort of thing. If you try different varieties, please let me know how they turn out!