Unity
Executive Chef
I recently bought a set of Stephen Raichlen "Signature" 3/8" flat 'bob skewers. Today I picked up some veggies, a bottle of Ken's Olive Oil Vinaigrette, and a pound of "beef chuck cross rib steak thin boneless". I liked the look of the meat and I like the flavor of chuck.
First I cut the thin slices of chuck into ~2" strips, cutting across the grain. Everything marinated in the vinaigrette for about 45 minutes, meat in a pan and veggies in a mixing bowl. I like this dressing as a marinade because it's flavorful but not at all dominating. Instead of stringing the full assortment on each skewer I strung things according to how I thought they'd cook. The meat strips I folded into roughly square units before skewering.
The onions and meat went on the gasser first, then the zucchini/pepper, then the mushrooms, finally the tomatoes. Front burner was on Med, back on Hi, and the meat was over the back burner. Start to finish was 20 minutes, generally between 350° and 450°. Another 5 minutes wouldn't have hurt, if I'd started the onions and tomatoes correspondingly later.
It was good. The chuck was not melt-in-your-mouth tender, but it wasn't tough, either, and it tasted like I thought it would. Because of their size the skewers didn't penetrate as easily as small, sharp round ones do, but the 'bobs sure didn't spin on 'em. I wouldn't want anything wider than 3/8" for this purpose -- one mushroom and one piece of red bell pepper didn't survive the skewering, but I think they'd have been fine with 1/4".
--John
(I only hurt myself once, when a skewer I'd just emptied dropped out of my oven-mitted hand and I reached down to pick it up with the other hand. And I don't even drink. :roll: )
First I cut the thin slices of chuck into ~2" strips, cutting across the grain. Everything marinated in the vinaigrette for about 45 minutes, meat in a pan and veggies in a mixing bowl. I like this dressing as a marinade because it's flavorful but not at all dominating. Instead of stringing the full assortment on each skewer I strung things according to how I thought they'd cook. The meat strips I folded into roughly square units before skewering.
The onions and meat went on the gasser first, then the zucchini/pepper, then the mushrooms, finally the tomatoes. Front burner was on Med, back on Hi, and the meat was over the back burner. Start to finish was 20 minutes, generally between 350° and 450°. Another 5 minutes wouldn't have hurt, if I'd started the onions and tomatoes correspondingly later.
It was good. The chuck was not melt-in-your-mouth tender, but it wasn't tough, either, and it tasted like I thought it would. Because of their size the skewers didn't penetrate as easily as small, sharp round ones do, but the 'bobs sure didn't spin on 'em. I wouldn't want anything wider than 3/8" for this purpose -- one mushroom and one piece of red bell pepper didn't survive the skewering, but I think they'd have been fine with 1/4".
--John
(I only hurt myself once, when a skewer I'd just emptied dropped out of my oven-mitted hand and I reached down to pick it up with the other hand. And I don't even drink. :roll: )