Coupla kabobs

Kabobs aren't all that different to eat but I hardly ever make them so they do tend to be a bit different from the every day.  These were really tasty.  I started by buying two small rounds of top sirloin.  I brought them home along with the usual staples of bell pepper (I got orange but any color will do), vidalia onion and mushrooms.  I also grabbed a small slab of salmon to mix things up a bit.  I've been on a salmon kick lately.  I also grabbed the wooden skewers I was going to use and put them in water to soak so that they don't catch fire when grilling.

I started by cubing the steak into like-sized pieces so that they cook evenly.  I then coated them with powdered ginger and tossed into a zip top bag.  I diced a garlic clove and a spring onion and added those to the bag as well.  I then poured in enough teriyaki to coat the beef.  I spread it all out flat in the bag, placed it on a plate and into the fridge.  The longer you can marinade the meat, the better.

The next day, when it was getting close to dinner time, I assembled the skewers with the bell pepper, onion and mushrooms.  I had two different types of mushrooms (white button, portabella and cremini which are just small portabellas) from a festival I'd been to the day previous but you can use whatever kind you want.  I wanted some sort of sauce for them so I grabbed the butter and cut off about 2 tablespoons and added it to a dish along with a squeeze of half a lime, a big dollop of honey and a bunch of mixed herbs.  When it was time to grill, I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt it so I could brush it on the veggies on the grill.

I then grabbed some pickled ginger and a tube of wasabi paste from the fridge.  I diced the ginger so finely that it was almost a paste itself and mixed it with the wasabi paste and added the other half of the lime that I used from above.  I took the salmon from the fridge and cut it into cubes.  I took some wasabi powder and dusted it on the cubes and then skewered them.  Let me just say, a wooden skewer is no match for salmon skin!  I had no idea it was that tough.  I almost gave up having visions of skewering my fingers but I managed to get them all (6 cubes) pierced without injury and only butchering one piece of the salmon.  I think next time I'll just use non-stick foil rather than skewering.

I don't really know if putting the powders on the meat prior to putting the sauces on really does anything but it's what I did and they turned out awesome.  I didn't put the sauce on the salmon until I put it on the grill for fear of having the citrus in the lime start to cook the salmon.

Be careful not to overcook the beef (or the salmon for that matter).  I actually did.  I forget that they cook faster when skewered because they're separated allowing for more heat to get around them and cook them faster.  I put the veggies on first and then the beef and then the salmon.

I don't want you to think that I'm a pig but we had corn on the cob too.  It was the holiday weekend so we went all out.  I grill corn by carefully pulling the husk about halfway to three quarters of the way down, pulling out the silt and then wrapping it back up.  I use silicon bands to wrap around them and keep them covered.  I soak the whole thing while I'm prepping everything else.  This allows the corn to steam in the husk while you're cooking everything else.  I put them on the top rack in the grill and turn every so often when checking on the other items.

Everything turned out great.  The steak, as I mentioned, was a bit overcooked but had such a wonderful flavor that it was ok.  So, kabobs may not be too different but what you put on them can be different every time.