Veal Shish Kebab with Onions

October 9th, 2010 in Beef, Main Dishes by Julia Volhina

Total cooking time: 14h

Cookout when we had these veal shish kebabs was rather extreme: we went to the lake (about 50 miles away), fired up grill, skewered meat, set it on the grill and then… rain started.

And it appeared to be not the light summer rain which we hoped for when we first saw clouds, but the cloudburst with thunders, lightnings and a hail in between, the cold one.

I don’t know how we managed to keep that meat cooking, but it turned out good, maybe it even tasted better because we were guarding grill for half of hour with towel above it to keep it from getting wet.

By the way, to cook such shish kebab (“shashlik” or “shashlyk” how we call this dish in Russia) you will need skewers of some kind and of course grill (make it a charcoal one to get better taste) in additional to meat, onions, vinegar and spices. If you use wooden skewers, don’t forget to soak them in the water at least for 1 hour before skewer meat on.

Ingredients:

3 lb of veal boneless shoulder part
3 onions
Several bay leaves
Cup of wine vinegar
Black peppercorns
Allspice
Ground black pepper
Salt to taste

How to prepare, step-by-step:

Prepare ingredients: pick onions small in diameter so it will be easier to put them on the skewers; as for meat – shoulder boneless part is the best for shish kebab, but other cuts may work too:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 1
Rinse and clean meat, dice it into cubes about 1.5” side, try to make pieces of the same size so the all cook well together; put meat to the bowl – bowl with a lid will work the best:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 2
Add salt, bay leaves, black peppercorns and allspice, season with ground black pepper to taste:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 3
Peel onions and slice them in not thin circles:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 4
Separate onion circles and add them to the bowl, toss meat with onions and spices, cover with a lid and put fridge for 1 hour, meat will give some juices:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 5
After 1 hour take bowl with meat from the fridge and sprinkle meat with vinegar (about 1 cup):
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 6
Toss everything, cover bowl with a lid and put back to the fridge for at least 12 hours (can be longer if needed); toss meat with marinade a few times thru this term:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 7
For the rest of the steps you will need some kind of skewers (if you use wooden ones – pick the thickest ones and don’t forget to soak them in a water for at least 1 hour right before using them) and grill, better charcoal one. So, skewer meat alternating it with onion circles, leave about 2” from each side of the skewer so you have space to hold them when cooking:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 8
Repeat for remaining meat:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 9
Light up grill, and let it warm up so coals start giving heat evenly; arrange skewers on the grill (we were cooking out, so used grill grid also):
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 10
Cook shish kebabs until ready, turning them from time to time so the cook evenly (20-30 mins):
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 11
Then remove shish kebabs from the grill and serve on skewers. Fresh vegetables (tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes) or grilled vegetables are the best sides for shish kebabs, I also love to serve them with potatoes baked in foil on the same charcoal grill:
Veal Shish Kebab with Onions Recipe: Step 12