Recent happenings have caused me to fall way behind on this blog, which actually provides a great distraction at times. After feeling “off” a couple weeks ago, I ended up having various tests done, which led to a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia last week, which can be a life-threatening pregnancy complication. I am currently 30 weeks pregnant, and I am being tested/monitored weekly, with a goal of taking the pregnancy to 37 weeks before delivery. It all depends on how my body handles things in the coming weeks, but I am unfortunately facing the reality that I will be delivering this baby early; it is just a question of how early.
I made the recipes in this episode quite a while ago actually, but am only now sitting down to finally write. My newest lab results should be in today or tomorrow, so I am trying to distract myself in the meantime. Since this is sort of a summery episode, I figured I’d better get on it while the warm weather is still here! The recipes from this episode are great to make on a hot evening because they are both grilling recipes and thus won’t heat up the house.
Spicy Beef Kebabs
First up, Alton makes beef kebabs in this episode. You will want your meat to sit in the marinade for 2-4 hours before grilling, so be sure to allow adequate time for marination. To make the marinade, combine 3 cloves of garlic, 2 t smoked paprika, 1/2 t turmeric, 1 t cumin, 1 t Kosher, 1/2 t pepper, and 1/3 C red wine vinegar in the bowl of a food processor.
Process the marinade until smooth, and then drizzle in 1/2 C olive oil with the machine running.
For these skewers, Alton recommends using boneless beef sirloin, of which you will need about 1.5 pounds.
Boneless beef sirloin.
Cut the meat into two-inch cubes, place the cubes in a large plastic bag, and pour in the marinade. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible, and toss the meat to coat thoroughly.
Place the meat in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-4 hours. Before threading his meat onto skewers, Alton likes to pre-arrange his meat on a sheet pan, placing cubes of similar sizes on the same skewers for even cooking.
Beef after marinating for several hours. Pieces of meat arranged such that pieces of similar size go on the same skewer.
Once your meat is sorted, thread the meat onto metal grilling skewers, placing about five or six pieces on each skewer; leave about a half inch of space between the meat cubes.
Beef cubes threaded onto metal skewers.
To grill the skewers, first be sure that your grill grates are pretty clean and preheat your gas grill to medium-high. Place the skewers on the grill, rotating them every two minutes for a total cook time of eight to 12 minutes. For this cut of beef, Alton prefers his meat to be cooked to medium doneness, which should take about 12 minutes.
The beef from Alton’s skewers.
When done grilling, wrap the hot skewers in foil and let them rest for a few minutes before eating. To cook the skewers on a charcoal grill, remove the grate and place four bricks around the center mound of charcoal. Rest the skewers on the bricks, suspending the meat above the hot charcoal. I cooked my skewers for the full twelve minutes recommended by Alton, and I thought the meat was a tad bit chewy. The marinade for this recipe was excellent, however, and made the meat super flavorful. I could see using this marinade for a variety of meat preparations. This recipe made for a quick, easy, flavorful meal. My only gripe was that the meat was a little bit too chewy, so I might try cooking the meat a little less next time.
Vanilla Lime Pineapple Skewers
If you are looking for a side dish for your beef kebabs, or for a dessert to follow, Alton has you covered with his pineapple skewers. Begin by splitting a vanilla bean in half and scraping out the seeds/pulp. Reserve the bean. Place 1 C dark brown sugar, 1/2 C lime juice, a pinch of Kosher salt, and the vanilla pulp/pod in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
Whisk the mixture until the brown sugar dissolves. Once dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to steep for two hours. After steeping, remove the vanilla pod and discard it.
Transfer the cooled syrup to a plastic squeeze bottle. Next, prepare your pineapple by cutting the top and bottom off of the fruit. Stand the fruit on one end and cut the pineapple into quarters. Lay the pineapple quarters down and cut them in half, creating eighths. Cut the core off of each eighth of pineapple, discarding it. Finally, use a sharp knife to fillet the pineapple off of its skin.
Pineapple cut into eighths.
Thread each eighth of pineapple onto a metal grilling skewer, squirt them with the vanilla syrup, and grill them for four minutes per side, for a total of 12 minutes. As you grill the fruit, squirt it occasionally with the vanilla syrup.
Alton’s grilled pineapple.
Serve the pineapple warm. This was a fun, summery dessert that was easy to prepare. The pineapple softened and became sweeter, and its flavor was complimented nicely by the flavors in the syrup. The lime juice added a nice tartness to an otherwise very sweet syrup. You could certainly use this syrup on other fruits also, or you could simply take Alton’s suggestion and eat the syrup over ice cream. Either way, the syrup is a multitasker!
Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats 