New York Strip Shish Kabobs

November 8, 2007

The purpose of Command of the Grill week is to promote the book “Command of the Grill”, whose proceeds benefit charities that support Marines. I’m not making any money off of this, and anything made from traffic during the month of November will be donated to Toys for Tots. You can read more here, or follow this link to purchase your own copy. This is a really easy way to support our troops. Semper Fi!

Shish Kabobs have been a grilling / campfire favorite since infantry used swords to cook their food over the evening fire because someone forgot the paper plates.

You can tell from the photo, that I cheat a little when it comes to shish kabobs. I usually put each food item on its own skewer, since like items tend to require the same amount of cooking. When the meal is served, I just take everything off and put it on a plate, then let everyone grab what they want.

I’m the lucky one because I love peppers, onions and mushrooms, so there’s usually some really good food left for me.

You can also tell from the picture that I like to get my peppers and onions really charred up. I love the caramelization that you get when they can char up like that. The most surprising transformation is the red onions, which are really strong raw, become so very sweet and mild after they are cooked.

Usually when I cook shish kabobs, I go for the cheap meat, marinade it forever, and just live with the fact that its chewy. Not anymore. This meat was so delicious, I will have to think twice before not using New York strip again.

Sergeant James R. Cicero Jr. presented this as his entry for the MCB Camp Pendleton competition, and he was the first runner up. Nothing to be ashamed of, and the dish certainly wasn’t either.

The marinade on this was really straight forward, and the skewers were lined with Green and Red Bell peppers, a Red onion, and that glorious beef. Very, very tasty.