Shasliks are great to take along to a BBQ. For the meat we like to use a lamb
backstrap. They are tender and have plenty of flavour and no fat and as a result
don t really need lengthy marinating. You can often buy them pre-marinated (the
singing butcher at the
South Melbourne Market does some good varieties) which
means your preparation is almost done. If you are making your own marinade here
a few suggestions:
- Yogurt mixed with a little curry paste and minced garlic
- Red wine, olive oil, herbs and cracked pepper
- Honey, lemon juice, chopped mint and olive oil
Anyway, you already have some of your own favourite marinade mixes. In this
case it is more to create a glaze or crust on the meat cubes as they cook as it
is infuse flavour through the meat. We prefer to marinate our backstrap whole
then at preparation time cut it in half down the middle and cut the two strips
into cubes. Place them in a dish and move them around to make sure they have
marinade on all sides. An average backstrap should produce something like 12 to
16 cubes. Don t cut them too small or they will shrivel down to tough little
lumps. Now for the other ingredients. Because lamb backstrap is not a cheap cut,
we prefer to flesh out the protein with mushrooms. Then choose some vegetables
for contrasting colours and textures. For instance you might use red and green
peppers and then use rosemary stalks as skewers. The rosemary stalks need to be
thick enough to act as a firm skewer. Don t bother removing the leaves because
they add great flavour and even if they are over an open flame the scorching
that occurs perfumes the air and lets people know something is happening.
In this particular case we added red onions, slices of lemon and fresh bay
leaves. (The lemon and bay leaves may be consumed or discarded after cooking
depending on individual tastes.)
Thread the ingredients onto your skewers (or rosemary stalks) with the bay
leaves and lemon adjacent to the lamb cubes and the festive colours alternating
and there you have a festive Christmas shaslik. Cook on the BBQ or in a frypan
basting with some leftover marinade along the way. For serving you may want to
cut a ciabatta down the middle and place it on the grill until it gains some
colour. Rub with a garlic clove, sprinkle on some olive oil, add a little salad
and your festive shaslik, remove the skewer with a flourish - on second thoughts
I know your track record on such things so maybe you had better carefully remove
the skewer.
Enjoy
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