Recipe/ShashlikKebab

Shashlik - Шашлык

Not a canonical recipe by any means, but here's how MoonShadow does it..

Meat (lamb ideally, beef rump will do, avoid pork) - 300-400g per person; chopped into 1" pieces.

Per kilogram of meat:
2-3 large onions, chopped into quarters
1 cup spirit vinegar (or pickling vinegar; clear, potent stuff, not the foul weak brown malt vingear people put on chips; acetic acid will do in a pinch. Keep it out of reach of children! If accidentally ingested, drink plenty of liquids, etc. etc.) and 2 cups dry white wine
1 tbsp (!) freshly ground pepper (quicker to wrap it in a sheet of A4 and hit it with a hammer a few times than actually grind)
salt
Two pieces of citrus fruit, chopped into 8ths across the grain (lemon and lime work well). It'll work without.
Herbs - whatever you fancy, really. Fresh coriander works well. It'll work without.

Mix the entire lot together, ideally in a nonmetallic container. If the marinade doesn't sting your fingers, add another half a cup of acid or vinegar. If it doesn't cover the meat when you press down hard, add water or wine until it does. Leave in 'fridge for at least 9-10 hours.

Put meat on skewers, separate with onion; don't press the pieces close together or the middles will not heat through.

Barbecue until outside starts going light brown, turning often. Sprinkle some of the marinade over the top. Don't overcook; meat should be juicy in the middle, not dry. Eat immediately; once it's gone cold and dry, it's pretty much inedible.

Well, this should be fun... It's marinading now. Results tomorrow. -- TI

...so - did it work? - MoonShadow

: Indeed it did. Ended up substituting cider vinegar and water (mixed equally) for white wine, owing to a shortage in the house, but otherwise made as above. The meat came out very well. I'm told that the person who kebabed a piece of lemon, cooked it, put it in a pitta (forgetting it was there), and then ate it considered it a surprise, but quite nice, really. The remainder was left in the marinade, and made cassarole tonight, with a reasonable degree of success (certainly not inedible). Cheers for that. -- TI