Lemongrass Beef Skewers, Foolproof BBQ: 60 Simple Recipes to Make the Most of Your Barbecue by Genevieve Taylor. Photography by Jason Ingram.
Everyone loves to get the barbecue out on a sunny day—but how often do you end up with blackened steak, raw chicken, or collapsing veggie kebabs? Never fear—Genevieve Taylor, BBQ and live-fire expert and cook is here to solve all your barbecue problems with 60 foolproof recipes to make your summer party a sizzling success!
With clear, simple instructions on how to set up your barbecue for failsafe cooking, what fuel to use, and how to prepare your food, Foolproof BBQ makes outdoor cooking a breeze. Genevieve offers up 60 recipes for meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and even sweet puds for the barbie. With a photo for every recipe and step-by-step explanations, even a barbecue novice can make a feast to remember.
Foolproof BBQ: 60 Simple Recipes to Make the Most of Your Barbecue is available at Amazon.com and Indigo.ca.
Lemongrass Beef Skewers
Skirt beef is a really lean cut that cooks quickly over a hot, direct heat. Due to the high heat, metal skewers are recommended as wooden ones often burn, even if you soak them in water.
600g (1lb 5oz) skirt steak (flank steak)
2 lemongrass stalks
1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed
2 banana shallots, very finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 limes, halved
To serve
cooked egg noodles, tossed in sesame oil
1 bunch of spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced
a handful of coriander (cilantro), chopped
3–4 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped, to taste
You will also need 4 metal skewers.
Begin by wrapping the beef in baking parchment and freezing it for 2 hours. Briefly freezing the meat will firm it up and make it easier to slice thinly.
While the beef is in the freezer, make the marinade. Discard the outer leaves of the lemongrass stalks and very finely chop the inner core. Put in a bowl with the crushed peppercorns, shallots, garlic, caster (superfine) sugar, fish sauce and vegetable oil and mix well. Set aside.
Take the beef out of the freezer and unwrap. Use a really sharp knife to cut into 3mm (1/8in) slices, cutting across the grain. Add the beef to the marinade and mix thoroughly to coat the meat. Cover and refrigerate for 1–2 hours.
When you are ready to cook, fire up the barbecue ready for direct cooking (see page 9).
Thread the beef strips onto the skewers. Put the skewers on the grill directly above the fire, lower the lid and cook for 7–8 minutes, turning a few times until cooked to your liking.
To serve, pile the noodles onto plates and top with a beef skewer. Squeeze over the lime juice and scatter over the spring onions (scallions), coriander (cilantro) and chillies.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Hardie Grant Books.