Sara Moulton's Memorial Day Kebabs

May 30, 2005 — -- What would Memorial Day be without firing up the grill and cooking piles of marinated meat? Chef Sara Moulton joined "Good Morning America" with creative recipes for your holiday celebrations -- one for grilled pork kebabs with ginger molasses barbecue sauce, and another for beef kebabs with onion and zucchini. She also whipped up a tasty B.L.T. salad as a side dish.

You can find all three recipes below. To print the recipes, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Print This Article" icon.

Grilled Pork Kebabs with Ginger Molasses Barbecue Sauce

Active time: 45 minutes

Start to finish: 1¼ hours (includes soaking skewers and preparing charcoal grill)

Ingredients:

For barbecue sauce:

6 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 ½ tablespoons molasses (regular or robust, not blackstrap)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh serrano or other small, hot, green chile (1 or 2), including seeds

½ tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

½ teaspoon salt

For pork:

1 one-pound pork tenderloin, trimmed

1/4 teaspoon salt

Special equipment:

About 30 (8-inch) wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Directions:

To make barbecue sauce:

Stir together all sauce ingredients in a 1- to 1½-quart heavy saucepan and briskly simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about ½ cup, about three minutes. Transfer sauce to a medium bowl and cool to room temperature.

To prepare and grill pork kebabs:

Put tenderloin on a cutting board. Starting about five inches from narrow end of tenderloin and holding a large sharp knife at a 30-degree angle to cutting board, cut a thin slice (1/8- to 1/4-inch thick) from tenderloin, slicing diagonally toward narrow end and cutting through to cutting board.

Continue to cut thin slices from tenderloin following same diagonal, starting each consecutive slice closer to wide end. (You will have about 12 slices. Cut any slices more than two inches wide in half lengthwise.)

Thread two skewers, one at a time and ½ to 1 inch apart, lengthwise through each slice of pork and transfer to a tray lined with plastic wrap.

If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Charcoal fire is hot when you can hold your hand five inches above rack for one to two seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes.

Sprinkle pork slices with salt and brush both sides with barbecue sauce, then grill on oiled grill rack, uncovered, turning over once, until just cooked through, two to three minutes total. Discard any leftover sauce.

Cooks' notes:

Barbecue sauce can be made six hours ahead and chilled, covered.

Kebabs can be prepared six hours before grilling (without salt or sauce) and chilled, covered with plastic wrap.

If you aren't able to grill outdoors, cook kebabs in a hot, oiled, well-seasoned, ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.

Makes four servings. Each serving contains about 241 calories and 8 grams fat.

From Gourmet magazine, Aug. 2003. Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

Marinated Beef Kebabs with Grilled Onion and Zucchini

Active time: 35 minutes

Start to finish: 1½ hours

Ingredients:

1¾ lbs. beef tenderloin roast, trimmed

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

6 (1/4-inch-thick) rounds of red onion (cut from 1 large)

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 medium zucchini (1 lb.), sliced 1/4 inch thick lengthwise

Special equipment: 6 (8-inch) bamboo skewers

Directions:

Soak skewers in water while marinating beef.

Cut beef into 24 (one-inch) cubes. Stir together soy sauce, lime juice, salt, and cumin in a bowl and add beef, tossing to coat well. Marinate beef, covered, at room temperature one hour.

Prepare grill for cooking. After beef has been marinating 45 minutes, lightly brush onion rounds with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill onion on a well-oiled rack set five to six inches over glowing coals, carefully turning once with a metal spatula, until lightly charred and tender, three to four minutes on each side. Transfer to a platter and keep warm.

Arrange zucchini on grill, and grill until lightly charred and just tender, about one minute on each side. Transfer to platter, and season with salt.

Pat beef dry with paper towels and toss with remaining oil. (Discard marinade.) Thread four pieces beef onto each skewer and grill, turning occasionally, until charred, about five minutes total for medium-rare.

Serve kebabs with onion and zucchini.

Cooks' notes:

Instead of the grill, you can cook the vegetables and beef in a hot, well-seasoned, ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.

Makes six servings. Each serving about 263 calories and 15 grams of fat.

From Gourmet magazine, July 2000. Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

B.L.T. Salad

Ingredients:

6 bacon slices (about ¼ pound)

¼ loaf Italian bread

¼ teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon water

1 small red onion

½ pound cherry tomatoes (about ¾ pint)

1 head Boston lettuce

Directions:

In a skillet, cook bacon over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Reserving one tablespoon of bacon fat in skillet, drain bacon on paper towels and crumble.

Cut bread into enough ¾-inch cubes to measure 1 cup. Heat fat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté bread cubes with salt to taste, stirring, until golden brown.

Transfer croutons to paper towels to drain and cool.

In a small bowl whisk together garlic, lemon juice, mayonnaise, water, and salt and pepper to taste. Slice onion and halve tomatoes. Tear lettuce into bite-size pieces.

In a large bowl toss together onion, tomatoes, lettuce, half of bacon and croutons, salt and pepper to taste, and enough dressing to coat.

Divide salad between two plates and top with remaining croutons and bacon.

Serves two as a main course.

From Gourmet magazine, July 1999.