Even though it is only Mach, I've started cooking on the Weber grill here in London. This post shares the recipe I used today and leads with another one of my Alaskan homesteading recollection stories.
For Americans the Fourth of July picnic is the biggest one of the summer. The year I was 16, in mid-June I started having terrible pain on my right side. The pain got so bad that my parents decided they must take me to our doctor. That meant getting me twenty miles away to a town on the Kenai River, called Soldotna. The two and a quarter mile dirt road through the thick spruce and birch forest was impassable by car at this time of year because of deep mud. Dad, with me seated uncomfortably at his side, used our small tricycle gear tractor to get out. Mother walked behind. Unfortunately, the tractor had no suspension springs or shock absorbers. We bounced and lurched along until I was throbbing with pain. Abandoning it at our homestead boundary, Dad carried me piggyback the remaining half mile to our red Land Rover Jeep. It was an easier drive on the gravel, yet bumpy Sterling Highway to Doctor Isaac.
After examining me and administering a blood test, Doctor Isaac decided that I should be kept close by for the next few days. Our kind town friends, the Parkers, made up a bed for me in their living room. After a few days, the pain worsened, my white blood count shot up and Doctor Isaac decided he would operate to remove my appendix.
In l964 the hospital in Soldotna did not have the facilities for operations. My parents drove me about 100 miles to the seaside town of Seward where there was an operating theatre. The drive took longer than usual as this was the year of the Alaskan earthquake and caution had to be taken when crossing over temporary precarious bridges above the fast flowing Kenai and Snow Rivers. We pulled up to the hospital in late afternoon and Doctor Isaac performed my appendectomy that evening. Mother and Dad returned home but I remained in the hospital two weeks recovering.
Doctor Isaac flew me back to Soldotna in his bush plane. It was a scenic, noisy journey in the two seater with almost constant dipping and climbing. Below white patches of snow lingered on the Kenai Mountains. The green hills rolled along covered with spruce and birch trees interrupted with openings of wide mossy swamps, river valleys, and lakes. I tried to say a few words to Doctor Isaac as he piloted the plane but the roar of the engine and propeller drowned out speech. I gave up after I asked him to look at all the moose below and he became concerned, thinking I had said there were planes below. When we landed, my parents were waiting with our Land Rover. We thanked the doctor for the lift, made our hasty goodbyes and started the journey back to the homestead. Tomorrow was the Fourth of July and we were hosting a picnic for family and friends. It was easier as ‘drying up’ had occurred since I had been away, and Dad was able to drive right up to the cabin door.
The next day Dad built a small camp fire several feet from the cabin. There were no Webers grills for outdoor cooking back then. We arranged tree stumps for people to sit. Dad and my two younger brothers cut Willow sticks and carved each with sharp ends for roasting wieners, and afterward, marshmallows for S’mores. My sister and her husband, as well as a couple of families from town, arrived to join in the celebrations bringing along favorites to contribute to the celebration meal. Mother and I, slightly bent over as evidence of my recent operation, brought out potato salad, deviled eggs, and freshly baked rhubarb creme pie. Dad performed his usual grand finale with a fireworks display beside the lake. It was a superb Fourth!
As many meals cooked on the barbecue, this is an easy one but very tasty and satisfying. The marinade used is made quickly in the food processor. The charcoal are lit about thirty minutes before use. Marinated chunks of zucchini/courgettes, red onion, and sweet pepper are loaded onto long metal skewers and sizable marinated beef pieces on separate ones. Close supervision is needed for young children. Older ones can get on with the meal quite independently but the presence of an adult is recommended.
This outdoor cooked meal is a great one for family gatherings.
Marinade:
1 onion, peeled, stemmed, and quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled
zest from one lemon; remove yellow peel with vegetable peeler
1 tablespoon, dried rosemary
5 tablespoons water
1 beef cube
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
- Place all the above ingredients into the bowl of the food processor and blend about one minute until smooth.
- Transfer 3/4 cup marinade to a large sealable plastic food bag and set aside.
- Transfer the rest of the marinade to a second large sealable plastic food bag and set aside.
Beef and Vegetable Kebabs: Serves 4-6
2 pounds/1000grams sirloin or rump steak, trimmed of fat and cut into 2-inch/5cm chunks
2 zucchini/courgettes, ends trimmed, and sliced into 1-inch/2 1/2cm chunks
3 red or yellow sweet peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch/3 cm pieces
2 red onions, ends trimmed, peeled, halved lengthwise, each half cut into 4 wedges
- Add beef chunks to fullest bag containing marinade; secure bag closed and move bag between hands until marinade has coated all the beef. Place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
- Add chunks of zucchini/courgettes, sweet peppers, and red onions to remaining bag of marinade; secure bag closed and move bag between hands until marinade has coated the vegetables. Place bag in refrigerator.
- Remove bag of marinaded beef from refrigerator. Have ready two 12-inch/30cm metal skewers. Thread the chunks of meat onto the two skewers. Place on a tray to be carried to the barbecue for roasting.
- Remove bag of marinaded vegetable pieces from refrigerator. Have ready two 12-inch/30cm metal skewers. Thread the pieces of pepper, onion, and zucchini/courgette onto the skewers. Place on the tray for carrying to the barbecue.
- 30 minutes before use, load about 1 1/2 gallons/ litres of charcoal into the barbecue; wet with starter fluid/gel. Light with a (long preferably) match. Allow to burn until fully ignited and partially covered with ash; about 25 minutes.
- Place cooking grate in position carefully over hot coals.
- Position loaded beef skewers in the centre and vegetable ones on each side.
- Grill beef skewers until browned, about 10-12 minutes, turning every skewer every couple of minutes with hand in a protective mitt.
- Transfer beef skewers to waiting platter and cover with foil.
- Cook vegetable skewers about 5 minutes longer, turning every couple of minutes; transfer to platter along side of beef.
- Using a fork, push the beef and vegetables from the skewers onto the platter and serve.
© Judy Labi 2013
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