- 6 weeks ago
Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja shows how to make five flavor-packed grilled skewers with steak, chicken, shrimp, halloumi, and zucchini. From juicy marinated chicken and perfectly cooked steak to smoky shrimp and golden halloumi, Ayesha shares her essential techniques for prepping, seasoning, skewering, and grilling each ingredient. The result is a showstopping Mediterranean-inspired kebab feast that’s sure to impress friends and family.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00This, guys, is a quintessential kitchen tool.
00:02It's not an accessory, but there's a way to do it right,
00:05and there's definitely a way to do it wrong.
00:07So today we're gonna be making five of my favorite skewers.
00:09Chicken, steak, shrimp, halloumi, and zucchini.
00:13And they're all different.
00:14I'm gonna show you how to cut them,
00:15I'm gonna show you how to stack them,
00:16and most importantly, I'm gonna show you how to grill them.
00:19We are gonna create a feast.
00:20The first kebab that we're gonna do today is the steak.
00:22I like to cut the steak into one by one inch pieces,
00:25and sirloin, to me, is one of the perfect cuts for that.
00:27The reason why I cut it that way
00:28is because I can control the cooking.
00:30So if the steak is one by one,
00:32it gives me an opportunity to cook it to medium-rare,
00:34but it will remain juicy and tender.
00:36For the steak, I'm gonna be using a dry rub.
00:38A dry rub is really a melange of spices.
00:40So I choose to pre-mix my spice blend.
00:42I'm gonna add a little bit of brown sugar, smoked hot paprika,
00:46some black pepper that's freshly ground.
00:49We have some cumin, a coriander,
00:51and a little bit of salt for right now.
00:53Why are we using brown sugar?
00:55You know when you make a cake
00:55and there's a pinch of salt in there,
00:57and then like that salt takes out the sweetness.
00:59It's the same thing with the sugar on the savory side.
01:01So with these spices, a little bit of that sugar
01:03is actually gonna make, not the spices sweet,
01:06but kind of round out the flavor in these spices
01:07as we mix them together.
01:09Now I know I told you that this was a dry rub,
01:10but to be honest with you,
01:11I'm gonna add a little bit of olive oil
01:13and a very scant amount
01:14because I want the steak to have some moisture to it
01:17so that the steak seasoning sticks to it.
01:19The reason why I use a dry rub on the steak
01:20is we wanna maintain the flavor of the meat.
01:23I wanna taste steak when I'm eating it.
01:25So the dry rub on top,
01:26it's not really gonna penetrate deep inside.
01:28The flavor's gonna be the first thing
01:30that you taste on your tongue
01:31and then you're gonna bite into that juicy meat.
01:32And that's what we all want, right?
01:34The steak flavor.
01:35Next step is to skewer our kebabs.
01:38You don't wanna cram them together.
01:39You wanna leave a little bit of space,
01:41maybe like a quarter of an inch between.
01:43And you can see that the skewer is showing here
01:45and that's gonna ensure that heat's flying through that,
01:48otherwise it's on the grill.
01:48We're gonna get grill marks.
01:49And we're gonna be able to cook this medium rare,
01:52medium whatever you'd like.
01:53And then we're ready to go.
01:54In my opinion, what people do wrong
01:55is that they love to load up these kebabs,
01:58these skewers with different things.
02:00It's the wrong way.
02:01Why is that?
02:02It's because each of those things
02:04cooks at a different temperature
02:05at a different time, right?
02:07The red onion is never gonna cook at the same time
02:09as the bell pepper or the piece of steak.
02:12The skewer allows you to get perfect cook
02:15on each of those items.
02:16This could all be done beforehand.
02:18You can have all your kebabs ready before your guests come.
02:21They'll be cut and marinated on skewers.
02:23And it becomes like this complete feast
02:25that you can enjoy while entertaining.
02:28So now guys, the chicken.
02:30For this recipe, I like chicken thighs
02:31because I think that chicken thighs are juicy
02:34and they are just delicious.
02:36I don't know about you, but when I hear chicken skin,
02:38the only thing I wanna hear is crispy and fried.
02:40We're not gonna get that texture when we're gonna grill it.
02:43So we're gonna take that off.
02:44We're setting ourselves up for success, guys, not failure.
02:46The other part that I like about this is that chicken takes
02:48marinade really well.
02:50And I know that you're gonna think that this sounds crazy,
02:52but I like to marinate my chicken between two and three days.
02:54Is that a long time?
02:55One hundred percent.
02:56Do I want flavor?
02:57Two hundred percent.
02:58If you put this marinade on for a half an hour to an hour,
03:01it will do the trick.
03:02We're gonna need olive oil here.
03:04And the olive oil is the part that, yes, it adds flavor,
03:07but also it's gonna bind all of these things together.
03:09What I like about the lemon is that the acidity tenderizes the chicken.
03:13So I'm gonna use the zest because where there's zest, there's juice,
03:16and you have to use all of the fruit, in my opinion.
03:18Cut this lemon in half and juice it right into the olive oil.
03:21So I have a few cloves of garlic that I'm gonna put on the microplane.
03:24And I like to do this because the microplane actually cuts the garlic really,
03:28really fine, almost into a paste.
03:30And I don't have to worry about chunks of garlic on the grill.
03:32Black pepper is kind of like the quintessential foundation of seasoning,
03:35in my opinion, right?
03:36I add the turmeric because it adds color, but also a nice floral note.
03:39This is smoked paprika, which gives you a little bit of heat and smokiness.
03:43Cumin here, that's ground, which gives you those earthy notes.
03:47And cinnamon.
03:48And this is kind of like a secret weapon here.
03:50The cinnamon is gonna allow those other spices to really bloom.
03:54Are you gonna taste cinnamon?
03:55Maybe, but it's not gonna be an overpowering flavor.
03:59It's gonna be like that backdrop of, why is this so delicious?
04:02Don't tell anybody it was the cinnamon.
04:03We're gonna add a little bit of salt here.
04:05You wanna have enough marinade that sticks to the meat,
04:08so that as it's resting in the fridge, it's coating everything.
04:12You don't want this like sitting in copious amounts of this.
04:16It's wet, but it's not like dripping with marinade.
04:19And all that marinade that we put is glossy and on top of this meat.
04:22So we're gonna go in from kind of the bottom piece, right?
04:25And then we're gonna find a top piece and then put it through there.
04:29So it's almost like a ribbon.
04:30And the reason why is because you wanna make sure that the chicken is getting enough surface area,
04:35so that when it hits the grill, you're getting those beautiful and delicious grill marks.
04:39The most common mistake I find with people when cooking chicken is that they overcook it.
04:43You wanna take them off a minute or two before they're overdone.
04:48And while they're sitting there resting before you're gonna get your nice plate together for your feast,
04:53they're still cooking.
04:55Don't forget that the metal in the middle of this kebab is going to retain its heat.
05:00The chicken's done and we're moving on to the shrimp.
05:02Shrimp take on a lot of flavor.
05:04We're gonna do a dual marinade.
05:06And what do I mean by that?
05:07We're gonna make a wet marinade and we're gonna break half off.
05:09And while it's on the grill, we're gonna baste the marinade.
05:12And after it's done, so that we're getting that freshness from it.
05:15We're gonna start with one of my favorite ingredients, which is fresh ginger.
05:19What I like about this is that it stops the fibers from getting through,
05:22but it gives you that nice ginger pulp, which is where the flavor's at.
05:25Same thing with the lemon here.
05:27I use lemon juice in everything.
05:28A good amount of olive oil, and then I'm gonna use the grater to do some cloves of garlic.
05:34A little bit of our coriander, some smoked paprika, and then some chopped cilantro.
05:38The stems and the leaves have flavor.
05:41So don't always throw the stems out, guys.
05:42A little bit of salt, and then we're gonna need a good amount of olive oil.
05:45You really want this marinade to be wet.
05:47So the olive oil is kind of the thing that's gonna carry all that flavor.
05:51So before I put all the marinade in there, I'm gonna take about half of this, put it in the
05:56bowl.
05:56And what we're gonna do with this is that when the shrimp come off the grill,
05:59we're gonna baste the shrimp in that marinade.
06:01These shrimp have the tail on them.
06:03I love to pop out that little piece of meat that everybody forgets in there.
06:06This is something that you can do like the morning of.
06:08If you wanted to do it the night before, for sure that you can do that.
06:11So we are going to skewer our shrimp right underneath where this little bottom shell is.
06:18You're gonna put the skewer through the bottom and then through the top.
06:21What I like about this is that we're only gonna flip the shrimp one time.
06:24It's gonna cook flat on one side and then flip them over.
06:27And it's gonna be evenly cooked and beautiful.
06:29I am a late comer to shrimp.
06:31I always felt like, what was the purpose?
06:33It didn't have much flavor.
06:34But now that I've been marinating and skewering shrimp, like who doesn't love this?
06:39I also love shrimp because it cooks really quickly.
06:42Now that the shrimp is done, we're gonna move on to the zucchini.
06:44Zucchini doesn't have a lot of flavor, but yes, it will.
06:48Cut the ends off and the stems off.
06:50I cut it into rings like this.
06:52It's super easy.
06:54There's no sorcery or magic here.
06:56Straight up cooking.
06:57I go up the center like this because they're not going anywhere.
07:02Simple is delicious.
07:04And also think about all the other flavorings that we've had on there.
07:07So sometimes you need a little reprieve, right?
07:09Sometimes you need something that complements it and not contrasts it.
07:13I'm gonna leave these plain.
07:14If I season this now, what's gonna happen is that it's gonna draw moisture out of the zucchini.
07:18And I don't want to do that.
07:19And why is that?
07:20It's because I want to get grill marks on these bad boys when they hit the grill.
07:23Okay guys, halloumi, the princess of grilling cheese.
07:27I mean, even on the packaging, it says the cheese that grills.
07:31Halloumi is one of my faves.
07:32It's like one of the few cheeses that you could actually grill, which I love.
07:36I'm a textural eater.
07:37And halloumi has got that squeakiness that everybody loves, right?
07:40Because it's so dense and kind of like compacted together, when you put it on a skewer,
07:44it's never gonna give you that melty feel that like provolone or mozzarella will.
07:48But what it does is it retains its shape and it gives you this beautiful texture and creaminess.
07:53We're kind of taking the same thickness as we did with the zucchini and we're just cutting it.
07:58Sometimes halloumi has got this little pac-man situation.
08:00Don't fret, okay?
08:02Because once you put this on the skewer, and that's kind of why I'm going at an angle,
08:05it's gonna make sure that the cheese doesn't fall off.
08:08One of the inherent flavoring of halloumi is definitely that it has like some saltiness to it.
08:14There is some salinity there.
08:15This is something that I would put on the grill with a little bit of olive oil,
08:18but I'm gonna skip the salt.
08:19Because we're creating this kebab feast, I'm kind of thinking about the bigger picture.
08:23I'm thinking about how these flavors are gonna layer together.
08:26The skewers of the halloumi and the zucchini are gonna kind of offer reprieve.
08:31They're gonna give a refreshment, if you will, to this entire kebab platter.
08:34All of the prep is done.
08:35We have our steak, our chicken, our shrimp, zucchini, and halloumi.
08:40And we are gonna season because we're about to head over to the grill.
08:42So I'm gonna add a little bit of olive oil to the proteins.
08:47So we're gonna season from far up here.
08:49You can see we're doing like a sprinkling, okay?
08:52So make sure that every piece gets hit with a little bit of that salt.
08:55And then we're gonna flip them and do the same thing on the other side.
08:59The grill's ready to go, and we're gonna head over now.
09:03The game plan is gonna cook these in order of their doneness.
09:06Meaning like the chicken's gonna take the most time, then the steak into the shrimp,
09:12halloumi, and zucchini, which probably will take all the same time.
09:15So I have the grill on medium hot.
09:17So you're looking for like what I call the five count.
09:18So when you put your hand over the grill, you can count to five.
09:21If you put it on here and you have a two count, it's ripping hot.
09:24And that to me will burn the exterior, but not be able to cook the interior.
09:27We're throwing the chicken down. I'm putting the chicken kind of perpendicular to the grill marks,
09:32because that's what I want to get them.
09:34If you don't have an outdoor grill, you can use a cast iron or a grill plate on a regular
09:39stove,
09:39and it will do the trick.
09:40And now you have to exude a little bit of patience, right?
09:43I know that when people have tongs in their hands, they're feel inclined to kind of moving things.
09:47You want to kind of let the meat do its thing.
09:49The meat will not release from the grill.
09:51You get it stuck and you'll start to shred it if you pick it up and it's not ready to
09:54release.
09:54The steak's going to go on. Same thing.
09:57It's going to go against the grill grates.
09:59And you don't want to really jostle these skewers up much.
10:03You see the steak? If I try to lift this up, you see it's not going anywhere?
10:06It's not ready to be turned.
10:07When the meat is caramelized and that Maillard reaction happens between the grill and the meat,
10:12then you'll know it'll be ready to turn.
10:14The chicken is looking really beautiful.
10:15As soon as it comes off the grill, it's hit it with a little bit of lemon
10:18and a little bit of sea salt.
10:20Now, why am I doing that?
10:21Picture it like a facial, right?
10:23If the chicken is heated up, all the pores are open.
10:26Right now, I'm going to let it rest so it continues to cook a little bit.
10:29And it's also going to soak in a little more seasoning.
10:31Shrimp going down.
10:33And we're ready for our zucchini.
10:34So remember, we didn't add any salt to the zucchini before.
10:37We're going to hit it with salt now.
10:42Salumi down.
10:45Steak's ready.
10:47We kind of want there to be space in between these skewers
10:50when we're having them rest because we want the heat to be dispersed.
10:53You don't want to layer these kebabs on top of each other because they're hot.
10:56We don't want them to overcook.
10:57So we want to give them enough room to kind of breathe and rest.
11:02Okay, shrimp are ready.
11:03We saved the marinade to kind of re-marinate the shrimp.
11:06So we're going to take a pastry brush here and be generous here.
11:09We're going to do this on both sides.
11:11Just the way we put the lemon juice and the salt on the other proteins,
11:15we're going to use this marinade to pack flavor in.
11:18You can smell the ginger, the coriander, the cilantro, the garlic.
11:22So the halloumi is sticking a little bit.
11:25So I'm going to take a little fish spatula or regular spatula,
11:27kind of just nuzzle it around so that it can move over.
11:30If it falls off or flips, don't fret, you'll be okay.
11:33Wow, that's looking good.
11:36The zucchini is going to get a little bit of salt, a nice squeeze of lemon.
11:39I want to give everything a little bit of drizzle of olive oil
11:42just to gloss this bad baby up.
11:43So we're done at the grill and now we're going to plate
11:45and we're going to see what this grilling feast looks like.
11:47Look what we have created.
11:49I am about to plate you the most beautiful kebab feast
11:52that you ever had in your life.
11:53So I'm going to rip the bread a little bit
11:55and we're going to throw this some on the bottom.
11:57We'll keep some whole on the top here.
11:58And this is all about like aesthetically layering, right?
12:01Let everybody kind of serve themselves and do their thing.
12:03Beautiful juicy chicken.
12:05We have the zucchini that are going down that are probably the sleeper
12:08because nobody's going to believe how delicious they are.
12:10And then who says no to halloumi?
12:11I might just like take these off a little bit so they kind of scattered around.
12:14If you wanted to cut them in half, do your thing.
12:16Don't forget to have that Pac-Man situation.
12:18So when your guests go in there and they rip them, they'll fly apart.
12:21Tomago, which is grated fresh tomato with olive oil,
12:24a little bit of garlic and oregano.
12:25I just kind of like to put this a little bit over the zucchini,
12:28let some of it touch the halloumi in the bread.
12:30We're going to rip some of these fresh herbs off,
12:32finish this with some lemon,
12:33and then you're going to tuck some lemons in here.
12:34Whole sprigs, guys, whole sprigs.
12:36We're not cutting anything here.
12:37This is rustic.
12:38This is beautiful.
12:39This is the painting of your dream.
12:41Doing this with a little bit of that Maldon just as a kiss at the end.
12:44And you know I can't live without.
12:45I'm inclined to drizzle.
12:46Look at this.
12:47Honestly, it just makes you happy.
12:49I don't care if you're in a bad mood or whatever happened to you.
12:51You got to pay your mortgage.
12:52This platter will put you into a good mood.
12:55I'm always going to put the piece of the bread on the bottom
12:57because any of those juices that drip off from the meat are going to be in there.
13:00And you know me, I'm going to make a rip and dip moment.
13:02This is a megabyte, but you know I only take monster bites.
13:04Let's see what happens.
13:09The flavors are like igniting a party in my mouth.
13:13But the most soulful part of this is that all the time that we took, right,
13:17from the preparation to grilling everything separate, everything is cooked properly,
13:21and the maximization of flavor is over the top, let alone the visual appeal of this kebab feast.
13:28It's an easy way to entertain when the kebabs hit a table.
13:31They always deliver.
13:33It's really a showstopper.
13:34I know you guys love me, and I know you love my cooking,
13:37so that's why you need Mediterranean all the way.
13:40This is my new cookbook coming out.
13:41It's got simple recipes like this for show-stopping moments for you at home.
13:45Kebabs for life.