Filet Mignon Kebabs #KitchenMatrixCookingProject

Here we are at the fourth and final #KitchenMatrixCookingProject post for June. This month, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories selected our recipes. This week she has us looking at Kebabs + 12 Ways. You can read more about our project: here. We'd love to have you join us. And, if you don't have a copy of his cookbook, you can read his kebab matrix online. 

I found some interesting facts about kebabs in my research. Here are a few of my favorite tidbits: Kebabs are considered to have originated in Turkey when soldiers used to grill chunks of meat on their swords over an open flame; archaeological sites in Santorini unearthed a barbecue made of stone with holes for skewers dating back to the 17th century BC; and kebabs appear in both Asian and African cuisines.

Now that it's grilling season, I am looking forward to trying several varations of Bittman's ideas such adding fennel to my kebabs and using a miso flavoring. Yum. Before I get to my selection, here's what the other bloggers made this week...

An InLinkz Link-up

Ingredients

• The Main Ingredients (I used 2 pounds of filet mignon, cut into large cubes)
• Fruit and Veg (I used organic zucchini, organic yellow and red bell peppers, and organic Vidalia onions)
• The Flavor (I used olive oil, salt, pepper, and freshly squeezed lemon juice)

Procedure

You can use metal or wooden skewers; I actually used both for this dinner. But if you do opt for wooden skewers, soak them in water for a little while to keep them from burning. My favorite way to skewer is on flexible, stainless steel Fire Wire*. I love that they hold a lot of food, are easy to clean, and - best yet! - are reusable so I'm not creating a lot of waste every time we grill.

Assemble your kebabs just before grilling or assemble them early to let them marinate if you wish. Since I was going simple on the flavors, I sprinkled the kebabs with salt and pepper and drizzled them with olive oil before cooking. Just before serving, I gave them a squeeze of lemon juice. Delicious!

You can cook these on a grill or a grill pan. I opted for the latter because Jake was busy and I didn't feel like starting the coals myself. Call me lazy, but the grill pan worked just as well.

Cook until your desired level of doneness. My crew likes meat medium well, so these took about 5 minutes on each side.

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.