Chicken Kabobs

Tonight my wife had her staff and their and families over for the end of their staff retreat to start the new academic year. This cook out was planned over two weeks ago...not realizing we would have an offer on our house and be making an offer on another house. Did I forget to mention that our new house is in a different school district and I am trying to get junior registered and enrolled the day before school starts? And, the home inspector for the new house wants me to meet him there to "show me some things." The phone call I just took was from our realtor with a list of 'to do's' from the inspection of our house.

Nevertheless, the grilling went on! A dozen adults and three kids (counting mine) crowed into our small house while the Mrs. and I dreamed of our large new house.

Kabobs look good on the grill and on the plate. However, they are not much fun to cook. Meats and vegetables cook at different speeds so I typically cook the kabob until the chicken is ready and worry less about overcooking a mushroom or under cooking an onion. Tonight, I used a simple marinade on the chicken. So simple, in fact, that I really couldn't taste it. A generous cup of lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Once the food was 'speared' I brushed extra virgin olive oil on the kabobs. As you can see from the shot I had to use both charcoal and gas to grill the 30 kabobs in a timely manner. This weekend I am craving some red meat!

Shrimp Kabobs

On Saturday along with the pork roast we also had shrimp kabobs. While cooking the pork I twice added charcoal to keep the coals hot. Once the pork was removed the shrimp were added to the grill. Since the fire was starting to cool I was a little worried they would not cook. However, they were perfect.

Since one of the guests brought the shrimp I am unsure how they were prepared. From the picture you can probably notice the green peppers, onions, and pineapple on the skewers. I am guessing (how I would do it) that a heavy brushing of olive oil then adding salt and pepper.  The olive oil not only keeps the food from sticking to the grill but also adds flavor to the food!

The shrimp cook quickly...really a couple of minutes on each side.  Since peppers and onions can be eaten raw it wasn't too big of deal.  If I did it again I would likely have a skewer of shrimp and a skewer of vegetables. 

A loaf of French bread on the top rack rounded out our dinner.