Beef shashlik with lemon

Description

The recipe won't take much time. What's the best way to marinate beef to preserve its natural aroma and flavor? There are plenty of methods. Most commonly, people use onion, lemon juice, mayonnaise, vinegar, kefir, various spices, and different herbs. But the main condition for perfect shashlik is high-quality meat. The fresher it is, the better. Ideally, the animal should have been slaughtered 2–3 days ago. The meat needs several days to "ripen." Unfrozen, fresh chilled meat, boneless and free of tendons, with sufficient fat content—this is the key to successful shashlik. The container for marinating can be plastic, enamel, glass, or ceramic, but never aluminum, to avoid spoiling the taste. If the meat is tough, a lemon-based marinade will be ideal. Meat marinated with lemon juice turns out tender. The main thing is not to overdo the lemon, so the meat doesn't lose its juiciness. The final nuance is proper grilling. It's not recommended to leave the grill unattended; you need to carefully monitor even cooking and temperature to prevent the meat from burning or becoming too dry and losing its juices. By the way, you can check doneness by the juice. Cut into a few pieces: the juice should be clear and the meat not pink. If there's no juice, the meat is overcooked; if it's still pink, it's not ready yet. On average, shashlik takes about 30 minutes to grill. Serve hot.

Instructions

1. 1

   Step 1

   Cut the meat into portion pieces and place in a plastic or enameled container.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Slice the onion into half-rings and add it to the beef.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Salt, add peppercorns and bay leaf. Optionally, add a ready-made barbecue spice mix.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Mix everything thoroughly.

5. 5

   Step 5

   Take a medium-sized lemon and cut it into four pieces. Squeeze the lemon juice into the meat.

6. 6

   Step 6

   You can add previously grated lemon zest. In this case, reduce the marinating time to 3-4 hours, otherwise the meat may lose its flavor.

7. 7

   Step 7

   If you do not add the zest, place the meat in the refrigerator for 6 hours, covering the container with a lid.

8. 8

   Step 8

   Before starting to grill the shashlik, take the meat out of the refrigerator and wait about 30 minutes until it reaches room temperature.

9. 9

   Step 9

   If you like to alternate pieces of meat with vegetables when skewering kebabs, be sure to soak the vegetables in water for a few minutes.