BBQ Skirt Steak Kabobs Mad Scientist Style

My boyfriend is a mad scientist. It says so on his business card. He specializes in metal finishes at a furniture/fixture design and fabrication firm. He mixes up chemicals for special patinas to make new things look old. Though sometimes he uses chemicals to make things look really new.

The mad scientist has cleaned off his patio and fired up his charcoal for a summer of BBQing. Today I'm sharing one of his grilling recipes. In true mad scientist form, he doesn't use recipes. I had to translate his "a little bit of X" and "some Y" into actual measurements for the rest of us traditional recipe followers. Because his directions weren't exact to begin with, you can take some comfort knowing that you can't really mess this up.

The only ingredients are brown sugar, rye whiskey or bourbon, some salt and pepper. The brown sugar caramelizes with a rye or bourbon flavor and through the Maillard reaction it browns the meat into wonderful melt in your mouth flavor. The mad scientist recommends skirt steak for a good kabob. He says it is the most underrated cut of beef. I trust him on this - he once worked as a butcher and sold a rib steak to Julia Child.

BBQ Skirt Steak Kabobs
From the Mad Scientist

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons rye whiskey or bourbon
1 1/2 pound of skirt steak cubed for kabobs
1 medium onion chunked for kabobs
skewers

Directions
Mix salt, pepper, brown sugar, and rye (or bourbon) in a small bowl. Place cubed steak in a larger container (a ziploc bag works great!), pour marinade over the steak. Marinate for about 30 to 60 minutes.

Wet the skewers by placing under running water for a bit or by soaking in a container of water. Wetting the skewers helps to prevent them from burning. Build your kabobs, alternating a steak cube and an onion slice. You can also put together other kabobs with your favorite veggies -  red peppers and mushrooms are shown in the photo below. In general, it's a good idea to make separate meat skewers and separate veggie skewers, since they often cook at different rates.

By this time you should have fired up your grill - or perhaps 30 minutes ago if you use charcoal. You need high heat - so be sure your coals are red hot. Place the kabobs on the grill. Turn the kabobs - grilling each side until brown. Remove from heat and let rest. Enjoy.