I have been lax in attending Tasty Tuesday's of late. I hope
City Wife, Country Life can forgive me for my delinquency. I am hoping she is too busy learning all about her new diary cow Ofelia to notice. In the meantime, I decided that I was going to get back on that wagon today. I also have been lax on posting
I Heart Cooking Club posts. So once again, in a multi-tasking dream this will count for both. Last week over at I
Heart Cooking Clubs, we were asked to find a Mark Bittman recipe that involved spices.
Well I thought I had it covered with this recipe then I realized that rosemary was an herb not a spice. But since your very nice people, I know you will overlook that little fact and except my entry. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to the succulent and incredibly flavorful Grilled Chicken, Sausage, and Vegetable Skewers.
They look as good as they taste. The supporting player in this recipe, the hearty and fragrant rosemary. The surprise for me was the grilled lemon. I had never done that before and I have to say it was wonderful. The balance of the lemon and rosemary with the spiciness of the sausage with the tender grilled veggies was top notch. I grilled several of them on rosemary stalks which just heightened the flavor. For the others I sprinkled chopped fresh rosemary over them. I am telling you it was Tuscany on a skewer.
Celebrate the Feast!
Mary
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Grilled Chicken, Sausage, and Vegetable Skewers
Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs, boned and skinned, small thighs cut in half, larger ones in thirds or quarters
1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, cut into 1-2 inch lengths, optional
3 lemons, cut into eighths
1 1/2 pounds eggplant, zucchini, or baby pattypan squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 bell peppers, preferably red and yellow, cut into 2-inch sections
salt and pepper
several rosemary sprigs-or 8 branches
1. Start the grill; fire should be moderately hot. If using wooden skewers, soak them while preparing food. Make 8 skewers, alternating the different ingredients, but generally surrounding the chicken and sausage with the lemon, eggplant and peppers. Pack the food fairly tightly together and sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you are not using the rosemary, tuck some rosemary among the cubes of food.
2. Grill over moderate heat, covered or not, turning the skewers three or four times to brown evenly. Total cooking time will be 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the heat of the grill and the distance from the heat source. By the time the chicken and sausage are browned, the eggplant will be tender; do not overcook.
3. Remove the ingredients from the skewers and serve, squeezing the hot lemon juice from the cooked lemons over all.
