Shrimp Pineapple Shish Kabobs

There aren't too many things better than breaking in a new grill. It's a great activity for the middle of the summer when the afternoons are long and nobody wants to heat up the kitchen or mow the grass.

Summer also means there's a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables available. The supermarket and the produce stand have all the good stuff for shish kabobs, which is my favorite grill meal. It's hard to mess them up, too. So when it comes to learning a new grill, you just can't go wrong with kabobs.

Meat is the shish part of a kabob, a Turkish food and old campfire cooking custom -- the first shish kabobs were probably lamb. Roasted lamb is real good but it's not my choice for summertime, when seafood is just as plentiful as Vidalia onions, peppers and new potatoes. Here's a seafood kabob I came up with this week, and that new grill sure did it justice.

The Cregg Watner Pineapple Kabob Test

Spices and Stuff

1/8 cup of brown sugar

A few dashes of ginger

1/2 TSP fresh ground pepper

1/2 TSP salt

1-2 TBSP brown sugar

1 TBSP soy

3 TBSP teriyaki

1-2 garlic cloves

1 small spicy pepper minced

Butter for basting the kabobs while cooking

Mix all the spices and stuff up in a small bowl. It won't look like much but you don't need much with this recipe. When you're done, taste it and adjust the ginger or pepper or garlic if you think it's too weak. But don't add more soy or anything like rice wine vinegar.

Ingredients and Prep Steps

1 pound of big fresh shrimp - shelled and rinsed and refrigerated until you're ready for them, and I devein them too

12 small new red potatoes – scrubbed and halved

2 sweet onions, peeled and quartered

1 red pepper and 1 green pepper -- remove the core and cut each one into 8-12 wedges

1/4 fresh coconut optional -- be sure to save the milk

1 mango, cut in large chunks

After you get all the stuff ready, toss it in a big bowl with half the sauce. It won't seem like much sauce but you don't want too much or you'll lose the natural flavors.

Kabob skewers -- bamboo is the best and you want to soak them in cold water while you're at the chopping board. When you're ready to make the kabobs, dry them with a clean dishtowel and wipe them with olive or peanut oil. You can also do a final soak in coconut milk if you're adding it to your kabobs. The milk is oily.

1/2 to 1 whole pineapple -- don't cut anything till you read how my new grill surpassed the Cregg Watner Grillmiester Test:

Here's What You Do

While everything else is soaking in the marinade, wash the pineapple real good. Dry it off and cut it in half, or quarters if it's a big one. Carefully separate the inside fruit from the skin -- a flexible filet knife works the best. It's a good idea to leave some of the fruit. You're making shells and you want these pineapple boats to be sturdy enough to pipe on the grill. When you're done, core the fruit you've removed and cut the pineapple into wedge-sized chunks. You probably won't need it all and you can wrap up the rest for breakfast or another grill deal.

Now, skew everything according to how you like it. I like the veggies kind of crispy and the potatoes real done. So I skew potatoes with the coconut and a few onions and peppers to the stick -- just enough pepper and onion so the other stuff grabs the flavor. Pop these kabobs on the first heat. You'll want to turn them every 2-3 minutes and brush on just a little sauce. You can add salt and ground pepper if that's your preference. Watch them closely: coconut oil can flare up the grill and make the kabobs burn.

When you start to smell them, put the pineapple shells on the grill. Throw a few onions, peppers and a piece of mango or two in there, add a tiny bit of sauce. If the skin is thin, you might want to have some foil handy -- you don't want to lose the juice to the flame.

While the kabobs are grilling and the shells are stewing, skew the rest of the goods. If you're smart, you'll learn how to cut fruits and veggies so you can skew them on the same kabob stick as the meat. Since shrimp cooks pretty fast, you might want to do the shrimp and mango separately and add these last -- just a few minutes before everything is done. Once they're cooking, brush them once or twice with the rest of the sauce. You can also baste these sticks with some coconut milk or melted butter when you turn them.

Timing is a big part of being a Watner Miester at the grill. You can shift the food around the coals based on what uses more heat and what needs less. If you've got a new gas model like mine with temperature zones, you've got total control of the heat and can section the kabobs according to that.

The Grillmiester Taste Test

The only big deal here is not to cook the shrimp too long and make sure the potatoes are done. Shrimp is ready when it's pink and slightly firm. Use the taste test for potatoes. The fork test will make them fall off the stick.

All right, when everything is ready, place the shells in the middle of a great big platter. If you've done the quarters, you can dole them out on a plate because this meal feeds about four.

Be careful though, and if you've got a fish spatula, use it. You don't want to tear the skins or spill the kabob dip. Add the skewers to the platter and you're ready to go. Serve it with some crusty bread and a brewsky. What comes next doesn't need any recipe. You know what to do. Eating is my best test.

Just one final thing, something I want to test out next. You can always skip the potatoes and make some rice. I bet it would be great dumped into a grilled pineapple boat.

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Pineapple Beef Stir Fry, by Donna Monday
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Vegan Jamaican Jerk Kabobs, by Yvonne Sutton