Marinated Beef Kabobs

Marinades are fun - it's all about visualizing what flavors will compliment each other and work with the meat to produce the best end product. That being said, they can be hard to perfect. This marinade was something I literally threw together after reading a few recipes online - I wasn't pleased with any of the recipes I read, so I just created my own. Yet I did gleam a few things, for instance I think Alton Brown suggested using red wine vinegar as part of one of his beef marinade recipes. So I decided that would be something I added in mine. I also knew I wanted an herbaceous scent, which lead me to the addition of thyme and celery seed. For some heat I grabbed the cayenne pepper and spicy brown mustard (see, it's all over the place!). Despite the wide range of ingredients, the marinade turned out quite nice. The beef was seasoned excellently, and didn't need anything additional when we sat down to eat.

I served the beef kabobs with some Basmati rice (which I lightly seasoned with some butter, salt, pepper, and garlic powder).

Beef Kabobs
3 lb. sirloin, cut into 1" pieces
Metal skewers
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 Tbl. paprika
1 Tbl. cumin
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbl. onion powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. celery seed
2 Tbl. spicy brown mustard
10 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbl. red wine vinegar
1 C canola oil

Place the meat into a large plastic bag (you could just as easily arrange the meat in a dish and pour the marinade overtop, but I'm partial to the bag - so clean!). In a bowl combine the garlic, paprika, cumin, thyme, onion powder, cayenne, celery seed, Worcestershire, vinegar and oil (I only do the mustard by itself because it separates in the oil and for some reason that doesn't sit well with me). Pour into the bag with the meat and add the mustard. Make sure all of the meat is coated by turning and massaging the bag as necessary. Place in the fridge for up to 4 hours.

When ready to cook - skewer the meat onto the metal skewers and grill over moderately high heat for roughly 4 minutes each side (or until done). Serve immediately.