Spiedie 101

This weekend we hosted the annual Spiediefest extravaganza. This event may be more popular than our Super Bowl party, especially for our friends who hate football. The weather cooperated, so some of the revelers kayaked or paddle boarded on the river prior to eating.

Water sports prior to Spiediefest.

For those of you who didn’t grow up or go to college in upstate New York, I wrote a spiedie explainer two years ago. The recipe is quite simple: Marinate lamb, chicken, pork, or beef chunks in a vinaigrette made from olive oil, garlic, vinegar and/or lemon juice, and lots of dried herbs. Parsley, basil, and oregano are classic additions. Mint can be added to lamb marinade. Thread the meat onto skewers and grill. Serve the meat on a hot dog bun, using the bun to steady the meat while pulling it off the skewer.

Chicken spiedie meat awaiting the skewers.

A few tips and tricks for spiedie splendor:

• The rate-limiting step is cutting up the meat. If you buy a boneless leg of lamb, expect to extricate lots of fat and connective tissue off the meat. Don’t cut off every bit of fat, however. The melting fat will keep the meat moist on the grill.
• If you make chicken spiedies, use thighs. Chicken breasts have too little fat and too little flavor. We’ve never tried making spiedies with turkey; I’d still use thighs in that case. Again, just cut off the largest globules of fat from the meat to reduce flareups on the grill.
• Beef and lamb can easily be marinated overnight with no loss of quality. Poultry should only be marinated 4 hours at most, regardless of what some recipes say. The only thing worse than a dry spiedie is one with a pasty texture to the meat.
• Don’t crowd too many chunks of meat onto a single skewer. Four or five pieces will work on the average hot dog bun.
• Some people set aside a portion of the marinade (pre-exposure to meat) to brush on the spiedies while they’re on the grill. Julian did this for the lamb skewers, but I skipped it for the chicken.
• You can make vegetarian spiedies using extra firm tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables. Don’t bother marinating, but brush the skewers with unadulterated marinade while on the grill.
• In New York, spiedies are usually served naked and unashamed. However, you can put onions or pickled hot peppers on the spiedies if you wish. You can also dab a little of the non-raw-meat-exposed marinade on the finished product.

What to serve with spiedies? This is a summertime dish in upstate New York. (Especially in my hometown, where you have to shovel through several feet of snow to find the grill in January.) Our friends brought assorted salads. Another made a stir-fry from sweet corn, green beans, mushrooms, and fennel. If you want to go full-tilt Upstate, you can make salt potatoes. These are new potatoes that are boiled in a briny solution, then drained and served with enough butter to send your cardiologist’s kid to Cornell for a semester. Beer is the standard beverage to accompany spiedies, but you can also drink wine, water, or iced tea. Fire up the grill and enjoy!