Grilled Greek Style Chicken & Pork Kabobs – By the Beard of Zeus!

Greek cuisine is some of the best in the world and grilling is a big part of their culinary culture (lamb in particular). During holidays, such as Greek Easter, grilling meat over a big open fire is common and celebrated (on the topic, my brother makes amazing grilled lamb balls filled with Feta cheese on his gas grill – but save your SNL Shwetty balls comments please). I myself wasn’t going to wait for a holiday to prepare Greek style kabobs with classic ingredients, such as Kalamata olives, lemons, Feta, mint, oregano, onions, olive oil, etc… (this is not an authentic recipe you will find in Athens so don’t go askin’ and if someone shouts at you half-dressed that this is Sparta, start runnin’!). Grilling these kabobs over a wood fire with apple and/or cherry wood illuminates a beautiful and light smokey flavor….that floats to the sky – as if I were sending signals towards the heavens, directly to Zeus and the Gods themselves. The message? I’m philosophizing about going all Olympic on some Greek style kabobs baby!

What I love about making Greek style kabobs, whether it be with chicken, pork, lamb, beef, etc…is that you can have them over rice or create a Gyro or Souvlaki, or even prepare them in a (Greek) salad. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a grandmother from the Greek Islands (my dad’s mom) and a good friend whose parents are from northern Greece. So like my appreciation for Italian food, I have a special fondness for Greek cuisine and Mediterranean dishes (throw some Spanakopita in front of me and see how long that lasts!!!). For this dish I chose chicken and pork kabobs with onions, red peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon, and oregano (I prefer to separate the meat and vegetable skewers as putting them together can be difficult for even cooking over a wood charcoal fire). I use 1/2 of the tomato, pepper, and onion in the kabob and save the other half for a small vegetable salad mix with lemon, olives, and mint. Now, I’m not much of a Tzatziki sauce guy (I’m likely to get flogged in front of the Parthenon for that remark), as yogurt isn’t my thing but feel free to substitute the lemon, mint, and olive dressing for Tzatziki.

For the kabobs, any number of woods over your hardwood lump charcoal will do the job but I prefer apple or cherry for chicken and pork (and rather than dress your grates with olive oil, use a 1/2 cut onion with a long grill-fork and slide it back and forth across the grates). Add the kabobs to the grill and keep a medium-to-high temperature, turning them every 4-5 minutes per side while the vegetable kabobs will likely cook faster so keep an eye on them. The remaining halves of pepper, onion, and tomato should be placed over very high-heat so that they can be roasted and eventually peeled and seeded. I like a Gyro like dinner for my kabobs so I threw some flatbread (or pita bread) on the grill for about 1-2 minutes a side to give it a slight crispy flavor, but not too crispy that you can’t fold it. Once your kabobs are ready and off the grill, peel and de-seed the 1/2 red pepper and tomato and chop (along with the onions and mushrooms) and place into a bowl. Then squeeze over with lemon, add olive oil, very fine chopped mint, chopped olives, and mix together. In another bowl, add Feta, oregano, pepper and a little olive oil (most Greeks would have me sacrificed off a mountain in Crete for suggesting to crumble up the Feta, but this acts as a nice topping to the kabobs). Put it all together with the kabobs over the flatbread, topped with the vegetable and Feta dressings, add another squeeze of lemon and a few extra olives – and BAM! “By the Beard of ZEUS” (or any other frequently used expressions), you have Greek heaven! If you have a lot of disposable income, feel free to smash some plates in true Greek style (I’ve already broken enough things in my kitchen and disposable income is a foreign language to me – and you thought I was gonna say Greek, didn’t you?).

I’m always a fan of suggesting wine (especially red) and the Greeks have some very tasty wines. One wine in particular, Tsantali Makedonakis, is a red that is fruitful and smooth and goes well with meats and pastas (I first tried it at a nearby Greek restaurant called the Aegean but could not pronounce it for the life of me! So I pointed at it on the menu like my daughter does when she wants a toy, “dat-dat-dat”!!). Greek wines can be hard to find but most places will carry a few if you ask. If Greek wine isn’t your style, try their national beer – Mythos! So there you have it, a little bit of Greece for your grill, compliments of Paggi Pazzo – OOMPA!

Grilled Greek Style Kabobs Recipe

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 25 min

Total time: 45 min

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• (2) 8 ounce pork chops or chicken breasts
• 1 red pepper
• 1 white or red onion
• 1 beef tomato
• 8 large mushrooms
• 2 lemons
• 2/3 pound Kalamata olives
• 1/2 pound Feta cheese
• 2 tablesoons mint
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons dry oregano
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Cooking Directions

1. Cut pork or chicken into kabob chunks
2. Cut onion, pepper, and tomato in half (leave 1 half whole) and cut into square chunks for kabobs and trim off mushroom stems
3. Place pork and vegetables onto skewers
4. Season both with olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper, and oregano
5. Crumble Feta into a bowl with olive oil, oregano, pepper and then mix
6. If using charcoal grill, ignite chimney starter with paper towel dressed in olive oil to start hardwood lump charcoal fire and place wood on top once fire is ready (apple or cherry recommended but oak and mesquite will work as well)
7. Place down grates and rub 1/2 onion across grates, put kabob skewers on grill and turn every 5 minutes. Then place remaining vegetables over high-heat of grill for charring
8. When kabobs are almost done, place flatbread for 2-3 minutes a side on low heat of grill
9. Remove food from grill then peel, de-seed and chop remaining 1/2 red pepper and tomato
10. Chop peeled pepper and tomato, onion, Kalamata olives, mint, and put into bowl with olive oil and squeeze of 1/2 lemon (no seeds) then mix
11. Take kabobs off skewers and place 1 serving onto a piece of flatbread, covered with a tablespoon of vegetable, lemon and mint topping, and a teaspoon of Feta and oregano dressing
12. Add extra Kalamata olives, squeeze of lemon and sprinkled mint for additional flavor
13. Sit back, open your mouth, and be one with the Gods!