Sirloin Kebabs with Southeast-Asian-Style Spice Paste

Recipe from Gourmet Magazine June 2007 and Tested in Alice's Kitchen (Martha's Daughter)
Serves 4

It was my mother's birthday (Martha) yesterday and each year we celebrate it by having my parents and my uncle Ben over for a nice dinner. It has been tradition to mark the event by posing for a photo while standing in front of our star magnolia tree which has never failed to bloom in past years in time for Mother's special day. This year, probably because of the strange weather we've been having lately, the tree wasn't blooming yet, but the dinner was a big success. I made the spice paste and cut up the lovely sirloin the day before. I bought the Fisher Farms sirloin tip at Lost River Market & Deli. The lemongrass is grown at Brambleberry Farm right here in Paoli and is available at the store as well. I'll put a note regarding lemongrass at the end of the recipe. I'm certain the spice paste can be used with pork, lamb and chicken as well as beef. I was a bit concerned about using jalepenos with seeds, but nobody fell out of their chairs or had smoke coming from their ears from the heat. It was pretty mild. If you like food a bit hotter, you can always use more peppers. Be sure to wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers and don't rub your eyes! I served this with Indian Baked Rice (recipe on this blog.)

1 large fresh lemongrass stalk, tough outer leaves discarded
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 tablespoons minced peeled ginger (To save time, I used minced ginger in a jar found in the refrigerated case in the produce department.)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 large shallot, minced
2 fresh jalapeño chiles, minced (3 tablespoons), including seeds
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil (not toasted)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds sirloin tip, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks

Special equipment: an electric coffee/spice grinder or a mortar and pestle; 8 (12-inch) wooden skewers, soaked in warm water 30 minutes

Mince enough lemongrass from lower 4 inches of stalk to measure 2 tablespoons. Coarsely grind coriander seeds in grinder or with mortar and pestle, then stir together with lemongrass and remaining ingredients except sirloin in a bowl.
Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking with medium-hot charcoal. Toss sirloin with 1/3 cup spice paste in a large bowl and thread chunks 1/4 inch apart onto skewers. Oil grill rack, then grill kebabs, turning occasionally and moving around if flare-ups occur, 5 to 6 minutes for medium-rare.

Cooks' notes:
• Kebabs can be grilled on a gas grill. Preheat all burners on high, covered, 10 minutes. Reduce heat to moderately high and grill kebabs, covered, turning over occasionally, 5 to 6 minutes for medium-rare.
• Sirloin, rubbed with spice paste, can marinate, covered and chilled, up to 1 hour before grilling.
• Spice paste keeps, covered and chilled, up to 1 week.

In a pinch, you could replace the lemongrass with the zest of one large lemon, and sprinkled the grilled meat fresh lime juice (please, not the bottled stuff) just before serving.

lemon grass
One of the most important flavorings in Thai cooking, this herb has long, thin, gray-green leaves and a scallionlike base. Citral, an essential oil also found in lemon peel, gives lemon grass its sour-lemon flavor and fragrance. It's used to make tea and to flavor soups and other dishes. Lemon grass can be frozen for use later. For step by step photos on preparing lemon grass, click on the link below!

http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipesstepbystep/ss/lemongrasshowto.htm