New Year's Resolution Recipe #4: Surf & Turf Shish Kebabs

Sorry it's been a bit over a week - I've been secretly planning a pampering baby shower for my friend who was expecting kiddo #5 - and prior to that - another baby shower for another couple of friends!

Anyways, I'm back and I've been trying a few new things!
For the life of me, I couldn't find skewers (metal or wood!) in a shop downtown and didn't have a lot of time to spend - so I asked the cashier and she found me these metal wires with super sharp skewer tips and they were 2 in a pack for 13.95€ and I thought I'd try them out.

I don't know why I never think to even DO skewers - they're so easy and simple!  I suppose not having a barbecue and not being allowed to have one on my balcony has something to do with it too!
But I got motivated from school (where I'm studying cooking) and the student restaurant treated us to a fancier lunch and there was a chicken skewer.

School "fancy" lunch from the student restaurant where I study.

So it turned out last Friday (2 days ago), we had our guests over as usual and I found out through Facebook that my friend's birthday was on Saturday - so I wanted to make something a little more special and opted for those skewers/wires.

I had 5 minutes to marinade the beef and I just tossed them in soya sauce with roasted garlic spice and Chinese 5 Spice and pepper.  

I didn't thaw the shrimp all the way - so there was a bit of water in the pan when I pulled it out of the oven.

I do plan on doing this again as it was easy, a great motivator to eat more vegetables and I felt happy and full (without the need to switch to sweat pants) afterward.
I'd also try to put more thought into the marinade and maybe brush some extra on during half way (but was in a rush making dessert) of the cooking time - but otherwise it was a pleasant treat.

I used (already cut) chunks of beef, frozen shrimp, bell peppers, red onion and whole mushrooms.
I used cooking spray on my wires to ensure easy slide-off and cooked them in a pre-heated oven (350*F/175*C) for approximately 30 minutes.
I couldn't flip these as they were on a wire and both wires were filled from loop to tip!  This fed 4 adults, 5 semi-peckish children and was served with rice.

In the bottom two, far-right photos - a filo pastry (puff pastry) covered in sliced pears with brie, crushed walnuts and pecans and dried cranberries with a drizzle of honey and shaved dark chocolate!

Off to bed for now!  Until next time!

BIMU

PS Originally posted in 2 Hookers 2 Kitchens!