Try surf-and-turf kabobs

Combine the best of four meats for a real treat

Unless you are part of the Van Winkle clan and just woke up, you should have realized it’s summer. The season officially arrived on June 21, but the heat and humidity that built up in advance made certain it wasn’t a surprise arrival.

Summer is a special season along the coast. The days are long and usually hot, while the evenings cool to comfortable levels. Even the humidity that tries to suffocate life drops to lower levels as the sun reaches the horizon, and it’s a good time to be outside, especially cooking outside.

My thoughts are that meals cooked outside should be simple, fun and enjoyable. Hamburgers and hot dogs are nice treats, but preparing fresh seafood or game on the grill speaks to me in so many ways, including boosting my appetite.

This month, I’m going to suggest a grilled dish that should offer a little bit for everyone. I like it spicy and use seasoning geared to that, but the same spice is also offered in a mild version for those who prefer their food more docile. This meal uses dolphin, which are one of the favorite offshore fish of summer, shrimp, which most people liked even before Bubba listed how many ways they could be prepared for Forrest Gump and wild turkey breast, which can be substituted by chicken if you don’t have a gobbler in your freezer.

You should be able to find some fresh shrimp at your favorite seafood market. If you don’t have a turkey breast in the freezer, you’ll have to buy that or some chicken. However, you should be able to get fresh dolphin on your own. Dolphin break out of the Gulf Stream and move inshore as the water warms each summer and often get within range of the outboard fleet, where they are caught incidental to king mackerel fishing. Dolphin fishing has been really good since May, and with a little luck, you can bring some fresh fillets home after a fun fishing trip with family or friends.

The onions, mushrooms and pineapple will require a trip to the grocery store or farmer’s market. That isn’t all bad, as you can pick up some chips or sliced veggies to nibble on while cooking and for appetizers. This requires an icy cold beverage; iced tea is the southern favorite. For a little twist, try your tea Arnold Palmer-style, mixed half-and-half with lemonade. Occasionally a thoroughly chilled adult beverage really hits the spot, too.

For those of you who aren’t regular followers of this column, shame on you. I’ve said this before and will say it again; I think the Walkerswood Jerk Sauce is a key ingredient. Walkerswood Traditional Jamaican Seasonings is an original Jamaican brand that has limited distribution. The jerk seasoning is a wet rub that smells so good, it’s hard not to eat a small spoonful when opening the jar. I really like this stuff and have even mixed it with hummus for a spicy snack or appetizer.

I was introduced to Walkerswood by a friend, Dawn Brown, whose husband is Jamaican, and she really did me a favor. I usually find it in the spice section of high-end grocery stores and in specialty cooking stores. If you don’t find it easily or would like to forego shopping, the website is www.walkerswood.com; it lists several options for purchasing online. I like the hot and spicy version, but they also have a much tamer mild version.

Surf-and-turf kabobs

This is a dish that just sort of came about out of a need to satisfy numerous tastes. By combining shrimp, dolphin and fowl on a skewer and lacing it with bacon, there had to be something that anyone would eat. It worked pretty well and has become a recipe we use several times a year once the weather warms enough to enjoy cooking out.

Dolphin are a favorite fish of summer; they are mild and firm and should be a favorite of anyone who eats fish. Shrimp are similar. I don’t know that I have ever met anyone who isn’t allergic to them who doesn’t eat shrimp. Chicken, or in this case turkey, is the fall-back for people who don’t care for other meats, so it completes the trifecta of meats that almost everyone will eat. They are all mild enough that one flavor won’t overpower the others, and that makes them excellent for this.

This recipe is a bit of a compromise. If I was making it for just myself, I would use another spoon of jerk sauce and also mix the onions and mushrooms in. This was lightened up so the jerk wouldn’t be as strong. Several people who have eaten it said it is a bit on the spicy side, but none thought it was too spicy to eat. The flavor of the Walkerswood Jerk Sauce is that good. It isn’t just heat, it’s a combination of spices that has a great flavor.

This recipe version is also special because I used a wild turkey breast for the fowl instead of chicken. I had a turkey startle and jump just as I was pulling the trigger, which caused me to spray some of the pellets on the edge of the pattern into its breast. Cubing that breast allowed me to clean it up and remove a few shotgun pellets.

The final meat is bacon, and I’m sure I don’t need to say much there. Just about everyone likes bacon. I added the bacon so its grease would drip on the other meats and help season them. The way it weaves through the meat, it touches all of the pieces on two sides. Unfortunately this hides it from the direct flame of the grill, and unless you like your fish, shrimp and fowl really well done, it isn’t done when the other meats are ready.

There are two solutions for cooking the bacon enough to eat. I want the drippings to help flavor the other meats, so I begin with the bacon uncooked and then separate it from the other meat when I remove it from the skewer to eat and put it back on the grill for a few minutes. The bacon could also be partially cooked before threading it on the skewers. The bacon shrinks when doing this, so plan to use double the amount of bacon. The reason I prefer starting with raw bacon is that bacon loses most of its drippings in the first part of the cooking, and it’s the bacon drippings that flavor the meat.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound shrimp

1 pound dolphin fillets

1 wild turkey breast (chicken breast or boneless thighs may be substituted)

1 package sliced portabella mushrooms,

1 sweet onion (medium)

8 strips thin sliced bacon (one piece per skewer)

8 pineapple cubes (one per skewer),

2 tsp (heaping) Walkerswood Traditional Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (hot & spicy).

PREPARATION:

De-vein and shell shrimp. Cut dolphin into approximately 1-inch cubes. Cut turkey into approximately 1-inch cubes. Put shrimp, dolphin and turkey into bowl with Walkerswood Traditional Jerk Seasoning and mix well.  Cover bowl and allow meat to marinate for at least 1 to 2 hours in refrigerator. Soak skewers in water for a minimum of 30 minutes. Slice onion. Cut pineapple cubes. Preheat grill to medium. Thread skewers beginning with a piece of meat, then the end of a strip of bacon, then a different meat, fold the bacon back across, add another piece of meat, fold the bacon back across and continue alternating the meats and the bacon strip until the bacon strip is all used. The bacon strip should pass between every piece of meat and the skewer should be about two-thirds full. Slide the meat to the bottom of the skewer and add onion and mushroom pieces until the skewer is almost full. Top the skewer with a pineapple cube.

Cook on a covered grill until done, turning occasionally to prevent overcooking. The cook time will vary on different grills. On my grill, the cooking time runs 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from skewers to serve. Return bacon to grill and finish cooking it (if desired).

This is a healthy serving of meat, both in size and content. There are some veggies on the skewer, but I like to add more. Homemade sweet-potato fries with sea salt and dill weed and a fresh green salad make this a fun and healthy summer meal to enjoy on your deck or patio.