Marinated Beef Skewers (Espetada)
My Maderian friends brag about their Marinated Beef Skewers (Espetada). Simply marinated and grilled, it needs very little to accompany it. Alas, unless you have a bay leave shrub growing in your yard or a pot, you won’t have branches of bay leaves to thread through the meat. Just presoak wooden skewers and thread the meat on the skewers alternating with whole bay leaves.
Serves 4 to 6
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt or to taste
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 3 bay leaves plus extra for grilling
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds beef sirloin, rib-eye, or beef tenderloin, cut in 2 inch cubes
- Wooden skewers soaked in water for ½ hour
- To make the Marinated Beef Skewers (Espetada), use a mortar and pestle, combine the salt and garlic, mashing the two until the garlic becomes a paste. Mix in the bay leaves, pepper, wine vinegar and lastly, the olive oil.
- Put the meat cubes in a shallow non-reactive bowl and dump the seasoning paste over the meat. With clean hands, turn the meat to coat thoroughly on all sides. Let stand for 2 to 4 hours or even overnight in the refrigerator.
- While the meat is marinating, soak the wooden skewers in warm water for at least ½ hour.
- When ready to cook, thread the cubes of meat alternating with a bay leaf, onto the skewers. Grill over medium-heat (for beef tenderloin which requires less cooking, 5-6 minutes for medium-rare ) approximately 5 inches above the flames. Adjust cooking time to your desired doneness for your marinated beef skewers (Espetada).
