Saturday, June 18, 2016

Kebobs with Top of the Fair Marinade #Recipe @PegCochran

Summer is grilling time, and I love it!  A good marinade or a spicy rub along with the grill combine to produce tasty but simple and quick meals!  One of my favorite marinades came from my mother-in-law and is called Top of the Fair Marinade.  The Top of the Fair was a restaurant at the 1964-1965 World's Fair in NYC.  Either my mother-in-law found the recipe printed in a magazine somewhere or she managed to worm it out of the chef at the restaurant! (Which she was known to do.)

The restaurant's slogan was "Eat Up in the Air at the Top of the World's Fair."  The restaurant was 120 feet up in the air beneath the Port Authority Heliport and offered panoramic views of the entire Fair and as far afield as the Statue of Liberty, the United Nations, Central Park and New York's many bridges.  The restaurant seated 1100 in its dining room, bar, cocktail lounge and private room and was  completely glass enclosed.

Lunch was a whopping $2.95 and dinner could be had for as little as $4.95.  And if you wanted to avoid NYC traffic on your way to the restaurant, a round-trip ride on the helicopter was $6.95!  According to an article in The New York Herald Tribune, 4/17/65,  " Helicopters heading for the roof look as if they are about to come through the restaurant. The building vibrates but there is little noise. The place is completely sound-proofed and air-conditioned."  According to the Tribune it was "A warm and gay place to be, with the Fair world stretching beyond in every direction."  (For more information and some wonderful pictures visit nywf64.com.)

One of the dishes on the menu was Shashlik Caucasian, lamb on skewer, grilled with spiced onion and tomato quarters.  I suspect the lamb was marinated in the Top of the Fair Marinade.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil (olive oil or vegetable oil)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Combine all of the above and mix well.




 Marinate your meat (I used chicken cubes but you can use beef, lamb or pork.)



Assemble your veggies--I used tomatoes, red onion, zucchini and mushrooms.


 Skewer your ingredients



Grill to delicious perfection!


Enjoy!

7 comments:

  1. I like kabobs but never seem to get around to making them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr. Right fondly remembers his family's trip to NY for the 1965 World's Fair -- they took the train all the way from Montana! And I wouldn't be surprised if they ate at the Top of the Fair!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the story about the 1965 World's Fair and eating at the Top of the Fair -- $6.95 for a helicopter ride! Thanks for the delicious marinade recipe ~

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love kebabs. They're so easy! ~ Daryl

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the great recipe, Leslie. I actually have never been to World's Fair, though my father went to one in Paris when he was traveling from Sweden to the U.S. Marilyn (aka cj petterson) PS: How long should the meat rest in the marinade? I am definitely going to try this one.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kebabs are a summer staple from my youth.
    Lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I did find this recipe in an old Woman's Day or Better Homes and Garden magazine from 1964 I think. I always use it to marinade my lamb but it also works well with chicken and beef as well. i also add vegetables to the marinade and marinade overnight. Put some cut up peppers , onions, mushrooms in the marinade with the meat and put on skewars. SO good!

    ReplyDelete