Spiedies

As a native of Endicott, NY, where these actually originated, a couple of refinements. The original spiedies (from spiedini, or skewer, in Italian) were lamb, and the best still are. The marinade is garlicky, & lighter on the vinegar than this recipe. No one I know uses sugar in the marinade - completely unnecessary! Drop the basil - nice but unnecessary, but add Italian parsley!! Bread of choice is thin sliced "Italian style," preferably stuck onto the skewer. See Lupos of Endicott for more!

I'm from Binghamton, New York and grew up eating spiedies! So I was naturally interested to see if this recipe would take me back to the days of big family gatherings around the open barbecue. The only thing that threw me off was the addition of sugar to the marinade, which I couldn't imagine my Italian mother adding…but maybe she did! I used lamb, the traditional meat and they were delicious! We used to pull the meat off the skewers with sliced Italian bread from Roma's bakery. Thanks, Sam

We used to get these in Binghamton bars when Binghampton U. was Harpur College. By the way they cost 75 cents then.

Rather than hero rolls, they came with a piece of untoasted Vienna bread at the top of the skewer. You put the bread in the flat of your hand, wrapped your hand with the bread around the meat and pulled it off the skewer making an instant sandwich.

Oh the memories....oh the bars.

Spiedies, an Italian word is pronounced thus:

SPE-A-DEES - accent is on the 'A'

Step 3 Turn your broiler on to heat. ... Step 5 Place skewers under heated broiler. Allow the meat to cook, undisturbed, for approximately 3 to 4 minutes, then use kitchen tongs to turn them over and repeat on the other side. Continue turning the skewers every couple of minutes until the meat is deeply crisp at its edges, and cooked entirely through, approximately another 5 to 7 minutes.

I learned to make it with lamb. I would eliminate the bay leaf and add rosemary and some Dijon mustard to the marinade.

I'm from Binghamton...lamb is the best and please, these are served on a slice of Italian bread. period. (sweet French will do in a pinch, here in CA) oil and any vinegar work well, rosemary, garlic, oregano, garlic, thyme, garlic, oh, I did I mention garlic? Lupo's and Salamida's sell marinade online if you are a novice. Pork is ok too, but chicken and beef...that is another animal all together. No mustard, No ketchup, No melted cheese. Skewer + slice of bread, enjoy, with beer.

The Lupo family (from Endicott, NY) makes and sells their classic Spiedie Marinade. Friends from the area bring it to me when they visit. It is quite simple and omits fancy herbs etc. They recommend marinating for two days!

I used precut beef stew meat from the grocery and chicken thighs and varied the marinade a bit for my weekly dinner party. One marinade was as written, one subbed out rice vinegar for the red wine vinegar and the last one used rice wine vinegar and sweet red wine (1/4 cup) instead of sugar. The rice wine alone was tart but good, the rice vinegar and sweet red wine was rich, nuanced and popular. The original recipe was less complex and somewhat sweeter but all three were a hit with my crowd!

Lots of garlic and lots of rosemary are the keys for me, but no sugar. I use cider vinegar because that was in the recipe passed along by a neighbor in the 1960s. I like to marinate them in the fridge for at least a week (this is with pork), stirring every couple of days. After that they can be frozen in the marinade for future use. Our neighbor also used a "mint sauce" recipe, basically Italian dressing with a good deal of dried mint added, for topping off the sandwich. Delicious.

I grew up in Binghamton and ate Speidis all the time. They were originally lamb and served on soft Italian bread. There are a multitude of marinade recipes..one must experiment to get the taste you like, but Lupos and Sharkeys are Binghamton favorites since the closing of Panchos Pit.
Try turkey...delicious!

As a teenager in Cazenovia New York we would go to the NY State Fair in the summer and the two highlights for me were the Spiedie sandwich man and the giant butter sculpture.

Made this with chicken, pork and beef and the beef seems to work best. Husband got to batch and cooked some of it before the 36 hour mark (~24 hours-he was happy). I use a skirt steak or thinly sliced fajita style meat (bought at Spanish market and not very expensive). Really delicious (did not even sit down to eat it) and I am not a habitual consumer of red meat. We sliced onions and red peppers into mix and grilled/broiled it all for about 5 minutes. Forgot a bout the bread...

I skipped the skewers and used the bbq basket--much easier to manage. Great recipe.

I use fresh herbs. Many traditional recipes do not. If you go dried, adjust accordingly!