Last Friday, like every weekend my sleek Aussie temptress beckoned me for yet another tryst. Not being very strong willed to resist her charms, I answered her call. It just so happened that we were both longing for the pleasures of the far East and an idea occurred to me - 'Honey'.
To be precise - 'Honey mustard grilled chicken'. I am drawing a blank for a better, more imaginative name for the dish we concocted. If after reading, and hopefully trying the recipe, you are struck by a sudden inspiration for a name, please let us know.
In our quest for Asian inspired grilled fare, we have had several follies, few accidental discoveries and even fewer moments of true genius. Described here is the distillate of all those experiences. Without further ado, here is the recipe:
The bird:
2.5 - 3 lbs chicken in grill-able size pieces. (too large and you have to discount for the inevitable charcoal crust. Too tiny and frequently it becomes all charcoal)
The marinade:
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp mustard preferably the kind with coarse ground seeds.
1 tbsp horseradish sauce (or a couple packets of Arby's Horsey sauce ;-)
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste. Easily substituted by a tablespoon of each - finely chopped up.
1 tbsp ground black pepper
salt to taste
optional- for an extra kick - add some hot red chilli-pepper.
Whisk it all together and apply generously on the skinned and patted dry chicken.
Leave it in the fridge overnight or at least for 3-4 hours.
Our sizzling Aussie gave the chicken thigh pieces a beautiful caramelized glaze in about 5-6 minutes each side. Needless to say, you gotta consult your own grill on this one.
Heavenlicious - may be an incorrect adjective as per British or American English, but then as we say out in the far East - communication is only partly via language. (totally made up!)
Hope you like it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Marshmallow roasting - novices, experts and ...
What would be summer without camping, camping without campfires or campfires without marshmallows?
Frankly we don't wanna know!
Last weekend we were fortunate enough to secure a beautiful wooded spot in our favorite campground and so, went camping Friday night. Adding to all the evident pleasures of camping - the outdoors, open skies, stars and closeness to nature, is the practical utility of doing it on a Friday - its still only Saturday afternoon when you return home after a night in the woods. You are still buffered by a Sunday from the gloom and doom of Monday. (To understand my perspective better - read this)
Anyway, back to the topic of the day - Marshmallows. I mean of course we had other delectable goodies - mostly supplied by Trader Joe's - Curry flavored Naans and Pollo Asado for grilling. But the show stealer were Marshmallows as we witnessed the emergence of expertise in roasting them, as also the continued bungling on parts of others - but I jump ahead of myself.
As soon as we arrived at the campsite, we set about furiously trying to confuse each other - in other words began setting up the tent. My new rule for tents is - anything that's not pegged to the ground will confound you sooner or later. The kids watched amused as their parents unintentionally played buffoons.
Finally it was accomplished and I started our camp-fire which eventually got going. And that was when my better half decided to open the bag of marshmallows and went hunting in the woods for the right twigs for the job and we started toasting them.
The first few could best be described as charcoal encrusted marshmallow bits. And here's where my better-half began to justify the adjective- better. She methodically set about experimenting with distance from flame and position in the fire pit etc and finally figured out the perfect combination of getting toasted crispy exterior with a nearly melted interior. While the kids and I looked on in amazement. Needless to say, I tortured a couple more in a fruitless pursuit of improvement and quickly gave up. While my know-it-all older daughter quickly asserted that mom's were just like hers implying that mom had learned fast and well from her.
So, toasted Marshmallows started out as appetizers and continued on to the dessert course.
Meanwhile the main-course of Grilled Pollo Asado (Chicken marinated in Mexican Asado spices) and curry flavored Naan - also grilled briefly to warm it up, had to be content with being mere side-kicks to the 'Mallows.
For several long moments afterward we sat in the prairie looking at the stars in a quiet, moon-less night uninterrupted by any sounds and lights of civilization. At the moment, life was indeed good!!
Frankly we don't wanna know!
Last weekend we were fortunate enough to secure a beautiful wooded spot in our favorite campground and so, went camping Friday night. Adding to all the evident pleasures of camping - the outdoors, open skies, stars and closeness to nature, is the practical utility of doing it on a Friday - its still only Saturday afternoon when you return home after a night in the woods. You are still buffered by a Sunday from the gloom and doom of Monday. (To understand my perspective better - read this)
Anyway, back to the topic of the day - Marshmallows. I mean of course we had other delectable goodies - mostly supplied by Trader Joe's - Curry flavored Naans and Pollo Asado for grilling. But the show stealer were Marshmallows as we witnessed the emergence of expertise in roasting them, as also the continued bungling on parts of others - but I jump ahead of myself.
As soon as we arrived at the campsite, we set about furiously trying to confuse each other - in other words began setting up the tent. My new rule for tents is - anything that's not pegged to the ground will confound you sooner or later. The kids watched amused as their parents unintentionally played buffoons.
Finally it was accomplished and I started our camp-fire which eventually got going. And that was when my better half decided to open the bag of marshmallows and went hunting in the woods for the right twigs for the job and we started toasting them.
The first few could best be described as charcoal encrusted marshmallow bits. And here's where my better-half began to justify the adjective- better. She methodically set about experimenting with distance from flame and position in the fire pit etc and finally figured out the perfect combination of getting toasted crispy exterior with a nearly melted interior. While the kids and I looked on in amazement. Needless to say, I tortured a couple more in a fruitless pursuit of improvement and quickly gave up. While my know-it-all older daughter quickly asserted that mom's were just like hers implying that mom had learned fast and well from her.
So, toasted Marshmallows started out as appetizers and continued on to the dessert course.
Meanwhile the main-course of Grilled Pollo Asado (Chicken marinated in Mexican Asado spices) and curry flavored Naan - also grilled briefly to warm it up, had to be content with being mere side-kicks to the 'Mallows.
For several long moments afterward we sat in the prairie looking at the stars in a quiet, moon-less night uninterrupted by any sounds and lights of civilization. At the moment, life was indeed good!!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Foodie Jaunt involving Turkey & Iran
No, We didn't visit Europe lately, nor Central Asia.
The farthest we made it to was to the new (to us) Whole Foods of St.Paul.
Now one might wonder why it took us - fervent adherents of the religion foodism, so long to get to Whole Foods. The short answer is - Trader Joe's of Woodbury.
Trader Joe's satisfies our cravings for exotic & organic fare, without burning a hole in the wallet. So, we kept making plans for a visit to Whole Foods, but then kept putting it off. Finally a couple weeks ago we visited Whole Foods of St Paul and fell in love with the store. Before I go completely off on a tangent and forget the original topic, let me just say that we found quite a few delicacies - including a curry chicken salad from the deli, yummy pastries, delicious sausages and much more.
My better-half also picked up some ground Turkey - evoking an inward groan from me. "We will have to endure some 'healthy' burgers pretty soon" was the thought that ran through my head. Well, for once, I am glad to admit that I was wrong. :-)
Following an Iranian recipe, we made some oven baked Turkey Kebabs with a few simple ingredients:
1 lbs ground Turkey
1/2 an onion chopped up
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp sumac (a Middle Eastern Spice with a very interesting flavor)
If you wish to spice it up some more, add a quarter tsp of Garam Masala.
Mix it well and in a baking dish flatten the mixture in an even layer about 1/2 inch thick. Even though I forgot to mention it before, you might want to spray the dish with some oil or cooking spray.
That is it! Bake it in an oven preheated to 375 deg F for about 25 minutes.
Now take 3-4 vine ripened, quartered tomatoes and place them on top of the kebab and put dish back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so.
It tastes best with some plain basmati rice cooked with a teaspoon of butter. Baked tomatoes eaten with the kebab and rice add a wonderful taste to it.
A glass of Jacob's Creek Merlot (2007) paired nicely with the meal.
As you can see, one doesn't need to spend a fortune in airfare to enjoy a Turkey Kebab a la Persia.
The farthest we made it to was to the new (to us) Whole Foods of St.Paul.
Now one might wonder why it took us - fervent adherents of the religion foodism, so long to get to Whole Foods. The short answer is - Trader Joe's of Woodbury.
Trader Joe's satisfies our cravings for exotic & organic fare, without burning a hole in the wallet. So, we kept making plans for a visit to Whole Foods, but then kept putting it off. Finally a couple weeks ago we visited Whole Foods of St Paul and fell in love with the store. Before I go completely off on a tangent and forget the original topic, let me just say that we found quite a few delicacies - including a curry chicken salad from the deli, yummy pastries, delicious sausages and much more.
My better-half also picked up some ground Turkey - evoking an inward groan from me. "We will have to endure some 'healthy' burgers pretty soon" was the thought that ran through my head. Well, for once, I am glad to admit that I was wrong. :-)
Following an Iranian recipe, we made some oven baked Turkey Kebabs with a few simple ingredients:
1 lbs ground Turkey
1/2 an onion chopped up
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp sumac (a Middle Eastern Spice with a very interesting flavor)
If you wish to spice it up some more, add a quarter tsp of Garam Masala.
Mix it well and in a baking dish flatten the mixture in an even layer about 1/2 inch thick. Even though I forgot to mention it before, you might want to spray the dish with some oil or cooking spray.
That is it! Bake it in an oven preheated to 375 deg F for about 25 minutes.
Now take 3-4 vine ripened, quartered tomatoes and place them on top of the kebab and put dish back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so.
It tastes best with some plain basmati rice cooked with a teaspoon of butter. Baked tomatoes eaten with the kebab and rice add a wonderful taste to it.
A glass of Jacob's Creek Merlot (2007) paired nicely with the meal.
As you can see, one doesn't need to spend a fortune in airfare to enjoy a Turkey Kebab a la Persia.
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