Thai grilled chicken

This is a refreshingly fresh, medium hot marinade for chicken that I tried recently:

To serve 4:

4 fresh red chili peppers, sliced, stem and seeds removed
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tsp crumbled palm sugar
150 ml coconut cream (not cream of coconut!)
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbs tamarind water (see recipe below)
4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

Pulp the chili pepper, garlic and shallots using a mortar and pestle or food processor. Add the palm sugar, coconut cream, fish sauce and tamarind water.

Cut 4 shallow slits in each chicken breast with a sharp knife. Put the chicken breasts on a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them. Turn over in the marinade to coat well. Cover the dish and set aside for an hour or so.

Preheat the grill. Put the marinated chicken breasts on aluminium foil and put under the grill for 4 minutes, turn over and grill the other side for 4 minutes as well (the breasts I used needed 7 minutes on each side), brushing occasionally with the marinade. Garnish with basil or cilantro leaves.

Serve with rice.

Recipe for tamarind water:
Pour 60 ml boiling water over 5 g tamarind pulp. Soak for a few minutes, break up with a spoon and let soak for 30 minutes. Pour the liquid through a strainer and press as much of the pulp through it as possible. Discard the remaining pulp.

Recipe of the week from Entertaining: Orange spare ribs

I had some ribs in my freezer and this looked like an interesting way to cook them, so I chose this as the recipe of the week.

1,5 kg (3 lbs) pork spare ribs

2 tbs clear honey
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
2 oranges
Salt and pepper

Cut the spare ribs into serving pieces (single ribs). Put honey, lemon juice, Worchestershire sauce and soy sauce in a small saucepan and add the grated zest of one orange and the juice from both oranges. Add salt and pepper to taste and heat gently, stirring occasionally. Leave to cool, then pour over the meat. Leave to marinate overnight.

Drain, reserving the marinade.

Place the ribs in a roasting pan and cook in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F), for 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, fire up the grill. Grill the ribs, turning and basting frequently with the marinate, until crisp (about 15 minutes).

Makes 8 servings.



Notes:
I marinated some ribs, just enough to feed one hungry person, using a full recipe of marinade. The marinade was thin and had a mild orange flavour. I marinated the ribs for about 20 hours, turning them a couple of times. Since the weather wasn’t suitable for grilling outdoors, I used the grill in the oven instead. I don’t know if the author used smaller ribs, or merely better trimmed ones, but it took 35 minutes to get the rib pieces cooked through, at about the same distance from the grill as they were supposed to be from the coals in the recipe.

Review:
The meat was juicy and pulled easily off the bones, but was not as melt-in-the-mouth soft as I like rib meat to be. I think maybe cooking the ribs in the marinate for 10-20 minutes before grilling would make the meat softer. The flavour of the meat had a mild flavour of oranges, and the edges of the pieces and the membranes were well braised and crisp and there was some caramelisation. It was a nice flavour but nothing special. Another time, I would like to use a thick basting sauce, one that would coat the meat better and create a more all-over caramelisation, and I would like a more intense orange flavour and slightly more sweetness. Perhaps I could use orange marmalade instead of juice?

Indian recipe: Seekh Kebab (minced meat on skewers) and Garam Masala (spice blend)

750 g (1 1/2 lbs) finely minced lamb
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp garam masala (see recipe below)
2 tbs roasted chick peas, ground, or besan (chick pea flour)
2 tbs ground almonds
2 tbs finely chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
1 fresh green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbs yogurt
1 tbs lemon juice

Combine all ingredients, mix and knead together until smooth. Divide into six even portions and shape the portions of mince into long sausages around the same number of flat barbecue skewers. Barbecue or grill until browned on all sides and cooked through. Serve with rice, naan or chappatis.

Smaller portions make excellent finger food.


To make garam masala:
4 tbs coriander seeds
2 tbs cummin seeds
1 tbs whole black peppercorns
2 tsp cardamom seeds (roast pods and remove seeds, then measure)
4 x 7,5 cm (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
1 tsp whole cloves
1 whole nutmeg

In a frying pan, roast the spices separately: coriander, cummin, pepper, cardamom pods, cinnamon, and cloves. The spices are roasted when their smell begins to rise from the pan. After roasting, peel the cardamoms and discard the pods and only use the seeds. Put the spices into a blender or spice grinder (not a pepper mill) and grind to a fine powder. Grate the nutmeg finely and add to the mixture. Store in an airtight container.