Mussels are a favourite of mine in many ways. They're super healthy, cheap, and not least really tasty with all the different flavours you can cook them in. This is the most recent way I cooked mussels, very fresh with a bit of a bite from chipotles in adobo. I also thought it was interesting with red wine in the broth since you usually use white wine with any kind of seafood, but this really works. Makes about 3-4 servings
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 can (28oz - 796ml) diced tomatoes, well drained
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
1/8 tsp allspice (no, not an all-purpose rub)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 slices lime
4 lbs fresh mussels
(a baguette)
Go through the mussels and see if there are any bad ones - any that are open and won't close at all after tapping the shells a few times might be bad and should be thrown out. Also check for "beards", kind of small threads coming out the side - just pull those off either with your hands or small pliers.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the cumin seeds and stir frequently until it's fragrant and the seeds have gone a shade darker. Add the garlic and onion and cook until the onion is lightly browned, stirring often. Then add the tomatoes, wine, chiles and allspice, wait until it bubbles then turn down the heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Then bring the mixture to a full boil, add the mussels and cover the pot. Shake it occasionally or open once after a couple of minutes and redistribute the mussels with a large spoon to cook evenly. Once they've opened, they're done. Take off the heat and add the chopped cilantro and lime slices, stir with a large spoon so the cilantro is evenly distributed. Serve the mussels in bowls and use the shells to catch the broth. I also recommend a baguette to use for dipping and soaking up the broth.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Yummy Cornbread
Last night my wife made a south-western stew and we decided that a good side to go with it would be corn bread. This is the recipe I used, and it turned out great.
Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix the butter, sour cream and egg in a medium bowl. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until moistened - try not to overwork it. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan and pour the batter into it, smooth it out with a spatula. Put it into the oven and bake until risen and a toothpick comes out dry - about 20 minutes. Let it cool for a couple of minutes, cut into squares and serve with butter.
Next time I might try mixing in some minced jalapeno to give it some kick.
Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix the butter, sour cream and egg in a medium bowl. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until moistened - try not to overwork it. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan and pour the batter into it, smooth it out with a spatula. Put it into the oven and bake until risen and a toothpick comes out dry - about 20 minutes. Let it cool for a couple of minutes, cut into squares and serve with butter.
Next time I might try mixing in some minced jalapeno to give it some kick.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Kick-Ass-est Hot Chicken Wings Ever
On the weekend I had a craving for chicken wings. I like my wings hot, and I came across a recipe in King of the Q's Blue Plate BBQ that had Sriracha in it and some other spicy Asian goodies, so I went ahead with it, and this is now my new favorite. Plenty of heat, but amazing flavors too that most hot wings usually lack. I think it 
would go well as a glaze for pork chops or chicken skewers too.
Ingredients
1/2 cup Sriracha
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup sambal oelek (easily found in the Asian/international section of most grocery stores)
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
3 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp mirin (usually found where you can find sushi ingredients, or use Chinese cooking wine or sake)
2 tbsp fish sauce (again easily found in the Asian section of most grocery stores)
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 chopped green onion
(4-5 lbs cooked chicken wings)
Just mix the ingredients together in a bowl and toss the cooked chicken wings in it when you're ready to serve. A suggestion is to not include the cilantro and green onion, then you can put it in the fridge and it will last for weeks - in that case, add the fresh stuff when serving.
would go well as a glaze for pork chops or chicken skewers too.Ingredients
1/2 cup Sriracha
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup sambal oelek (easily found in the Asian/international section of most grocery stores)
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
3 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp mirin (usually found where you can find sushi ingredients, or use Chinese cooking wine or sake)
2 tbsp fish sauce (again easily found in the Asian section of most grocery stores)
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 chopped green onion
(4-5 lbs cooked chicken wings)
Just mix the ingredients together in a bowl and toss the cooked chicken wings in it when you're ready to serve. A suggestion is to not include the cilantro and green onion, then you can put it in the fridge and it will last for weeks - in that case, add the fresh stuff when serving.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Porked Shrimp Balls with Peanut Sauce
This is a delicious and quick dish for days when you'd rather spend a day out in the sun instead of in the kitchen. The size of the shrimp doesn't matter since they will get ground up. This will serve 4.
Porked Shrimp Balls Ingredients
1 lb ground pork
3/4 lbs peeled and deveined raw shrimp
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Thin lettuce leaves (Boston, iceberg - about 30 leaves)
Skewers
Put all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor. Pulse it until all the ingredients have been blended into a coarse paste. Pour the oil onto a baking sheet, making sure it covers the bottom. Take a heaping scoop of the shrimp mix in a regular eating spoon, then use another on top to shape it into kind of a flat oval shape - do this a couple of times to make the shape nice and smooth. Put the "ball" onto the oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all balls have been made. When they're all on the sheet, turn them upside down so they're covered in oil. Put the sheet into the refrigerator for about a half hour or more to firm up a little. Meanwhile, start the coals (if using charcoal) then make the sauce.
Basic peanut dipping sauce
1 cup thick coconut milk
1/3 cup pure smooth peanut butter
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp Sriracha (hot chili garlic sauce) - or more to taste
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
Put all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sauce is evenly smooth and almost hot enough to start to simmer. Then take it off the heat and let it sit.
Cooking the balls
Your grill should be prepared for a direct hot fire. Skewer the balls - either one by one onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked in cold water for at least a half hour, or thread a few of them onto a metal skewer. Put them directly over the fire, turn after about 3 minutes or so for a total cooking time of about 6 minutes. It depends a little on how thick they are. They should have a solid color throughout and have kind of a springy consistency.
When you eat, put a ball on a lettuce leaf, top with some peanut sauce and wrap the lettuce around it. Feel free to dip in more sauce. Serve with rice noodles on the side and a vegetable such as steamed baby bok choy or broccoli.
Porked Shrimp Balls Ingredients
1 lb ground pork
3/4 lbs peeled and deveined raw shrimp
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Thin lettuce leaves (Boston, iceberg - about 30 leaves)
Skewers
Put all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor. Pulse it until all the ingredients have been blended into a coarse paste. Pour the oil onto a baking sheet, making sure it covers the bottom. Take a heaping scoop of the shrimp mix in a regular eating spoon, then use another on top to shape it into kind of a flat oval shape - do this a couple of times to make the shape nice and smooth. Put the "ball" onto the oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all balls have been made. When they're all on the sheet, turn them upside down so they're covered in oil. Put the sheet into the refrigerator for about a half hour or more to firm up a little. Meanwhile, start the coals (if using charcoal) then make the sauce.
Basic peanut dipping sauce
1 cup thick coconut milk
1/3 cup pure smooth peanut butter
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp Sriracha (hot chili garlic sauce) - or more to taste
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
Put all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sauce is evenly smooth and almost hot enough to start to simmer. Then take it off the heat and let it sit.
Cooking the balls
Your grill should be prepared for a direct hot fire. Skewer the balls - either one by one onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked in cold water for at least a half hour, or thread a few of them onto a metal skewer. Put them directly over the fire, turn after about 3 minutes or so for a total cooking time of about 6 minutes. It depends a little on how thick they are. They should have a solid color throughout and have kind of a springy consistency.
When you eat, put a ball on a lettuce leaf, top with some peanut sauce and wrap the lettuce around it. Feel free to dip in more sauce. Serve with rice noodles on the side and a vegetable such as steamed baby bok choy or broccoli.
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Steak - the true Mount Everest of grilling
Grilled beef steak is at the top of my death row list - the meal I'd choose to be my last. It's also the most frustrating piece of meat there is to grill. Sometimes I get it close to perfect, sometimes far from it. The times I get it pretty much the way I want it, I try to retrace the steps to figure out what I did right and repeat it the next time. That hardly ever works.
The thing is that it could be up to timing, just a minute's difference. Or the meat itself - a quarter of an inch difference in the thickness of the steak, or how much fat there is in the cut and how well the fat has been dispersed throughout the meat. It could be the temperature, a fifty degree difference in temperature over the coals that makes all the difference.
So in the end - there is no formula to get it right. You look at your meat and make an estimate. Then you look at your fire and adjust that estimate. Then you look at the meat (and maybe touch it) on the fire and re-estimate. Perfect example of how practice makes perfect. I need more practice, but just so you need less than me, here I go on another one of my "findings" rants. I'll start with the cut of beef, then the fire, then putting the meat to the fire. I'll finish off with my favorite flavorings for steak.
"My" cut of steak
With all kinds of meat, there are two things that determine flavour more than the flesh itself: fat and bone. I find that the (prime) rib steak, aka cowboy steak or club steak, has a lot of good fat dispersed throughout the meat and has a bone attached. Yes yes, you can get a T-Bone too, but you'll pay almost twice as much for a cut with a cooler name and has two sections of meat that should be cooked differently.
With regards to thickness - it doesn't really matter if you adjust your cooking method accordingly. I'd say that most f the steaks you by already cut are somewhere in the 1 inch/2.5 cm thick range, probably slightly less, and those are the ones I buy. If I want to cook a 2-3" thick Bistecca Alla Fiorentina, I won't look for a regular steak cooking guideline such as this one.
And by all means, try to get steak from grass fed beef. Anything you might have heard about grass fed beef being much tougher than grain fed, is all bull (read more about the benefits of grass fed here). A common "side-effect" of getting grass fed beef is that it turns out to be Angus, and organic, and all those other things that are good. If you also do a bit of research, I bet that there's a farmer less than an hour's drive away from you that has it available to you at a reasonable price instead of the robbery prices at health food stores.
The fire
Number one - use charcoal. It brings a dimension to steak you can't get from propane. I'd even go so far as to advising against briquettes, which I use a lot myself. I don't find that using wood chips make a difference, but if you do, go ahead and use them.
Put the charcoal on from your chimney starter when they're screaming hot, put the grate on top and leave it there for 5 minutes WITH THE LID OFF so the metal grill gets nice and hot too. Then lubricate the grate with a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil, holding it with tongs. By this time, the fire should be so hot that you can barely move those tongs over the fire.
Cook 'em
Put the steak(s) on directly over the coals - AND DON'T CLOSE THE LID. The lid would strangle the air supply and make the fire less hot. After two minutes, lift up each "corner" of the steak a little to see how things are going. "Twist" it a quarter turn horizontally if you wanna get potentially fancy grill marks or if one side of the steak seems to be getting more cooked than the other, or one side is thicker you might want to adjust the position. Then leave them on for another two. That's the time you flip. That's also the only time you flip. The side that is now up should have a good char on it. Maybe even so charred that your intended criss-cross charmarks aren't there. Oh well. Are you going for looks or flavour? The crunch of a charred steak is insanely tasty and welcome when paired with a rare-ish middle.
This is when your experience and personal taste comes into play. This is when you go by look, feel and/or stopwatch to get your steak just right. I can't tell you how you want it cooked. I just know that after about another two minutes or so on that scorching hot fire, it seems good to me. Adjusted of course depending on the thickness of the steak.
After you take the steak off the fire, let it rest for about 5 minutes - no less. This makes the steak juicier because the juices have a chance to get redistributed throughout the meat.
"My" flavorings
I am often a purist, and I really like the pure flavor of good beef. For the longest time, I only put salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil on my steak. That is really, really yummy. But I was convinced after a slight tweaking of a Ted Reader steak rub (from the book King of the Q's Blue Plate BBQ
) that it could be topped.
This is the rub I use (of course not all at once on a steak - this is about a season's rations):
1/2 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup coarsely ground pepper
1/4 cup coarsely ground Szechuan pepper
1/4 cup mustard seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds coarsely crushed in a mortar with a pestle
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup dried red chili flakes
Before you put the steak on the fire, Just lightly sprinkle some extra virgin olive oil on both sides of the steak, rub it in, then sprinkle this rub on top on both sides.
After the steak is taken off the fire, spread a thin layer of butter on top, just like you would a sandwich, then let it rest for at least 5 minutes. And there you go. No need for a steak sauce.
What to serve it with
If it's in season, nothing beats grilled garlic scapes with steaks. Sauteed mushrooms are always a winner, and so are asparagus. I prefer raw-fried potatoes too, but that's just me. A good mayo-based potato salad is also awesome. I'll probably post the recipe of my favorite tater salad soon.
Cheers!
The thing is that it could be up to timing, just a minute's difference. Or the meat itself - a quarter of an inch difference in the thickness of the steak, or how much fat there is in the cut and how well the fat has been dispersed throughout the meat. It could be the temperature, a fifty degree difference in temperature over the coals that makes all the difference.
So in the end - there is no formula to get it right. You look at your meat and make an estimate. Then you look at your fire and adjust that estimate. Then you look at the meat (and maybe touch it) on the fire and re-estimate. Perfect example of how practice makes perfect. I need more practice, but just so you need less than me, here I go on another one of my "findings" rants. I'll start with the cut of beef, then the fire, then putting the meat to the fire. I'll finish off with my favorite flavorings for steak.
"My" cut of steak
With all kinds of meat, there are two things that determine flavour more than the flesh itself: fat and bone. I find that the (prime) rib steak, aka cowboy steak or club steak, has a lot of good fat dispersed throughout the meat and has a bone attached. Yes yes, you can get a T-Bone too, but you'll pay almost twice as much for a cut with a cooler name and has two sections of meat that should be cooked differently.
With regards to thickness - it doesn't really matter if you adjust your cooking method accordingly. I'd say that most f the steaks you by already cut are somewhere in the 1 inch/2.5 cm thick range, probably slightly less, and those are the ones I buy. If I want to cook a 2-3" thick Bistecca Alla Fiorentina, I won't look for a regular steak cooking guideline such as this one.
And by all means, try to get steak from grass fed beef. Anything you might have heard about grass fed beef being much tougher than grain fed, is all bull (read more about the benefits of grass fed here). A common "side-effect" of getting grass fed beef is that it turns out to be Angus, and organic, and all those other things that are good. If you also do a bit of research, I bet that there's a farmer less than an hour's drive away from you that has it available to you at a reasonable price instead of the robbery prices at health food stores.
The fire
Number one - use charcoal. It brings a dimension to steak you can't get from propane. I'd even go so far as to advising against briquettes, which I use a lot myself. I don't find that using wood chips make a difference, but if you do, go ahead and use them.
Put the charcoal on from your chimney starter when they're screaming hot, put the grate on top and leave it there for 5 minutes WITH THE LID OFF so the metal grill gets nice and hot too. Then lubricate the grate with a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil, holding it with tongs. By this time, the fire should be so hot that you can barely move those tongs over the fire.
Cook 'em
Put the steak(s) on directly over the coals - AND DON'T CLOSE THE LID. The lid would strangle the air supply and make the fire less hot. After two minutes, lift up each "corner" of the steak a little to see how things are going. "Twist" it a quarter turn horizontally if you wanna get potentially fancy grill marks or if one side of the steak seems to be getting more cooked than the other, or one side is thicker you might want to adjust the position. Then leave them on for another two. That's the time you flip. That's also the only time you flip. The side that is now up should have a good char on it. Maybe even so charred that your intended criss-cross charmarks aren't there. Oh well. Are you going for looks or flavour? The crunch of a charred steak is insanely tasty and welcome when paired with a rare-ish middle.
This is when your experience and personal taste comes into play. This is when you go by look, feel and/or stopwatch to get your steak just right. I can't tell you how you want it cooked. I just know that after about another two minutes or so on that scorching hot fire, it seems good to me. Adjusted of course depending on the thickness of the steak.
After you take the steak off the fire, let it rest for about 5 minutes - no less. This makes the steak juicier because the juices have a chance to get redistributed throughout the meat.
"My" flavorings
I am often a purist, and I really like the pure flavor of good beef. For the longest time, I only put salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil on my steak. That is really, really yummy. But I was convinced after a slight tweaking of a Ted Reader steak rub (from the book King of the Q's Blue Plate BBQ
) that it could be topped. This is the rub I use (of course not all at once on a steak - this is about a season's rations):
1/2 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup coarsely ground pepper
1/4 cup coarsely ground Szechuan pepper
1/4 cup mustard seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds coarsely crushed in a mortar with a pestle
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup dried red chili flakes
Before you put the steak on the fire, Just lightly sprinkle some extra virgin olive oil on both sides of the steak, rub it in, then sprinkle this rub on top on both sides.
After the steak is taken off the fire, spread a thin layer of butter on top, just like you would a sandwich, then let it rest for at least 5 minutes. And there you go. No need for a steak sauce.
What to serve it with
If it's in season, nothing beats grilled garlic scapes with steaks. Sauteed mushrooms are always a winner, and so are asparagus. I prefer raw-fried potatoes too, but that's just me. A good mayo-based potato salad is also awesome. I'll probably post the recipe of my favorite tater salad soon.
Cheers!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Grilled Schweinshaxe - Rotisseried Pork Hocks
When I was 16 or so, I was in Dusseldorf, Germany and had this magnificent piece of pork that was tender and had the manliest appearance ever. Huge piece of meat on a big bone, tender and juicy. It's called "Schweinshaxe", and just the name reeks of testosterone.
The pork hock is the piece above the pig's foot, also called "shank" or "knuckle". Incredibly cheap, they can usually be found smoked, but for this they need to be fresh. I ordered mine from Stemmler's Meat and Cheese and cooked it like this:
Ingredients:
4 fresh pork hocks, skin on
2 tablespoons juniper berries
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons dried marjoram
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
Method
In the morning, crush the juniper berries between your fingers to release the juices, then mix them up with the rest of the spices. Rub the mixture all over the pork and put in a roasting pan uncovered in the fridge. This will cure the meat somewhat.
Prepare your grill for rotisserie grilling at 350 degrees F. You could potentially use indirect cooking too, but the rotisserie will keep the meat juicier. Stick the spit through the hocks lengthwise along the bone. My Weber 22.5" grill's rotisserie didn't fit all four hocks in a row, so I tied two together and it worked just fine. Then it was just to put it on, start checking the meat temp after about an hour and a half, but it will probably take you more like 2 hours to cook it. You want the meat to be at least 180 degrees F before you take it off. The skin will be nice and crackling crisp, and the meat tender and juicy.
That's really all there's to it. Very simple, but very delicious. Serve it with sauerkraut, rye bread, some potatoes (I made a potato salad) and some veggies and you'll have a great meal. I think apple sauce would be a great addition too.
The pork hock is the piece above the pig's foot, also called "shank" or "knuckle". Incredibly cheap, they can usually be found smoked, but for this they need to be fresh. I ordered mine from Stemmler's Meat and Cheese and cooked it like this:
Ingredients:
4 fresh pork hocks, skin on
2 tablespoons juniper berries
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons dried marjoram
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
Method
In the morning, crush the juniper berries between your fingers to release the juices, then mix them up with the rest of the spices. Rub the mixture all over the pork and put in a roasting pan uncovered in the fridge. This will cure the meat somewhat.
Prepare your grill for rotisserie grilling at 350 degrees F. You could potentially use indirect cooking too, but the rotisserie will keep the meat juicier. Stick the spit through the hocks lengthwise along the bone. My Weber 22.5" grill's rotisserie didn't fit all four hocks in a row, so I tied two together and it worked just fine. Then it was just to put it on, start checking the meat temp after about an hour and a half, but it will probably take you more like 2 hours to cook it. You want the meat to be at least 180 degrees F before you take it off. The skin will be nice and crackling crisp, and the meat tender and juicy.
That's really all there's to it. Very simple, but very delicious. Serve it with sauerkraut, rye bread, some potatoes (I made a potato salad) and some veggies and you'll have a great meal. I think apple sauce would be a great addition too.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tandoori chicken wings with coriander walnut sauce
One of my favorite foods is chicken wings. You get both crispiness from the skin and fatty juiciness from the meat, flavored with whatever you choose to put on it and you can use so many different types of flavorings without ruining that taste of the meat. The ones you buy at a pub is usually battered and deep fried, and compared to grilling, that's child's play from a cooking perspective and nutritionally the deep fried stuff doesn't even come close (now get that thought out of your mind that "full fat" equals "bad" - IT DOES NOT). Grilling wings on high heat is stressful business, but you get truly rewarded.
This recipe is a combo of a pretty traditional Indian tandoori marinade (actually kind of two marinades), grilled on high heat under high stress, served with an Afghan coriander walnut sauce that truly blows your mind. Preparing the marinade takes about 4 hours, and it should marinate for at least another 4, so get going on this first thing in the morning.
I used about 5 lbs of free-range drug-free chicken wings from The Poultry Place. Maybe they're a bit smaller than what you'd get from elsewhere, but I like to eat chickens I think had a smile on their beaks before they got their heads chopped off to be eaten by people like me.
1/4 tsp saffron threads
3 tbsp warm water
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup full fat sour cream
1 tsp garam masala
4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno chile
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt or more to taste
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 - 4 tbsp water
Method
Close to the end of the marinating time, start up your barbecue for at least medium-high heat. I used high heat. As in at least 600 degrees F. But then you have to be prepared for constant turning and serious sweatin' from not being able to leave the grill for a minute and keepping track of what you turned and when. Lower heat will buy you a bit of time, but you'll get less of the crispy that high heat produces. Really, all there's to it and where the entire challenge lies, is to put the wings on the grate and PAY ATTENTION. Wings can handle frequent turning. Look where the hot spots are. Crisp caramelization is great, but burning is not. Take note of where the cooler spots are and put the wings that seem to be going a little too fast there. Close the lid and vents if you're worried the outside will get burnt before the meat next to the bone is done.
It takes a bit of practice. And most of the time you think you're close to a disaster. But just stay patient, confident and observant, and it will turn out just great. The wings should be done after perhaps 20 minutes, but make sure that they're well done before you bite into one.
Put the darlings on a plate and spoon the coriander sauce on top. Better than Buffalo wings to me. And to my 2-yearold son as well as you can see below.
This recipe is a combo of a pretty traditional Indian tandoori marinade (actually kind of two marinades), grilled on high heat under high stress, served with an Afghan coriander walnut sauce that truly blows your mind. Preparing the marinade takes about 4 hours, and it should marinate for at least another 4, so get going on this first thing in the morning.
I used about 5 lbs of free-range drug-free chicken wings from The Poultry Place. Maybe they're a bit smaller than what you'd get from elsewhere, but I like to eat chickens I think had a smile on their beaks before they got their heads chopped off to be eaten by people like me.
Chicken marinade #1
1 1/2 cups full fat yoghurt1/4 tsp saffron threads
3 tbsp warm water
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup full fat sour cream
1 tsp garam masala
Chicken marinade #2
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp cayenne pepper if you'd like some bite
Coriander Walnut sauce
1 bunch fresh coriander, stemmed (about 1 cup of leaves)4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno chile
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt or more to taste
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 - 4 tbsp water
Method
First, strain the yoghurt by putting it in a coffee filter placed in a strainer over a bowl and putting it in the fridge for 4 hours. So wait for about 3 and a half hours before you continue.
Mix the salt, pepper and maybe cayenne in chicken marinade #2 in a small bowl until well blended. Take out your chicken wings and cut a couple of slits on the fleshy (not skin) side on each piece. Put in a baking dish or two (keep them in a single layer), spread the dry spices all over and rub them in good. Pour fresh lemon juice on top, turn the pieces to coat and leave with skin side up to marinate in room temperature for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, do the next steps.
Crush the saffron threads into a powder and soak in the 3 tbsp of warm water for a couple of minutes in a small blender or food processing container. Then add the garlic and ginger and process until it's like a paste. Mix this paste in with the yoghurt that's left in the coffee filter (just get rid of the liquid in the bowl below). Also put in the salt, pepper, sour cream and garam masala until well mixed in a large bowl - this is the bowl where the wings will go next.
Take the wings out of the lemon marinade - leaving the marinade behind - and put the pieces into the yogurt mixture.Toss them to coat thoroughly, cover and put them in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
After about 3 hours, you can make the coriander walnut sauce. It relies on its freshness so you don't wanna make it any sooner. And it won't be very good tomorrow either. Basically, all you need to do is to put all the stuff into a blender or food processor and turn it into a smooth paste/sauce. You can add water to change the consistency to what you prefer.
Close to the end of the marinating time, start up your barbecue for at least medium-high heat. I used high heat. As in at least 600 degrees F. But then you have to be prepared for constant turning and serious sweatin' from not being able to leave the grill for a minute and keepping track of what you turned and when. Lower heat will buy you a bit of time, but you'll get less of the crispy that high heat produces. Really, all there's to it and where the entire challenge lies, is to put the wings on the grate and PAY ATTENTION. Wings can handle frequent turning. Look where the hot spots are. Crisp caramelization is great, but burning is not. Take note of where the cooler spots are and put the wings that seem to be going a little too fast there. Close the lid and vents if you're worried the outside will get burnt before the meat next to the bone is done.
It takes a bit of practice. And most of the time you think you're close to a disaster. But just stay patient, confident and observant, and it will turn out just great. The wings should be done after perhaps 20 minutes, but make sure that they're well done before you bite into one.
Put the darlings on a plate and spoon the coriander sauce on top. Better than Buffalo wings to me. And to my 2-yearold son as well as you can see below.
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