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caribbean bbq

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Meat & Poultry

BBQ Pig Tails.

22 Comments on BBQ Pig Tails.

BBQ Pig Tails is not one of the more glamorous dishes to come out of the Caribbean and to be honest the first time I saw this being grilled in Barbados a few years back, I was a bit apprehensive. Don’t get me wrong, I loved salted pig tails in soups and stewed,  but I found the whole grilling idea a bit weird. I don’t discriminate when it comes to food, so it was only a matter of time before this piggy dish made its way on my grill.

Though it wasn’t a dish you’d hear about when I was growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, I know from speaking with my dad and uncle, that it’s quickly becoming a popular option when the charcoal grills are prepped and ready to do nice things to meats (and vegetables?). BBQ pig tails are very easy to put together and you can personalize it by the seasonings you add to it when it’s boiled and you’re free to use your favorite BBQ sauce to give it the finishing touch.

 

You’ll Need…

2 lbs salted pig tails
1 tablespoon green seasoning
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 lime or lemon

Using the juice of a lime or lemon, wash the salted pieces of pig tails and rinse with cool water. Scrape with a knife and keep an eye out for any hairs (remove). Then place in a deep pot with water and bring to a boil. Allow this to boil on a rolling boil  for 45 minutes.

After 45 mins, drain and rinse with clean water. Then place the pig tails back in the pot, top with water and bring to a boil. As it starts to boil, add the green seasoning (see here for a video on making green seasoning) and reduce the heat so it’s a rolling boil. Allow this to boil for 50 minutes. The boiling in water will do two things; remove the salt the pig tails were cured in and help the meat to become very tender. By adding the green seasoning (or any seasoning/herbs you like), you’re infusing the pig tails with additional flavors.

After 50 minutes of boiling, discard the water and get ready to grill. Don’t rinse as you want the green seasoning to remain on the pieces of pig tails.

Place on a hot grill (about 375-400F) and keep any eye on it as it’s easy to char with all the skin and fat. After a couple minutes you can start brushing with your favorite BBQ sauce.. do so liberally! Turn the heat down a bit as you really want to develop some caramelized flavors and not burn the bunch. Keep flipping and brushing with bbq sauce you so you’ll end up BBQ pig tails which are sticky and well infused with the smokey flavor of the grill.

All it takes is about 10-15 minutes on the grill, but it’s important that you keep moving them around and keep brushing with BBQ sauce. Your BBQ pig tails will now be ready to serve.. cut them (use a cleaver or chefs knife) into 2 inch pieces and top with some chopped parsley (make it pretty looking). With all the pre-boiling we did, the meat will be falling off the bones. The sweetness from the caramelized BBQ sauce from the open flame of the grill will add a wonderful flavor to the sort of salty undertones of the brine these pig tails were originally cured in.

I hope you’re enjoying all the recipes off the grill I’ve been sharing this month and don’t hesitate in giving this BBQ pig tails a try.. you’ll be surprised how tasty they are.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Rotisserie Chicken On The Grill.

16 Comments on Caribbean Rotisserie Chicken On The Grill.

 

We’re full steam ahead with our month of grilling with a Caribbean approach, so today it’s time for a Caribbean style rotisserie chicken on the grill. Imagine unveiling a few of these as your friends arrive for your BBQ this summer.. they’ll be blown away! Be prepared for your neighbors inviting themselves to your home after constantly peeking over the fence to investigate what that amazing aroma is!

With a sort of Jamaican Jerk dry rub influence, this recipe is not spicy as I’ve purposely left out the Caribbean sunshine – scotch bonnet peppers so those of you who are not into the ‘heat’ can also enjoy this. Unless you’re a real ‘wuss’ and think cinnamon is spicy!

You’ll Need…

1 whole chicken
lime zest (1 lime)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
4 sprigs thyme
1 lemon cut in half
1 scallion

Notes: The chicken I used was about 4 lbs (cleaned) and before seasoning I washed it with lime juice and water, then pat dry with paper towels. If you want to kick this up a bit you can dice (fine) a scotch bonnet pepper and add it to the rub. You can do this chicken in a roasting pan in the oven if you wish.. try to place the chicken on wire rack in the pan, so it’s not sitting in the fat/oil which will be released. Roast at 375F for 2hrs. Doing this on the grill as I did with the rotisserie is ideal, as the fat will self baste the chicken before falling into the pan I placed below it.

The first thing we need to do is prepare the sort of dry rub we’ll be using to season the chicken. Grate the lime zest into a bowl, then add the other dry ingredients (except the lemon, scallion and thyme) and give it a good stir.

It’s now time to prepare the chicken so it can marinate for about 1/2 an hour or so before being introduced to the grill. Before using the dry rub, open up the cavity of the bird and add the thyme, scallion (fold it) and lemon halves. Now it’s time to coat the chicken in the dry rub me made. Try to do so evenly.. then cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate in the fridge. It’s important that you truss the chicken (tie with string) so it’s compact and will not toss around as it does it’s thing on the rotisserie.

Preheat your grill at 300  degrees. TIP: Place a disposable pan (see your local dollar store) directly below where the chicken will be placed on the grill (see video below) and put about 1/2 inch of water in it. As the rotisserie chicken cooks, it will drop fat and you don’t want flare-ups. This will prevent such flare-ups, but remember to keep adding water as it cooks. Now it’s just a matter of placing your chicken securely on the rotisserie bar and heading out to the grill.

Cover the lid and let this cook for 2 hrs. After the first hour it will start to develop color and the scent will start to really make it’s presence known. Do remember to keep the heat constant and keep filling the drip pan with water. After 1.5 hrs I turned up the heat to 400F to ensure it’s fully cooked inside and to give it that appealing color rotisserie chicken should have.

After 2 hrs your rotisserie chicken should be ready to join the party. Remove from the heat and allow to rest (cover with tin foil) for about 1 5mins before cutting. In total my chicken cooked for 2 hrs and 10 minutes and it was simply stunning! It may seem like a long time, but this is one of those things you don’t have to babysit, as long as your drip pan has water and you heat is controlled, you can do work on your potato salad and beverages.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.