/grilled chicken (Page 2)
Meat & Poultry

Kickin Grilled Orange Chicken.

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I do hope you’re enjoying this year’s installment of July’s Month Of Grilling as I am. The heat, smoke and raw flame of the grill excites me. Maybe it brings out the primitive instincts in me (caveman)? I’m a huge fan of the orange chicken you’ll find at Chinese restaurants… battered chicken pieces fried then tossed in that sticky orange sauce. With that in mind, you’ll find similar flavors is the grilled orange chicken version, but a more clean tasting and with a slight kick from the scotch bonnet pepper.

You’ll Need…
3 lbs chicken thighs (drums work well too)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 scallions
2 sprigs thyme
1 cup orange concentrate
1 cup tomato ketchup
2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 lime (juice and zest)
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper diced fine.
1 tablespoon  Worcestershire sauce

Note: Remember to wear gloves when handling scotch bonnet peppers and do wash your hands with soap immediately after. Don’t include any seeds as that’s were the true heat is. If you don’t have scotch bonnet pepper you can use about 1/2 teaspoon of your fav peppersauce (hot sauce).

Trim the chicken pieces of excess fat and skin. I opted to remove the skin, but in all honesty grilling with the skin on makes for juicer chicken pieces. Wash the chicken pieces and drain dry. Then season with the finely chopped scallions (green onion or spring onion), salt, black pepper and thyme. Let that sit for about 15 minutes.

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It’s now time to prepare that lovely sticky orange bbq sauce we’ll be finishing the grilling with. In a medium sauce pan on medium/low heat add all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Whisk well, then reduce to a gentle simmer and let it reduce for about 10-15 minutes on that low heat (keep whisking often). Remove off the heat and you can reserve 1/2 the sauce for making chicken wings or pork tenderloin (store in the fridge). Or you can certainly double up on the chicken and use all of the sauce. BTW this orange bbq sauce makes a great dipping sauce for chicken strips/nuggets.

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Let’s now get to the grilling part. Basically all you have to do is the grill the chicken as you would normally do, and the last five minutes is when you’ll bring that orange bbq sauce into use. My grill was at about 375-400 F and I grilled for about 20-25 minutes remembering to flip the pieces of chicken every 5 minutes or so.

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The cooked chicken pieces is then tossed in the orange bbq sauce, then placed back on the grill to caramelize and get nice and sticky.

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For an extra kick of flavor grill some lime or lemon wedges and allow your guests to squeeze on some of that lovely citrus juice as they dig into what I believe is the best orange glazed bbq (grilled) chicken.

If you don’t have a grill or simply wish to do this indoor in your oven, place the seasoned chicken pieces (leave the skin on) on a lined baking tray, skin side down and roast for 15 minutes at 375F. Flip over and cook another 12 minutes (more time for bigger pieces) . Then toss in the orange bbq sauce and place back in the oven under the broil setting for a few minutes. Keep an eye on it as the high heat from broiling and the sugars from the bbq sauce can cause it to char quickly.

Gluten Free Meat & Poultry

Mango Coconut Shado Beni (cilantro) Grilled Chicken.

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I’m always excited when this time of the year comes around, especially after such a harsh and bitter winter. I LOVE cooking on an open flame, so the annual “July’s Month Of Grilling” is when you’ll see another level of energy come out in me (watch my videos). In this recipe we’ll take key Caribbean ingredients, such as mango, coconut milk, ginger, honey, limes, fresh herbs and scotch bonnet pepper to make an exciting marinade for chicken, pork and fish.

You’ll Need…

3 chicken breasts (boneless | about 2.5 – 3 lbs)

1 large mango (diced)
1/2 cup chopped shado beni (or 1 cup cilantro)
2 scallions
2 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon grated ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 limes (juice)
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper (no seeds)
2 tablespoon honey
1 cup water (divided – half for blending marinade and 1/2 for cooking marinade)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Please ensure the ingredients meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs if doing this recipe fully gluten free.

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The key to this Caribbean style grilled chicken recipe is the marinade, so let’s get started. In a food processor or blender, place all the ingredients until you have a smooth consistency. Then wash and pat the chicken pieces dry. I used skinless|boneless chicken breasts, but you can use an chicken pieces you like (adjust to cooking time). This recipe can do between 5-8 lbs of chicken easily.

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Place the chicken pieces in a bowl (or large zipper lock bag) and pour in half of the marinade and mix well to coat the entire chicken breasts. Seal and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours (overnight is best). Save the other half of marinade.

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Now it’s time to grill. Basically grill the chicken as you’d normally do. In my case I placed the remaining marinade in a metal container and placed it on the flame to heat up.  With my grill at about 375 -400 F and with low flame directly under the chicken and higher flame on the side (3 burners on my grill), I grilled the chicken for about 20-25 minutes. Remember to flip so they cook evenly. The last 3-5 minutes, I basted the chicken pieces with the extra (hot) marinade so the chicken breasts did go dry. It also added even more flavor as the sugars in the marinade caramelized with the open flame. (do discard the marinade the chicken pieces were sitting in)

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You’ll notice that I was a bit stingy with the salt as I’m trying to cut back on my sodium intake, so do adjust accordingly. I squeezed on some fresh lemon juice while the chicken pieces were still warm (do serve warm) for a citrus finish. Remember to wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling scotch bonnet peppers  and don’t include any seeds as it will take the heat level up.

Meat & Poultry

BBQ Chicken Wrapped In Bacon Glazed With Tamarind BBQ Sauce.

When it comes to BBQ and grilling in the Caribbean, we usually stick to more traditional things, like ‘jerk” and your everyday grilled chicken and other meats glazed store bought bbq sauce. However it’s not due to a lack of creativity, but more sticking to what you know. The new generation are experimenting with different flavors, techniques and approaching food in general as a painter would a blank canvas.

Here’s an example of our creativity…

 

You’ll Need…

12 chicken drumsticks (skinless)
pinch salt
1 teaspoon orange zest
pinch black pepper
juice 1/2 orange
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 strips bacon
2 birds eye pepper
1 teaspoon Caribbean green seasoning

10 strips of your fav bacon as well as some toothpicks.

* 3/4 cup tamarind bbq sauce.

Please click on the links above if you need help making the Caribbean green seasoning and/or the homemade tamarind BBQ sauce.

Wash and drain the chicken, then season with the all of the ingredients mentioned above, except the BBQ sauce. Cover and allow to marinate for about two hours.

Shake of the pieces of pepper (leave it it you want the kick) and wrap each piece of chicken with a strip of bacon, then use a toothpick to secure it on.

On a relatively hot grill (brush some vegetable oil on the grilling grates) place the bacon wrapped chicken pieces away from direct heat. On my grill there are 3 burners, so I left the one in the middle off, but had the ones on either sides going. The idea is to grill with indirect heat so you don’t char the outside and have it still raw inside.

Grill as you would normally grill.

Tip:  Place you tamarind BBQ sauce (or any fav sauce you decide to use) in a metal cup and let it gently heat on top of your grill, so you’re not basting your chicken pieces with cold sauce.

The last five minutes of cooking is when you’d place the chicken on direct heat (low) and start brushing them with that lovely tamarind BBQ sauce.

Remember to remove the toothpicks before serving or at least warm your guests that they’re there. This will be an avalanche of flavors, from the herb marinade, the freshness of the orange zest and juice, the smokiness of the bacon and  the delightful flavor of that homemade tamarind BBQ sauce will be brilliant. You’ll notice that I didn’t use much salt as the bacon is typically salty.

 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

Curry Chicken Lollipops On The Grill.

As our adventure on the grill continues, I thought I’d share a very creative way to do chicken lollipops. If you’re not familiar with chicken lollipops, it’s basically the way the drumette of the wing is shaped to give the appearance of our favorite kid candy, lollipops. With that in mind I decided to make a rub to marinate the chicken lollipops in, using ingredients we would normally use on a daily basis on the islands. The slight heat and smokiness from the paprika, combined with fresh herbs and the earthy goodness of good Caribbean curry powder will certainly make this a go-to dish as you spark up your grill and invite friends over.

 You’ll Need…

1 tablespoon curry powder (madras)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon rum
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder

Note: Traditionally the drum part of the chicken wings are used to make the lollipop shape, but I used actual chicken drumsticks. More meat and much cheaper than purchasing chicken wings. I used a madras blend curry powder originating from the Caribbean.. just my preference.

The very first thing we need to do is to shape the lollipops (see the video below). Grab the thin end of the drumstick  firmly, then carefully cut through the meat surrounding the bone, using a sawing motion and turning the thing around. Don’t try to force it, let the knife do the work. Once the skin is cut all around, use your knife to scrape down the meat from the bone. You may need to cut through a couple of sinews. Push the meat down to the other end. You should now have what looks like a handle with a ball of chicken meat at one end. * Be sure to look out for the tiny long bone which will be close to the main bone of the drumstick. It can prick you.. try to cut that out. In the pic below you’ll see 4 stages of me doing the lollipop thing. BTW, I removed the skin first.

With all my drumsticks now shaped into chicken lollipops, I washed it with lime juice (you can use lemon juice or vinegar as well) and rinse with cool water. Drain and set aside for marinating.

It’s now time to make the marinade… combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and give it a good whisk.

Pour the marinade over the trimmed and shaped chicken pieces and give it a good mix (get your hands in there). Now cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour (try not to go beyond 3 hrs). Then bring back to room temperature while your grill heats up.

The next step is pretty straight forward, as you’ll just grill as you normally grill chicken. My grill was about 375 degrees and I pretty much cooked them for about 25-30 minutes. Rotating them every 4-5 minutes and basting with the leftover marinade in the bowl I marinated them in.

As they cook and the heat of the grill intensifies, you’ll start getting that lovely aroma of the marinade… especially the curry powder! Do keep an eye on them so they don’t overcook and dry out. But be sure to get some grill marks on them to really intensify the rich flavors we infused them with.

There’s no need for any BBQ sauce on these or you’ll destroy all the work you did to create that lovely exotic flavor from the curry powder, spices and herbs. However, the tamarind bbq sauce I shared with you a couple weeks back would make for an excellent dipping sauce for these chicken lollipops. Here’s a video on how simple it is to make that lovely tamarind bbq sauce…

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.

Here’s the complete video from preparation to the completed curry chicken lollipops for you to follow along…

Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Tamarind Grilled Chicken.

 

After sharing that wonderful recipe for making your own homemade tamarind bbq sauce, I though I’d quickly show you how to put it to use on some grilled chicken. BBQ or grilling in the Caribbean usually means making your own sauce or taking the commercial stuff and personalizing it with your own herbs and spices. Unlike grilling in other parts of the world where salt and pepper is king, in the Caribbean we love to ‘season’ our meats and have it marinate (soak) to infuse it with the herbs which are grown locally (usually in our back yard).

This grilled chicken will be unlike anything you’ve ever had and I assure you, you’ll have your guests asking for more (and the recipe). If you don’t own a BBQ or grill, you can certainly do this in your oven under the broiler. Contact me for more info on that.

 

You’ll Need…

2 chickens (cut in halves)
1 heaping tablespoon Caribbean style green seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Tamarind BBQ Sauce
Juice of 1 lime or lemon

* The chickens were between 3-4lbs each.

Here’s a quick video showing how we make the green seasoning …

Cut your chickens in half (see video below), remove the wing tips and discard, then pour the lime juice over the chicken and wash with cool water. Rinse and drain. Now pour in the salt and green seasoning mix and give it a good massage to ensure every piece of the chicken comes in contact with the seasoning.

Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 2hrs to really infuse the chicken with the exciting flavors of the green seasoning. Before you head out to the grill, allow the seasoned chicken to come back to room temperature (about 15 minutes). Have you grill nice and hot at about 375 F and place on the highest rack, off the heat. If you only have one level on your grill, do the indirect heat technique for the first 20 minutes. Which means the main source of heat will be away from the chicken… so it cooks slowly.

In the picture above you’ll notice that I left the marinade on the chicken as I love the little kick you get as you get slight hints of it when eating. After 20 minutes on my upper rack (or indirect heat), it’s time to place it on the main grill where the real heat is. In total I left it there for 30 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes or so, while keeping an eye for flare-ups. I love working with the skin on the chicken, so flare-ups is a real threat! I find that the skin helps keep the chicken very moist and it’s great for holding the bbq sauce when applied.

TIP: I usually keep my BBQ sauce in a small metal cup on top of the grill’s cover to heat up while grilling. This way the bbq sauce is warm and spreads evenly when brushed onto whatever you’re grilling.

Now it’s time to start applying the tamarind bbq sauce on the chicken pieces. Apply liberally and remember to keep flipping as you do so, to create a nice even caramelized color on the grilled chicken. After a couple coats of the bbq sauce you’ll start having a nice glaze… very appetizing! Here’s the video on making the tamarind bbq sauce if you missed it…

It took about 7-10 minutes after I started applying the bbq sauce onto the grilled chicken pieces before I achieved the look I was going for.

As I mentioned above, this tamarind grilled chicken will be the best chicken you’ll have all summer… try it and leave me a comment below!

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

Pineapple glazed grilled chicken.

caribbean grill chickenThis was supposed to be a guava glazed grilled chicken recipe, but like old Mother Hubbard… the cupboard was bare when I went rummaging. My mistake. My sister gave me a bottle of jam she had brought back from the islands her last visit and for some reason I though it was guava jam. After-all, that’s one of the main jams we make on the islands. It turns out it was pineapple jam, so I had to improvise. The final texture of the glaze was a bit different, since the pineapple jam was a bit fibrous and not as smooth and gelatin-like, like guava jam.

I leave for the islands in a few hours (been counting down the hours just like when I was a kid and we had to go on a school trip) so I’ll try to get some homemade guava jam to use when I return on the guava glaze. If all fails, I’ll just pick up some local guava jam in the grocery store.

This is very basic, but adds a new twist on regular grilled chicken. Normally when I do grill chicken breast, it’s usually the ones with the bone and skin still attached. However this time all I had were the skinless variety, but at least it wasn’t boneless. Boneless and skinless chicken breast can become dry very fast on the grill if you don’t know how to control your heat and proper grilling technique.

3 chicken breast
salt
fresh cracked black pepper
1 cup pineapple jam
2 tablespoons orange juice
3-4 table spoons pineapple juice
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Remove any excess fat from the chicken breast and rinse with the juice of 1/2 a lime or lemon and water. Then sprinkle with a little salt and fresh ground black pepper.

trini bbq chicken

For the glaze.. put the jam, pineapple juice, dash of salt / pepper, mustard and orange juice and heat on low to medium heat in a saucepan. Using a whisk, blend everything together as it comes to a simmer and allow to form a smooth thick texture (less than 5 minutes). Place this in your metal bbq sauce pan with brush. I use a metal container so I can put it on top of the BBQ as the chicken cooks, so it remains warm.

caribbean pineapple bbq glaze

trinidad pineapple glaze sauce

Grill your chicken as you would normally do, but don’t start glazing until the last 5 minutes of cooking. If you put the glaze on too early, you’ll find that it will burn before the chicken is fully cooked due to the natural sugars in the glaze. I normally bring my grill to between 350 and 400 degrees and cook the chicken (depending on thickness for about 20 minuets or so. During the grilling process I flip the chicken a couple times and turn them on the angle to get the lovely grill marks.

here is the chicken when it’s 5 minutes to being completely cooked…

bbq chicken with pineapple glaze

Here’s the same chicken after I’ve glazed it a few times with the pineapple glaze from the recipe above. I usually turn the heat down a bit on the BBQ and brush the glaze on as I flip the chicken over a few times.

grilled chicken with pineapple glaze

pineapple glaze sauce

As mentioned above, I’ll be away on the islands for a little under 2 weeks, so I may not have time to post any recipes until then. However, if I become the designated cook during our stay I’ll be sure to give my sister’s kitchen a test drive and post some recipes here. Also check out the CaribbeanPot YouTube channel on a regular basis as it’s my intention to show you a bit of the culinary culture of the islands during my stay! Including street food, markets and anything else relating to food and dining.