tangy bbq marinade and coleslaw

For a tasty tang on your chicken wings – enough for about 12 whole wings or a butterflied chicken. Gives a lovely colour as well. Would also work on ribs or pork belly strips, or on a butterflied chicken. Marinade for an hour.

I know, it looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's worth it. Works well with a potato salad and some asian slaw.

3 cloves of garlic

Two tablespoons of garam masala

Two teaspoons of ground cinnamon

Heaped teaspoon of Chinese chilli oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped into four

1” fresh ginger root

Two teaspoons brown sugar

Large pinch of salt

Two tablespoons of corn oil

Three tablespoons of tomato puree

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 lemon, flesh and juice

Heaped teaspoon of meaux mustard (Dijon mustard with wholegrains)

Put all ingredients except the mustard into a blender, whizz it all together, when smooth add the mustard.

Use as marinade on chicken wings, cook on bbq at medium heat. Brush on any marinade left over during cooking.

Asian Coleslaw

·                                             small white cabbage or 1/4 large white cabbage

·                                             1/2 bunch of fresh coriander

·                                             1 capsicum pepper or 1 carrot

·                                             small onion

 dressing

·                                             1 lime

·                                             1 tbsp soy sauce

·                                             1 large tbsp sweet chilli sauce

·                                             1 clove garlic

prepare dressing:

·                     finely chop garlic

·                     squeeze lime

·                     mix lime juice with all other ingredients in a bowl and set aside

 preparing coleslaw:

·                     finely slice the onion, cabbage, carrot (you can use a peeler to make peelings of carrot to put into the salad)

·                     rinse bunch of coriander and mint and chop roughly

·                     put all ingredients in a large bowl and add the dressing

·                     mix thoroughly 

·                     set aside for 15m

sticky caramelised chicken wings

Chicken wings can be delicious, and I've found a Vietnamese recipe that makes sure they are. You can prep them ahead, and cook them quickly in a wok. This is finger food of the most succulent, full of oriental flavour, with a lovely stickiness, to lick off your fingers, and sometimes your teeth.

12 chicken wings
2 tbsp oil
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp honey
2 spring onions, chopped

• Prepare the wings by cutting off the tip, then cut them in half
• Crush the garlic and chop it up with the ginger, set aside
• mix the sauces and honey in a bowl and set aside
• chop the spring onions and set aside
• heat the oil in a wok, add the chicken with the chopped garlic and ginger
• cook, stirring all the time for about 5 minutes
• add the sauce and honey mix, stir well and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the chicken is lightly brown and tender
• scatter spring onions over them and serve

If you want to do these on the bbq, follow the recipe until the sauces are added, cook for 5 mins, allow to cool and then thread onto skewers
cook on bbq for 2 mins a side, sprinkling spring onion over before serving

delicious

Jzz Bzz Kofte

These lamb meatballs are very tasty, economic, and easy to make. My dad called them jzz bzz, because that is the sound they make as they cook. I can’t find the family recipe, so I made them from memory. They worked well - although the ingredients are simple the flavour is wonderful.

1 large lamb neck fillet, minced

Handful of chopped parsley

Salt

Pepper

1 piece of white bread

1 clove garlic

½ onion

3 tbsp milk

Tear up the bread, discarding the crust and soak it in the milk

Chop the peeled onion, parsley and garlic finely.

Combine all the ingredients together well (taking the soaked bread and discarding any milk not absorbed).

Make into oval meatballs.

Grill or griddle turning twice, for about 6 minutes.

Eat with a lovely green salad and rice.

Making the meatballs

I wet my hands, take a good pinch of the mixture and put it into the crook of my palm and press gently.

The meatballs need to dry a little in the open air, to help them keep their shape when cooking – leave on a dish or board for about 20m – keep greedy cats away.

flattened chicken today BBQ-tastic

This is my recipe for flattened chicken which I like to jump on to get it really flat. I use a board and cut it up a bit first. It cooks in 20 minutes and tastes sensational. Today I'm going to use mixed peppercorns, to give it an extra tang.

flattened chicken or cooking as a dangerous sport

Why cook a flattened chicken? Well, it cooks much quicker than an unflattened one for starters. The meat is marinaded for at least two hours - but don't be put off, because the prep is straightforward and can be done the night before. Oh and it tastes delicious.

This delicious dish doesn't try to be elegant. The cooked flattened bird is slightly unwieldy and you might hesitate how to serve it - I recommend putting it into the middle of the table and letting everyone tear into it at will. It's tender enough to make it easy to get off the bone - the one I cooked on Sunday was picked clean.

Recipe

Ingredients
1 chicken
1 lemon
6 tablespoons of olive oil
handful of peppercorns
heaped teaspoonful of salt

Method
Put the chicken breast side down and use a very sharp knife or a pair of chicken shears to cut from the neck cavity right down to the tail. Turn the bird over and snip or cut the skin between the legs and wings and the breast. Lean on the legs or wings the set them open away from the breast, giving a butterfly shape. Lean on the breast bone to help flatten the bird.

Now comes the bit that can be as dangerous or not as you like. The traditional approach is to beat the chicken with a meat mallet, to tenderise the meat and flatten it out. I place the chicken on a strong tray, I put the tray on the floor, place a large strong board on top of it and I jump on it. NOTICE Please take care - it's slippery! You can just stand on the tray and wriggle, it is still slippery. You end up with a much flatter bird.

Put the bird in a large pot or roasting tin. Crush the peppercorns lightly - under the side of a broad bladed knife or using a pestle and mortar. Sprinkle crushed peppercorns and salt over the chicken, follow with the juice from one lemon and the olive oil. Rub the mixture all over the bird and leave, turning and basting every now and then. Leave for at least two hours.

Cook for 20m on a barbecue or under a pre-heated hot grill, turning from time to time and basting with the marinade.

Cooking the chicken on a barbeque gives a wonderful smoky taste. Grilling it gives a cleaner flavour. The simple marinade of lemon, olive oil, pepper and salt gives a lovely tang. In the summer it goes wonderfully with a pasta or rice salad, in the winter potatoes go well.

The only variation I'd go for is adding garlic, crushed, which is very tasty too

grilled marinated chicken strips that make you overeat

Four skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips.

2 med onions
1 clove garlic
2.5cm/1" ginger
1tsp thai green curry powder*
5cm/2" cream coconut
generous handful of powdered coconut
juice of 1 lemon
fresh coriander - approx 1/3 generous bunch - incl. leaves, stem and washed root

good pinch of salt

1 mug water

With blender	Without blender
Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt	Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt
Peel onions.	Peel onions.
Roughly chop onions, coriander, garlic and ginger, put in blender jug. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture. Blend.	Grate onions, put grated onion into bowl. Finely chop coriander, garlic and ginger and add to bowl. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture and mix.
Add lemon juice, salt, thai curry powder and powdered coconut and mix to a paste.
Mix  chicken strips with paste until they're well covered. Leave for at least two hours or overnight. Thread onto skewers – makes about 8 large skewers. If you haven't got skewers or don't want to use them, you can cook the chicken without, but you'll need to cook the strips in batches and turning them takes longer.
Cook under preheated grill for 10-12 minutes, turning once. Wrap cooked chicken strips in tin foil and leave for at least 10 minutes. Eat hot or cold.

* If you can't find it, try this combo

2 Tbsp fish sauce OR 4 tinned anchovies OR omit

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp chilli powder, or one seeded green chilli

ground lemon grass or zest of a lemon or lime


other chicken recipes: flattened chicken roast chicken chicken of forty cloves of garlic