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Monday 7 June 2010

Coriander Marinated Chicken Kebabs

One of my aims for the summer is to perfect the BBQ. In the past I too often have just gone for the easy option and bought my meat already marinated but not anymore. I have a couple of books on BBQing and in it they explain everything you need to know. So let this be the first of many BBQ related posts...

First up a short introduction on marinades: marinades come in 3 components: acids, oils and aromatics

- The Acids help break down the tough muscle fibers, tenderizing the meat
- The Oil coats the exterior of the meat, keeping it from drying out during cooking
- The Aromatics, which can include chopped vegetables, fresh or dried herbs, ground or whole spices and/or condiments add cannon blasts of flavour

Put them together, and there isn’t a food out there that can resist their transforming powers.

First up for my BBQ segment is Coriander Marinated Chicken Kebabs. I used the Oil method as I was using chicken breast. This method leaves the meat completely tender and the flavours nicely balanced between the acidity of the yoghurt and the light sweetness of the chicken.

If you don’t like Coriander look away now!!


Coriander Marinated Chicken Kebabs (for 2 people)
Kebabs come with 3 key ingredients
 - Bread: I used Lavash bread for this, my local Turkish store has started to stock this and it is the middle-eastern bread of choice in kebabs – if you cannot get your hands on it of course, flour tortillas can be used 
- Meat: Coriander marinated chicken 
- Sauces: Sour Cream with lime/coriander, Fresh avocado slices, Cayenne onion relish
 
Ingredients 
 
2 large breasts of Chicken
100g Greek Yoghurt
Pinch sea salt
1 lime
Handful of fresh coriander
tsp black pepper
tsp coriander seeds
tbsp olive oil

Sauces/Fillings: 
1 avocado

125ml Sour Cream
½ lime
Clove of garlic (crushed)
Fresh coriander – a few sprigs

1 large red onion
Bowl of Iced water
2 medium sized ripe tomatoes
Teaspoon of sea salt
60ml (1/4 cup) red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon of black pepper
¼ - ½ teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper (to taste depending on how spicey you want it)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Handful of Coriander 

Cooking Utensils
Griddle Pan
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Zip-lock bag
Tin Foil
Bowls for sauces
Pestle & Mortar

Preparation
- Chop Chicken breast into even sizes pieces. (If BBQing chop into long strips as you will place 2 skewers each side of the meat for easier cooking)
- Finely chop all the coriander that you require

Chicken Marinade
- With a pestle & mortar finely crush up the coriander seeds, black pepper & sea salt
- Now add the juice from one lime and mix together
- Add now the Greek yoghurt, olive oil and finely chopped coriander and stir completely
- In a zip lock bag add this marinade to your chicken and combine
- Leave marinade for at least 4 hours to get best flavour (overnight for best results)

Sauces


Sour Cream Dip 


- Mix everything in a bowl - use juice of half a lime and finely chopped coriander & crushed garlic 

- Leave for at least an hour for flavours to settle


Cooking

- Place your chicken either side of 2 metal skewers to enable you to cook/turn it easier
- Let your BBQ coals cook right thru until they are just hot coals....this is the perfect temperature to cook your chicken

 - Cook your chicken for aprox 5-7 minutes, turn a couple of times to ensure the chicken does not stick to the BBQ
- You can remove them from the skewers once the meat has been sealed to ensure all gets fully cooked
 - The bread/tortilla can be put on the BBQ for few moments so that it can warm up, tossing it every 15-20 seconds 


- Serve cooked chicken on your warmed bread with the choice of sauces & chopped avocado. 


ENJOY!!!

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