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Saturday, July 24, 2010

Grilled Chicken Two Ways - This morning on CBC's Weekend Morning Show


This morning I had the pleasure of presenting two recipes, as follows, for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with guest host Laurie Hoogstraten.

Grilled Chicken two ways

1. Thai Coconut Curry (serves 2-4)

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
½ tin “Lite” coconut milk
2-3 tbs yellow curry paste, to desired heat (yellow curry paste does not contain any shrimp)
1 tbs grated ginger
1 tbs grated lemon grass
1 tsp sugar (optional)
splash Mirin
3-5 Kefir Lime leaves
drizzle olive oil
salt, to taste

Mix the last 9 ingredients in a bowl and add chicken thighs. Marinate for a few hours. Place on a hot grill, turning for grill marks at two minutes, and flipping over at four minutes. Repeat for grill marks at the next two minutes.

Place rested cooked chicken on a toasted or warmed flatbread such as naan or pita. Add favourite grilled vegetables and wrap up. Wrap again in foil and place in an insulated bag or enjoy cold.

* These ingredients can be found at most Asian specialty stores such as Sun Wah and Oriental Market on King St. or Young’s Market on William and on McPhilips.

For an elegant entrée presentation, try using a stem of fresh lemon grass as a skewer before grilling or frying.

2. Grilled Turkish Chicken on Pide (Serves 2-4 people)

4 Boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 tbs Turkish Baharat*
3-4 shallots, grated or one small onion grated
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/4 tsp paprika (can used smoked)
pinch salt and pepper

Combine Turkish Baharat, grated shallots, lime juice, olive oil, paprika and salt and pepper in a bowl. Place chicken thighs in the bowl and cover completely with the marinade. Place in fridge and let marinate for 6 hours. Grill 4 minutes a side on a very hot BBQ grill.

To enjoy in a Pide, let chicken pieces rest before cutting into strips. Grill Naan or Pide** on BBQ and spread on a bit of yoghurt tahini sauce (recipe follows).

Yoghurt tahini sauce

1/2 cup good plain yoghurt
1 clove garlic, minced
3 heaping tbs tahini
2 tsp lemon or lime juice
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together. The tahini will cause the sauce to thicken quickly. Use on grilled Pide or Naan or as a crudité dip.

Enjoy!

*Baharat is a blend of spices that can be purchased directly through myself or now at DeLuca’s on Portage Ave.

**Good Naan or Pide can be found at Halal Meat Centre and Specialty Foods at 206 Maryland and Dino's Grocery Mart at 460 Notre Dame Avenue in Winnipeg.

4 comments:

Elatia Harris said...

Woof! Thanks!

I want to ask about cooking with coconut products. 1.) If you are using tinned coconut milk, is it as well to mix the original kind 2 to 1 with water to obtain "lite"? 2.) I made coconut milk from scratch once -- boy, was I impressed! Can you recommend the least laborious way possible to do it?

Karen Food aka Bistro Arkadash said...

I used coconut milk from scratch for this recipe before. You take 1 cup unsweetened dried coconut shreds or flakes and blend it in a blender with 1 cup very hot water. Strain. This is your first coconut milk. Take the coconut and blend again with 1 - 1/2 cups very hot water. Strain. This is your second coconut milk. The first has most of the oils. Use the second in soups and the first in marinades. Enjoy!

Elatia Harris said...

Super, thanks! I hacked up a fresh coconut when I did it. Christ. But it was so good. This sounds like a better thing than the tinned products, which are good actually, but very pricey. And this would allow better control of amounts and no waste. My flatmate-in-waiting is a Filipina from a family with a food export biz -- should be very instructive!

Also -- kind of an interesting bit of info about coconut and cholesterol. A friend from Bangalore says if you stir fresh coconut milk into a dish at the last minute, rather than cook it, it adds no cholesterol. That heat is what you want to avoid. I've been trying to find out how factual this is. But if it's a fact, it proves a point that all indigenous cuisines with several thousand years of history are good for you -- they can't not be, since the people who've eaten them are here.

Karen Food aka Bistro Arkadash said...

Interesting! For many of the Kerala dishes, adding the coconut oil or milk is also done at the last step. Sounds like time for research!