Hot, hot ... NOT! (Chicken Times 2)
POST EDITED for flow.
Sunday Supper
Chicken tikka, potatoes, turmeric basmati rice and peas and yogurt
Dessert - ice cream, raspberries and some toasted almond flakes
I hadn't planned on cooking anything this weekend, but Food Basics tempted me beyond what my frugal nature could endure, so I bought the 2 (1.2 kg) fresh, whole chickens ... for the bargain price of $10. I butchered them both, so I would only have to sanitize my cutting surface and wash up from the butchering mess afterwards, once. And instead of cooking the chickens in the oven, I chose to bbq them together saving on propane, and then I'd freeze one of the cooked chickens for thawing and eating later. After all, who can resist a piece of barbecued chicken?
The best laid plans, as they say...
I decided to spatch-cock one of the chickens because a flattened chicken would, I thought, cook much faster and more evenly. For the flavouring, I went Portugese with a spicy bottled piri piri sauce marinade, which is similar to a Louisiana hot sauce. I added some dried herbs and salt and pepper as well, slashing into the thigh, drumstick and, of course, breast meat so, that the marinade could penetrate while it sat in its bag in the refrigerator overnight.
Chickens have been rinsed and patted dry ready for butchering.
Spatch-cocked chicken, piri piri sauce, paper towels and a full cup of coffee. I'm ready for action.
Chicken slashed to let the piri piri marinade penetrate
Marinated chicken on metal skewers, ready for the barbecue
I spatch-cocked the second chicken as well, then cut it up into 10 portions, for faster cooking. For the flavouring, I went Indian. I was going to use a tandoori spice mixture, but since I didn't have any tandoori paste left in the fridge (yeah!), but I DID have a full jar (99 cents) of chicken tikka paste in the pantry, I combined a couple of heaping tablespoons of the paste with several tablespoons of yogurt for a double duty marinade and tenderizer.
Preparing the chicken for the tikka marinade
Pieces of chicken with the skin on
Skin removed, as is usually done with tandoori chicken to prevent flare-ups from the melting fat, though I didn't bother skinning the wings
Portioned breasts and legs (8 pieces) plus the 2 wings (not pictured) and you have 10 pieces of chicken for $5
The chicken pieces have been slashed so the marinade can penetrate
On Sunday, even though it wasn't very warm due to a briskly blowing wind, I started to barbecue the chicken tikka pieces and after 15 minutes, when they were half done in a medium bbq, I turned the pieces over and used the cooler side of the bbq to start cooking the whole piri piri chicken. For crisp skin, start cooking with the bone side down on low heat. Turn over and continue cooking with the skin side down. Then move your chicken to the hot side of the barbecue, still with the skin side down, for the last 5 minutes or so.
When the chicken tikka was done, I brought it inside to rest while I finished off the potato side dish.
BBq'd chicken tikka pieces
My timer rang and I went outside to turn over my piri piri chicken and ... HORRORS! I had run out of propane. So I brought in my half cooked chicken and finished it in the oven with a fast 5 minutes under the broiler to get some charring on the skin. However, other than the tips of the wings which were sticking up (must remember to tuck them under next time) and just started to burn, the skin wasn't as dark as I wanted. Oh well, next time. :)
Spatch-cocked piri piri chicken
For the side dishes, I went with both rice and potatoes.
I added a bit of turmeric to the butter as I sauteed the basmati rice before cooking it. A cup of thawed bright green peas and I ended up with a tasty, easy and colourful side dish for the chicken tikka.
And ... one last picture because I couldn't resist showing it to you. I think it would make a lovely and colourful dish to serve to company..
Chicken tikka and basmati rice platter - I had to leave the 4 pieces of breast out of the picture, as there wasn't enough room on the platter
And for the piri piri chicken, I sauted some boiled potato pieces in butter, olive oil, Spanish paprika, caramelized onions from my freezer, salt and pepper and dried parsley.
I was going to make something for today's dessert on Saturday, but after butchering the two chickens and making another (ground beef) dish for the freezer, I was just too tired. So instead I settled for French vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries. :)
Sunday Supper
Chicken tikka, potatoes, turmeric basmati rice and peas and yogurt
Dessert - ice cream, raspberries and some toasted almond flakes
I hadn't planned on cooking anything this weekend, but Food Basics tempted me beyond what my frugal nature could endure, so I bought the 2 (1.2 kg) fresh, whole chickens ... for the bargain price of $10. I butchered them both, so I would only have to sanitize my cutting surface and wash up from the butchering mess afterwards, once. And instead of cooking the chickens in the oven, I chose to bbq them together saving on propane, and then I'd freeze one of the cooked chickens for thawing and eating later. After all, who can resist a piece of barbecued chicken?
The best laid plans, as they say...
I decided to spatch-cock one of the chickens because a flattened chicken would, I thought, cook much faster and more evenly. For the flavouring, I went Portugese with a spicy bottled piri piri sauce marinade, which is similar to a Louisiana hot sauce. I added some dried herbs and salt and pepper as well, slashing into the thigh, drumstick and, of course, breast meat so, that the marinade could penetrate while it sat in its bag in the refrigerator overnight.
Chickens have been rinsed and patted dry ready for butchering.
Spatch-cocked chicken, piri piri sauce, paper towels and a full cup of coffee. I'm ready for action.
Chicken slashed to let the piri piri marinade penetrate
Marinated chicken on metal skewers, ready for the barbecue
I spatch-cocked the second chicken as well, then cut it up into 10 portions, for faster cooking. For the flavouring, I went Indian. I was going to use a tandoori spice mixture, but since I didn't have any tandoori paste left in the fridge (yeah!), but I DID have a full jar (99 cents) of chicken tikka paste in the pantry, I combined a couple of heaping tablespoons of the paste with several tablespoons of yogurt for a double duty marinade and tenderizer.
Preparing the chicken for the tikka marinade
Pieces of chicken with the skin on
Skin removed, as is usually done with tandoori chicken to prevent flare-ups from the melting fat, though I didn't bother skinning the wings
Portioned breasts and legs (8 pieces) plus the 2 wings (not pictured) and you have 10 pieces of chicken for $5
The chicken pieces have been slashed so the marinade can penetrate
On Sunday, even though it wasn't very warm due to a briskly blowing wind, I started to barbecue the chicken tikka pieces and after 15 minutes, when they were half done in a medium bbq, I turned the pieces over and used the cooler side of the bbq to start cooking the whole piri piri chicken. For crisp skin, start cooking with the bone side down on low heat. Turn over and continue cooking with the skin side down. Then move your chicken to the hot side of the barbecue, still with the skin side down, for the last 5 minutes or so.
When the chicken tikka was done, I brought it inside to rest while I finished off the potato side dish.
BBq'd chicken tikka pieces
My timer rang and I went outside to turn over my piri piri chicken and ... HORRORS! I had run out of propane. So I brought in my half cooked chicken and finished it in the oven with a fast 5 minutes under the broiler to get some charring on the skin. However, other than the tips of the wings which were sticking up (must remember to tuck them under next time) and just started to burn, the skin wasn't as dark as I wanted. Oh well, next time. :)
Spatch-cocked piri piri chicken
For the side dishes, I went with both rice and potatoes.
I added a bit of turmeric to the butter as I sauteed the basmati rice before cooking it. A cup of thawed bright green peas and I ended up with a tasty, easy and colourful side dish for the chicken tikka.
And ... one last picture because I couldn't resist showing it to you. I think it would make a lovely and colourful dish to serve to company..
Chicken tikka and basmati rice platter - I had to leave the 4 pieces of breast out of the picture, as there wasn't enough room on the platter
And for the piri piri chicken, I sauted some boiled potato pieces in butter, olive oil, Spanish paprika, caramelized onions from my freezer, salt and pepper and dried parsley.
I was going to make something for today's dessert on Saturday, but after butchering the two chickens and making another (ground beef) dish for the freezer, I was just too tired. So instead I settled for French vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries. :)