Isn't it funny how I go for weeks not blogging a thing, then all of a sudden I have a mad rush of blood to the head and bingo, there's three blog posts in quick succession. I have no idea why it happens, but it certainly seems to!
Now, these almost kebabs were so blinking tasty that they just had to be committed to blogdom straight away. You won't have any idea the tussles I have had with yoghurt marinated chicken, but they have been almost on an epic scale of disappointment. Hence, having had a taste of these little babies and realised that I'd reached nirvana, I just knew I had to write down the recipe and write it down fast - before it sank without a trace.
Now by rights, I should have laced these pieces of chicken onto kebab skewers and grilled them that way. However, I discovered at the last minute that the majority of my little wooden skewers had left home, so they just went onto the baking tray and were grilled like that. I don't think it harmed them any - in fact, I know it didn't.
Usually - and by "usually" I mean "in the past" - my attempts at yoghurt marinated chicken have been pallid at best and watery at worst. However, in this new and exciting dawn, I am so excited to report that they were neither pallid, oh no, nor were they watery! Well, they did exude a little water when being cooked, but that soon burned off.
They were deliciously spicy hot, with the warm curry spices singing along in harmony with the tang of lime juice and intense fruitiness of the tamarind. The acidity of both yoghurt and lime juice had tenderised the chicken and the use of garlic granules meant there were no horrid lumps of half cooked garlic in the mix. The slight charring on each piece brought out the best in the Tandoori spices and that spoonful of hot curry powder meant you were left in no doubt as to the worth of the sweet & fruity salad, along with the buttery rice.
I am seriously chuffed - maybe even "chuffed as nuts" as Dave Myers (he of Hairy Bikers fame) often says - with this recipe. I might even need to cook it again, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. LOL So if you give the recipe a whirl, do let me know how you get on with it!
Oh and incidentally - if you put your chicken onto the skewers, they'd be just brilliant cooked on a barbecue!
GRILLED CURRY CHICKEN SKEWERS (serves 2)
Ingredients :
4 dessert spoonfuls of full fat unflavoured Greek yoghurt
juice of half a lime
2 tsp rapeseed oil
1 tbsp tamarind sauce
4 heaped tsp tandoori curry powder
1 heaped tsp hot curry powder
half a tsp of ground turmeric
1 tsp of dried garlic granules
a pinch of sea salt
pinch of ground black pepper
2 large skinless and boneless chicken breasts, sliced across the grain.
Method :
Firstly, in a large bowl, make up the marinade by stirring together all the ingredients except the chicken breast slices.
Add the chicken slices and stir gently, ensuring that the marinade reaches every piece.
Cover with cling wrap and set aside in the fridge for a minimum of 4-5 hours.
To cook, cover a baking tray with silver foil and spray with a little cooking spray.
Using tongs, remove each piece of chicken from the marinade (taking as much of the marinade with each piece as wants to come) and lay it in a blob on the baking tray, leaving a little space in between each piece. Alternatively, lace each piece onto a bamboo skewer that has been previously soaked in water (to stop it going up in flames) - not too tightly - and lay the skewer on the baking tray.
Distribute any leftover marinade over the pieces that need a little more coverage.
Grill, under a hot grill (or a hot broiler, if you're American), until each piece has begun to char slightly. You don't want to have a lot of charring, just a few spots on each piece's high points. Turn the pieces and grill again.
Serve with buttery savoury rice and a fresh, fruity salad.
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I tend not to make dessert during the week, but save the calories for Sunday evenings and any leftovers go on to Monday, which helps to cheer up a sometimes glum Monday dinner. This week, because it had been for ever since we'd had one, I bought a pineapple and then pondered on what to do with it. We've had plenty of just plain pineapple with cream desserts and sometimes pineapple with fresh mint sugar (which is lovely) but this time I wanted to involve it in some kind of cooking process. I obviously had caramelisation in my back of my mind, but it took some thought for it to surface!
As I pondered on the best way of caramelising the pineapple - in a pan? Under the grill? In the oven? Use the blowtorch? - I also considered what flavour(s) to put with it and in what form. We had some Greek yoghurt in the fridge, so that would be a tasty accompaniment, but I also wanted something to give the pineapple some juice as the caramelisation process tends to dry the fruit out slightly. Perhaps not surprisingly, I began to consider alcohol and Rum Chatta and Malibu were right up there as choices. I'm so glad I went with the Malibu as the flavours are just made to go together and it gave the pineapple such a great depth of flavour.
I eventually opted to use a combination of the grill and the blowtorch for the caramelisation, which worked perfectly. The grill did the legwork of lightly cooking the fruit, melting the sugar and almost caramelising enough, but a quick go over with the blowtorch added the lovely charred flavour of burned sugar that is essential.
Allowing the caramelised fruit to macerate for a number of hours in a drizzle of the Malibu turned out to be a great decision as the fruit absorbed the alcohol beautifully. When you bit into a piece, the first flavour you got was a fairly intense bitterness from the burned sugar, then the cooling juice combined with the slight heat of the rum alcohol, which turned into sweet pineapple and a hint of coconut flavours. Gorgeous effect!
My son opted for a couple of spoonfuls of rum and raisin ice cream to go with his fruit, which I am quite sure was little short of divine. LOL I am sure that a Chantilly cream would be lovely too. Regrettably, I went for the lower calorie version of Greek yoghurt, which really was no hardship, being utterly delicious and very moreish!
I haven't given quantities in the recipe as it really depends on how big a pineapple you have and how much sugar and Malibu you want to involve.
Pineapples are a good price in the shops at the moment (April), so go on - indulge!
MALIBU CARAMELISED PINEAPPLE (Serves 3)
Ingredients :
One large pineapple
soft brown sugar
Malibu liqueur.
Method :
Prepare your pineapple by cutting off its top and tail, then removing the skin. Discard these pieces. Make sure to take out any "eyes" that remain, along with any seeds that might be hiding in the fruit. Then cut the pineapple into four pieces, each piece having a section of the core down one side.
Turn the pineapple piece to one side and cut that piece of core out. I always have a gnaw on these pieces, as the core holds just as much Bromelain as the flesh does. (Scientific studies have shown Bromelain to be useful as an anti inflammatory, so I'll take as much of that as I can get!).
Once the core is removed, cut the pineapple quarter into bite size slices and put them onto a foil covered baking tray. Repeat with the other three quarters.
Pre-heat the grill (or broiler, if you're American or Canadian!) to maximum.
Next, sprinkle each pineapple slice with a good quantity of soft brown sugar and place the tray high up under the grill. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and become sticky.
If you don't possess a blowtorch, then simply leave the pineapple under the heat until the sugar has burned a little. This may take some time depending on how juicy your pineapple is and how hot your grill gets! However, if you do possess a kitchen blowtorch, this is the time to wield it across the top of each pineapple slice, taking care not to burn the sugar a little too much!
Once you've done that first side, quickly flip the slices over and repeat with the sugar and heat.
Moving fairly swiftly so as to not allow the pineapple to cool and stick to the foil, remove the slices to a dish which can cope with all the slices in one layer. I used my Pyrex lasagne dish, which worked perfectly. Taking the Malibu, drizzle it lightly over the top of the slices and deliver a flourish of rather more to the gaps in between. You don't want to wash the caramelised sugar off the slices!
Cover the dish with cling film and place in the fridge for the fruit to absorb some of the Malibu and become gorgeous. Oh yes, and cool down. I left mine for a good 4-5 hours.
Serve with Greek yoghurt or a compatible ice cream such as rum & raisin, vanilla, or chocolate and remember not to drive anywhere immediately afterwards. *chuckle*
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