BIG GREEN EGG CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

 BEST RECIPE EVER…

The beloved world famous chicken tikka masala, created in Glasgow when a customer ordered the chicken tikka and the chicken was served without a sauce, the customer asked for a sauce and ta-da this iconic dish was created and is loved by so many the world over, myself included.

This recipe is sooooo worth the effort and for my family a wonderful weekend cook.

A authentic British Indian chicken tikka masala, with the chicken tikka being chargrilled over coals before being added to the sauce.

There are several components to this recipe, you will need to make a tandoori masala powder mix, mixed spice powder, this is a finishing spice mix and a base curry sauce, all recipes are below, I find making these first helpful.

First marinade the chicken tikka, preferably overnight but a few hours is fine too.

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

The Chicken Tikka Marinade

4 chicken breasts cut into chunks

2 lemons juiced

1 bulb (yes whole bulb) garlic blitzed

3” ginger blitzed

1 generous pinch of sea salt

1 cup Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp ground coriander 

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp garam masala 

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp amchoor powder

1 tsp sweet paprika

3 fresh chillies diced

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

1 small bunch fresh chopped coriander

1 tbsp tandoori masala (see below)

Tandoori Masala

(this is used a couple of times in the recipe)

2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tsp black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder or 1/2 stick

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp heaped garlic powder

1 tbsp heaped onion powder

1 tbsp heaped amchoor powder

1/4 tsp ground mace

Gently toast the whole spices, place in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder add the remaining ingredients and blitz to a powder.

To Marinate…

Toss the chicken in the garlic, ginger, salt and lemon juice and rub in well, then mix all the remaining marinade ingredients together and toss the chicken in the spice mix and coat well.  Leave chilled for a few hours or overnight.

BIG GREEN EGG

Fire up your barbecue or smoker to 250 C / 482 F

Skewer the marinated chicken and cook over hot coals until 75 C or 165 F.  Remove and leave to one side to rest while you make the sauce.

BASE CURRY SAUCE

First you need to make a curry base sauce.

Ingredients 

3 tbsp ghee

3 large Spanish onions chopped

1 carrot peeled and finely chopped

1/4 white cabbage diced

1/2 red pepper diced

1 can of chopped toms or 6 fresh diced

1 whole bulb of garlic chopped

4” ginger peeled and grated

1 tsp garam masala 

1 tsp turmeric 

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander 

1 tsp fenugreek 

1 tsp sweet paprika

1litre chicken or vegetable stock

500ml water

Heat the ghee, soften the onions, carrots, cabbage, peppers, ginger and garlic for around 15 minutes, add in the tomato, all the spices except the garam masala and cook for a further 2 minutes add the stock and simmer for a hour, blitz.

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Final sauce stage

4 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp grated garlic

1 tbsp grated ginger

4 heaped tbsp tom puree

100g ground almonds

 2 tbsp tandoori masala (made earlier above)

1 tbsp sweet paprika 

1 litre base curry sauce

300ml single cream

1 lemon juiced

1 bunch fresh coriander chopped

1 tsp garam masala

Salt to your taste

(Sugar or mango chutney to taste optional)

2 tbsp mixed powder (recipe below)

MIXED POWDER SPICE MIX

2 tbsp ground coriander

2 tbsp ground cumin

3 tbsp madras curry powder

2 tbsp sweet paprika

1 tbsp turmeric 

1 tbsp garam masala

FINALLY THE CURRY SAUCE !

Heat the ghee soften the ginger and garlic, next add the tomato purée and cook for a minute, then add the ground almonds and mixed powder, tandoori masala and sweet paprika along with the base sauce.

Bring to a gentle simmer, and when your sauce is at the desired thickness add the cooked tandoori chicken and cream, bring back up to a simmer, add the lemon juice, coriander and garam masala, taste and season with salt and / or sugar to your taste and enjoy this glorious curry.

GOK’S POPPA WAN’S STICKY SUCCULENT CHINESE SPICED PORK

GORGEOUS GLORIOUS MAGNIFICENT

Re-Post

Make extra that's almost all I can say, you must cook this, succulent melt in your mouth infused pork with flavours that burst like a firework that will have you pulling those Oh My faces and making all sorts of noises that maybe should be kept private behind closed doors !!!

Prep Time 5 minutes / Slow Oven Cooking Time 2 hours / 2nd Roasting Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4-6)

1 -1.5kg whole belly pork or loin

500ml Shaoxing wine

3 star anise

3 inch piece ginger rough sliced

3 gloves garlic crushed

5 spring onions chopped

3 tbsp light soy sauce

Water to cover the pork

For the glaze

4 tbsp honey

2 tbsp light soy sauce

To garnish

2 spring onions and 1 red chilli diagonally sliced

In a deep roasting tin that you will be able to cover the pork with liquid, place the pork in the roasting tin, add all the other ingredients and top up with water to just cover the pork, cover with parchment paper and then tin foil, pop in a pre-heated oven of 150 degrees for approx 2 hours or until the pork is so tender you could just pull it apart with the touch of a fork, but don't!

Remove the roasting tray from the oven and leave on the side for the pork to cool in the poaching liquid.  Once cooled you can at this point put the pork in the fridge for later or another day. 

Once cool enough to handle, take the pork out and gently slice off the skin and discard. then slice the loin or belly keeping the slices together as almost still one piece.  Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees, line a baking sheet with baking paper and using a spatula lift the pork slices as one piece on to the centre of the baking tray, mix the honey and soy sauce together and drizzle over the pork, pop in the oven for 20 minutes to set the gorgeous sweet sticky soy and honey caramelising glaze.  Remove from the oven and leave to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

I like to serve this with rice or noodles tossed through some grated ginger, garlic, sliced chilli, spring onions and a dash of light soy sauce and sesame oil.  Also works great with flat breads.

ELOTE MEXICAN STREET CORN

National Corn on the Cob Day

Our home grown organic sweet corn stuffed with chipotle spiced butter and grilled in their husks on the BBQ until tender.  Then slavered with a zesty lime and chipotle Mexican crema sauce, fresh coriander and generously smattering of cotija cheese.  This is a glorious messy eat and perfectly acceptable in front of friends, family and strangers!

If you can’t get Mexican cotija cheese and Mexican crema (I can’t in the UK) you can use feta cheese instead, it is a little sharper so maybe a dusting of Parmesan too and as for the Mexican crema you can use sour cream with a pinch of salt.

Grilling the corn in their husks adds a whole other depth of flavour.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

4 whole corn on the cobs in husks

300g salted butter room temperature 

2 chipotle in adobo sauce chopped

1 clove garlic grated

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup crema or sour cream

1/2 lime zest and juice

1/2 lime in 4 wedges

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

100g crumbled cojita cheese or feta and Parmesan

2 tbsp fresh chopped coriander

Mix half the chipotle pepper in to the butter and divide by 6 in the mixing bowl gently peel the husks back to the stem on the cobs careful not to pull the husks off, season the corn with a little salt and pepper then cover generously with 4 portions of the chipotle butter reserving the last 2 portions (divide in half again so you have 4) for serving.  Wrap the cobs back up in their husks and place on the BBQ grill and cook turning periodically for 10-15 minutes until the corn is tender, peel back the husks and pop the corn back on the grill to char up slightly adding even more smokey BBQ flavour to the corn.

Mix the mayo, crema, chipotle pepper, garlic, lime zest and juice together.

Remove the corn from the grill, season with salt and pepper, toss in the remaining chipotle butter, then generously slaver the crema all over the cobs, sprinkle with the cojita cheese, fresh coriander and just chow down.

 

LIME JERK BARBECUE PORK CHOPS

 Big Green Egg

Barbecue by

Miss Kristi Lou

Fragrant spicy jerk marinated sticky pork chops, caramelised perfectly in the Big Green Egg.

Indirect heat

220 C / 428 F

Ingredients

(serves 2)

2 large free range pork chops

Jerk Marinade 

2 limes zest and juice

1 lime cut into wedges for serving

4 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove garlic grated

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp olive oil

1 small pinch grated nutmeg

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 good pinch of sea salt

1 tsp whole all spice berries ground

1 scotch bonnet finely chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and rub all over the pork chops, place in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes, a couple of hours is better.

Indirect heat 220 C / 428 F

Cook in your egg, for approximately 3 minutes each side turning only once, remove and leave to rest covered for 5 minutes before serving with wedges of lime.

I like to serve these chops with French fries or buttery mashed potatoes

SMOKEY JACK DANIELS BARBECUE RIBS

BIG GREEN EGGING

Barbecue by 

Miss Kristi Lou

3-2-1 Cooking Method

Indirect Cooking

Dry rubbed ribs, smoked at 110 C / 233 F, for 3 hours, then slather with your barbecue sopping sauce, add the apple juice and butter, wrap in a double Texas crutch of foil and a single layer of butchers paper, place back in your egg for 2 hours.  For the last stage remove the Texas crutch and place the ribs back on the grill baste and sop regularly with the bourbon barbecue sauce for 1 hour and now you have the most glorious tender smokey basted ribs that are almost falling off the bone.

The only effort in cooking these ribs is time…

3 hours stage 1

2 hours wrapped, stage 2

1 hour basting, stage 3

Cooking time 5-6 hours

Ingredients

Whole rack of pork baby back ribs per person

1 bottle french’s hot dog mustard

200ml apple juice per rib

100g butter per rib, thick sliced

Barbecue Dry Rub

7 tbsp dark brown molasses sugar

1 tbsp sweet paprika

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp dried chipotle flakes

1 tbsp dried ancho flakes

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

Mix all the ingredients together well, store in a ball mason jar.

Texas Style Barbecue Sauce

for serving

1 cup tomato ketchup 

2/3 cup molasses brown sugar

3 glugs Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp chipotle powder

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

200ml Coke

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer until desired consistency.

The Jack Daniels Maple Sopping Sauce

200ml Jack Daniels 

300ml maple syrup

25 ml molasses 

1 tbsp tamarind or lime juice

3 tbsp honey

Warm all the ingredients until combined, pour in to a squirt sopping bottle or bowl for dipping your sopping brush in.

LETS GET COOKING… 

Fire Up Your Big Green Egg Set For Indirect Cooking

How ever you start your smoker /grill, fire up (I fill my fire box to the top as my fire starts in the middle and slowly burns outward giving me up to 12hrs hours of slow heat controlled cooking) once your fire is established bring the temperature down to 110 C / 230 F, using your air vents to control the heat.  

Air flow = temperature control, more air flow = more heat, less air = less heat.

Ribs 3 - 2 - 1

Remove your ribs from the fridge 1 hour before cooking.

Do Not Skip This Step

Remove the silver skin membrane from the back of the ribs, to do this slip a small knife tip under the the thick skin membrane on the first bone, lever up gently, take some paper roll and hold the lifted skin and peel off the rib, this silver skin normally comes away in one strip.  If you leave the skin on it constricts while cooking pulling the rib tight and it is like eating a rubbery skin on your tender rib, not nice.

Cooking Ribs Stage 3 (the first stage)

Rub your ribs generously with mustard then the barbecue dry rub.

To your smoker add one/two hickory wood chunks

Place the ribs  in your smoker 110 C / 230 F for 3 hours, I like to rotate my ribs by 90 degrees half way through, if cooking upright in a rack rotate 180 degrees.

NEXT…

Cooking Ribs Stage 2

The Texas Crutch

Take two sheets of foil and one sheet of butchers paper or baking paper, lay the butchers paper on top of the two sheets of foil, place the rib in the center, generously baste the rib all over with your barbecue sauce, lay the butter slices on top of the ribs, bring the edges of the foil up to start to make a bowl, pour in the apple juice and gently fold the top of the foil over to create a tent around the ribs.

Place back in your smoker for 1-2 hours.  After 1 hour check the ribs for tenderness, keep cooking for up to 2 hours, you don’t want the meat to actually fall off the bone, your looking for a presentable rib that the bone easily pulls cleanly away from the meat.

Cooking Ribs Stage 1 (the last stage)

Final bark

I increase the heat in my smoker at this point to 200 C / 395 F.

This is not essential but I like a good bark on my ribs, Unwrap your ribs and place back in your smoker, now I get sopping with my hot maple bourbon glaze every 10 minutes.

You can also sop some of the buttery apple cooking juices over the ribs too.

Once your ribs are ready around 1 hour is when you can gently pull a bone away from the meat, generously baste the ribs with your barbecue sauce and serve.

STICKY HONEY GINGER PORK BELLY

This gorgeous melt in the mouth belly pork is just divine, worth the hour and half wait.  So versatile as well, goes great with rice, in a vegetable stir fry, in pancakes instead of hoisin duck and in dim sum dumplings, but best of all on a spoon!

Ingredients 

( 1 1/2 hrs oven cook)

500g belly pork

1 tsp five spice

1 tbsp soy

1 tbsp sliced ginger

1 ltr chicken stock

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 cup basmati rice to serve with

Glaze

4 tbsp honey

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp grated ginger

1 red chilli finely diced

For the glaze, mix all the glaze ingredients together, heat in a pan until the sugar has dissolved and you have a sticky glaze.

Rub the belly pork with the soy sauce and five spice, reserve to one side to marinated for half an hour, overnight is even better.

Pre heat your oven to 160 C / 320 F.  Place the belly pork in a casserole dish with a lid, add the rest of the braising ingredients, pop on the lid and place in the oven for around one and a half hours, check after 1 hour, the pork is done when it is gelatinous and you can pull it apart with no effort with a spoon.

Toss the belly pork in the glaze and serve with rice.

Perfect Rice

1 cup of basmati rice

2 cups of light chicken stock

The key to successful rice is simply do not stir or take the lid off the pan!

Rinse the rice in a sieve and place in your pan along with the stock, pop on a lid and bring to a simmer, turn down the heat to a low simmer, under no circumstances take the lid off or stir the rice!  Simmer for 6 minutes then take the rice off the heat and leave to one side with the lid on for a further 5 minutes, perfect cooked rice.

Fluff up the rice with a fork and enjoy.

SMOKEY BARBECUE CHARRED FAJITAS NEXT LEVEL OTT

BIG GREEN EGG KAMADO COOKING 

This charred hickory smoked barbecued chicken fajitas is the next level and OTT (over the top)! Cooking direct all the ingredients got their turn on the big green egg to add that extra hickory smoked flavour, smokey marinated chicken, charred onions, jalapeños and peppers stuffed into warm tortillas with a charred fresh charred tomato salsa with jalapeños and lime topped off with sour cream, guacamole and fresh coriander, these are lip smackingly good!

Marinate time 30 mins-24 hrs / Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

4 chicken breasts cubed

2 red pepper quartered

2 green pepper quartered

2 red onions sliced in to thick whole rings

4 fresh jalapeños whole

4 spring onions trimmed 

2 limes halved

4 tomatoes cut in half

16 6" flour tortillas

1 iceberg lettuce fine shredded 

1 lrg pot sour cream

2 pots guacamole 

1 small bunch fresh coriander chopped

 

Fajitas Spice Mix

4 tbsp LUCHITO fajitas spice rub

OR

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp corn masa flour

1 tsp soft brown sugar

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/4 tsp chilli pepper

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

pinch of sea salt

100ml of ground nut oil

1 lime juiced

 

Chicken Fajitas

Fire up your grill, direct heat 200 C / 390 F

Fajitas Marinade 

Mix all the dry spices together in the oil and lime juice.

Massage the chicken in the marinade and leave for minimum of 30 minutes in the fridge, over night is better to really permeate the flavours, place the chicken on your skewers ready to barbecue.

Once your grill is up to heat, place the chicken skewers on, leave to sear and char approx 5 minutes then turn and cook the other side, meanwhile, place the onions, jalapeños, peppers, tomatoes, spring onions and limes on the grill, turning after 5 minutes, cook until charred, remove ready to serve.

Rest the chicken while you chop the tomatoes, spring onions, one of the jalapeños, mix with the lime juice season with salt to make the salsa.

Set your table with bowls of shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, fresh chopped coriander, the roasted salsa, warm tortillas, plates and cutlery ready to go.

Pile the chicken skewers on the table and let everyone dive in.

KFC CRISPY ONION PAKORAS

GLUTEN FREE OPTION

What is it with the need to crack the secret KFC spice recipe!  Finger licking juicy crispy chicken that’s what!   Their spice blend recipe and method is why!

I’ve played with the famous 11 spices and this recipe is just as finger licking good, almost there but leaves me knowing without a science lab I’m not going to crack the ratio’s.

This spice dredge I used to make my crispy fried chicken then with the left over dredge I made onion pakoras, these were lick smackingly wonderful. 

Fried Chicken

After research I have learnt that the chicken has to be dipped in to a brine bucket before dropping in to the spiced flour dredge, then you have to scoop up the chicken and dredge, fold over and press the chicken down into the rub, squeeze the chicken and rub, then lift up the chicken and tap twice to knock of excess rub.  If dredging drumsticks you have to do this twice for the dredge to coat well.

Rest the dredged chicken for 20 minutes on wire racks.

Fry at 150 - 160 C / 302 - 320 F bone in pieces for 8 - 10 minutes and tenders for 4 minutes.

KFC Onion Pakoras

The KFC 11 Spice Blend

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp white pepper

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp celery seed ground

2 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tbsp ginger

1 1/2 cups gram flour (naturally gluten free) or plain flour

3 lrg Spanish onions sliced for pakoras

Mix the spices with the flour.

Toss in the sliced onions and mix throughly until fully coated in the spice flour.

Leave for 30 minutes for the salt to release the water from the onions adding to the flavour.

Add water start with 100ml and add 25 ml at a time until you have a batter the same consistency as double cream.

Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Heat your frying oil to 170 C / 338 F.

Spoon in heaped spoonfuls of the onion batter a few at a time so as not to over crowed the pan, fry for approximately 4 minutes turning over halfway, until a deep golden brown, remove and rest on paper towel to drain, serve immediately.

CRISPY CRACKLING CHICKEN THIGHS

What's better than Crackling, Chicken Crackling thats what!

What a great family show stopper dinner that will have everyone running to the table!  A simple dinner that is elevated to the highest flavour levels just simply by the the cooking method!  I cook crispy crackling chicken thighs all the time, in fact several times a week as my hubby uses them as (fridglet nibblits) but their never as fully crisped up as this, just a little tweak in the preparation and cooking method has made this our all new family favourite.  Serve with mayo slaw, flat breads and siracha, stuff, wrap and enjoy.

Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

8 chicken thighs boned out

Himalayan sea salt 

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Place your cast iron skillet on a medium high heat.

Season the thighs with the salt, place the vegetable oil in the skillet, place the thighs skin side down in the skillet.

Leave the chicken skin side down for around six minutes, don't be tempted to turn it over or check it, this is how the crispy crackling skin is made.  

At six minutes lift up the thighs to check for crispy crackling, if golden brown and crispy then turn over, if not cook for a further 2 minutes, then turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat and leave the chicken to rest, uncovered, for a few minutes before serving.

Serving suggestions, glorious buttery mashed potatoes or flatbreads, slaw and salad.

PAELLA VALENCIANA CRISPY CRACKLING CHICKEN AND PRAWN

Big Green Egg Cooking

Indirect cooking 200 C - 220 C.

Equipment: 

Paella pan for two or shallow casserole dish, lid or foil.

10 minutes preparation / 20 minutes cooking

Ingredients 

(serves 2)

100ml olive oil

1 knob of butter for the prawns

1 tsp sea salt

10 grinds pepper mill fresh black pepper

6 cloves garlic sliced (reserve one for the prawns

1 Spanish onion finely diced

3 chicken thighs skin on, boneless

3 large fresh prawns head and shell on

1 cooking chorizo diced

250g Spanish Calasparra rice

1.3 litres chicken stock

1 good pinch saffron (Spanish La Mancha)

1 tsp smoked paprika 

2 sprigs thyme leaves chopped

1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Place your paella pan or a shallow casserole dish on the Big Green Egg, add the olive oil, season the chicken thighs skin side only with the salt, place the chicken thighs skin side down in the pan, Do Not Turn for 8 minutes, this will ensure you create crispy chicken crackling skin, turn over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, remove from the pan, keeping all the chicken fat in the pan and reserve to one side, uncovered.

 To the pan add the onions, garlic and chorizo to the pan, soften for 10 minutes.

Add the saffron, smoked paprika, thyme and black pepper, stir once to combine.

Add the rice, stir once to combine.

Add the chicken stock and again stir only once to combine, this is so you do not release the starch and end up making the paella stodgy and more like a risotto.

Cook for 12 minutes until almost all the chicken stock has been absorbed, this will result in (socarrat) a crispy caught bottom of the paella, the best bit ! 

Place the prawns in a pan with a glug of olive oil, a knob of butter and sliced garlic, cook for 1.5 minutes each side, then nestle in the paella and push into the rice, take the paella off the heat and leave to rest for five minutes with a lid on or a foil tent.

Remove the lid, add the reserved chicken thighs and nestle into the paella, rest for a further 2 minutes then serve immediately.

Enjoy with family, warm fresh sour dough bread and a beautiful bottle of red wine.