Sunday 27 March 2011

Opening the barbecue innings

I really enjoyed the recent Jamie Oliver "30-minute meals" series - some very good ideas! I was smitten by the crispy chicken with kim chee slaw, noodles and curry sauce. His technique for pressing the chicken with a heated, weighted pan to speed up the cooking is very clever! So I had decided that that was what was for dinner. Although I didn't have all the bits for the green curry sauce so I took a big cheat and decided to use my favourite laksa kit to make a thick, rich sauce.

But then Paul threw a spanner in the works and decided that the weather was too good not to have the first barbecue of spring. Easy enough to work around (although it meant I didn't get to try the nifty weighted pan trick) - the chicken was done on the Weber, while the noodles, salad and sauce were done indoors.


I think the charcoal must have been a bit damp - it threw off sparks like fireworks.

Chicken grilled over charcoal is just so damn good. I didn't add the honey and sesame seeds as I would have cooking in the pan - these were absolutely plain, letting the meat and charcoal speak for themselves, while the laksa sauce and cool, crunchy salad provided a spicy background.

I think the kim chee slaw is going to appear on our table a lot this summer. The combination of flavours is bright and sparky and goes brilliantly with grilled meat.

You'll be pleased to hear that having the two chicken legs in the bowl was just for photographic purposes! Even I can't eat a portion that big, and no one minds having cold barbecued chicken for lunch the following day.

11 comments:

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

I agree: chicken cooked over charcoal is quite possibly one of the best things ever! Looks like you enjoyed a delicious meal!

Barbara said...

You are so right! There is nothing better than chicken on the grill. (Although I saw that Jamie Oliver show as well, and thought it looked great to make it pressed that way; hope you get to try it soon.)

tasteofbeirut said...

You make me wish I had watched that show! Excellent idea and recipe.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Looks delicious--even if you couldn't cook it outdoors!

(BTW--we start cooking with Jamie Oliver for the next 6 months this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs in case you ever want to drop in and link up. This first week is "Get Naked"--any dish to welcome Jamie) ;-)

Alicia Foodycat said...

Andrea - it's a great combination of flavours, I recommend it!

Barbara - I will try the chicken method and report back.

Joumana - hopefully you can catch it some time. It's got some great dishes!

Deb - worth trying indoors or out.

Mary Bergfeld said...

You did well given the change in plans. Your chicken looks wonderful. I'm sure you had a perfect meal. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

kat said...

Oh I wish our grill wasn't still buried under snow! We press our chicken on the grill with a brick wrapped in tin foil & it turned out so good.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Mary - thank you, it was delicious.

Kat - you've had a terrible winter!

grace said...

hooray for charred chicken! and it's a wonderful thing that the leftovers are very nearly as good as the first bite.

mscrankypants said...

I loathe cabbage, but for some reason I love kim chee. There is/was a tiny Korean cafe in Sydney that served little bowls of kim chee and other treats while the mains were being cooked. Didn't you have a charcoal shortage last year? I hope that's not the case this sesaon.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Grace - makes me regret that I am not having more chicken today.

Cranky - we did! Fortunately we made sure there was a big supply over the winter.

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