Oven BBQ Chicken (recipe)

Summer is the time to fire up the grill… at least that’s what the US food programs and magazines tell me. Here in Trinidad, I’ve never really known or been part of a huge grilling or BBQ culture. As a kid there was a time when my father went on a BBQ kick, that lasted about a month after which the grill was determined to difficult to clean and fell into disuse. I have no idea what became of it or the bag of coals that were so enthusiastically bought for it.

My next initiation into the world of BBQs was as a fundraising mechanism in both primary and high school. There was nothing like the smell of multiple grills all working in tandem to fill up the flimsy paper boxes that our paper chits would procure. The funds from these BBQs (and their equally popular counterpart the Curry-Q) presumably going to help fund the upkeep of a school or to support the mission of an organization. Even then my favourite BBQs had to meet certain requirements. The flavour had to be both sweet and smoky. The sauce had to be thick and shiny. And the chicken? Well the chicken had to have dark, crunchy, practically charred bits. Should any of these characteristics be lacking, and the BBQ would be a failure in my eyes.

Although there is no substitute for BBQ from the grill, oven-baked chicken recipes are in my eyes are perfectly acceptable substitute as the results of this recipe will testify!

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken
Adapted from a recipe on KraftFoods.com
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup Italian Dressing
1 broiler-fryer chicken (3 lb.), cut up
1 cup Hickory Smoke Barbecue Sauce
1 scotch bonnet pepper, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
1. Clean chicken pieces with lime
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Pour dressing over chicken in resealable plastic bag. Seal bag; turn to evenly coat chicken.
4. Refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.
5. Remove chicken from marinade; discard bag and marinade.

6. Preheat oven to 450F
7. Blend barbecue sauce and chopped pepper; set aside.

8. Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in a nonstick, glass, or ceramic baking dish.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the skin loses its raw look.

10. Pour about 2/3 of the bbq sauce mixture over the chicken and turn to coat

11. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes, basting with some of the remaining sauce in the pan every 5 to 7 minutes.

12. Place the chicken on a serving plate and spoon a portion of the remaining sauce on each piece

Chicken Marsala

Authentic Marsala is finished with a small amount of the wine and does not necessarily have mushrooms. Enjoy this authentic Italian chicken recipe!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 eggs
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
2 cups fresh mushrooms
1/2 bulb garlic
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup Marsala wine

Preparation:

1 - Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Place the breasts between layers of plastic wrap, and pound until thin. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pats. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Peel and mince the garlic.

2 - Dust the chicken with the flour. Dip in the eggs, and return to the flour. Shake off excess flour.

3 - Heat the oil to medium-high temperature in a large saute pan. Add the chicken, and brown on one side. Turn over, and add the mushrooms and garlic.

4 - Pour in the wine, and reduce to half the volume.

5 - Add the pats of cold butter, and stir into the sauce. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

Crunchy Onion Chicken Recipe

Attributed to:

1 1/3 cups French's® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg, beaten

Directions

1. Place French Fried Onions into plastic bag. Lightly crush with hands or with rolling pin.
2. Dip chicken into egg; then coat with onion crumbs, pressing firmly to adhere. Place chicken on baking sheet. Sprinkle with additional crumbs, if desired.
3. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in center.

Grilled Jerked Chicken Skewers With Mango Salsa

Serves 6
Caribbean Jerk Rub adds Jamaican flavor to chicken in this recipe. Pork, lamb, steak, and seafood would all be good substitutes for chicken.

Chicken Ingredients :

3.5 oz (1 jar) Raptor Caribbean Jerk Rub
3 Chicken Breasts
2 oz. Olive Oil
18 Bamboo skewers *soak in water*

Mango Salsa Ingredients:

1 cup Mango (small diced)
½ Red Onion (small diced)
1 tsp. Red Jalapeño (minced)
1 tsp. Ginger (minced)
3 Sprigs Cilantro (chopped)
6 Mint Leaves (chopped)
2 Scallions (chopped)
1 tbs. Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Weight Watchers Kung Pao Chicken recipe

This Chinese chicken recipe is for Andreea, who requested some Asian recipes (I'm going to post some Japanese ones soon, as I'm a big sushi fan).

Kung Pao chicken is a classic dish in Sichuan (or Szechuan) cuisine. It has 11 points per serving, but it's worth trying at least once because it's so delicious.

Weight Watchers Kung Pao Chicken recipe
Makes 3 servings

Ingredients
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
5 teaspoons soy sauce, divided
5 teaspoons dry sherry, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chicken broth or water
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1/3 cup salted peanuts
6-8 small dried hot chili peppers
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
2 green onions, with tops, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
green onions (for garnish)
dried hot chili peppers (for garnish)

Preparation
1. For marinade, combine 2 tsp. cornstarch, 2 tsp. soy sauce, 2 tsp. sherry and salt in large bowl; mix well.
2. Add chicken; stir to coat well.
3. Let stand 30 minutes.
4. Combine remaining 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch, 3 tsp. soy sauce, 3 tsp. sherry, vinegar, chicken broth and sugar in small bowl; mix well, set aside.
5. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in wok or large skillet over medium heat.
6. Add peanuts; cook and stir until lightly toasted.
7. Remove peanuts from wok; set aside. Heat remaining 2 tbsp. oil in wok over medium heat.
8. Add chili peppers; stir-fry until peppers just begin to char, about 1 minute. Increase heat to high.
9. Add chicken mixture; stir-fry 2 minutes.
10. Add ginger; stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink in center, about 1 minute. Add peanuts and onions; stir-fry 1 minute. Stir cornstarch mixture; add to wok.
11. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens.
12. Garnish, if desired.

Grilled Lemon Basil Chicken Recipe

6 boneless skinless 1 tablespoon 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon	chicken breast brown sugar lemon pepper dried basil garlic powder onion powder salt paprika

Tandoori Chicken Baked in Oven

Tandoori Chicken Baked in Oven

The word Tandoori is synonomous to India. Tandoori Chicken is so famous in India as Pizza is in Italy.

My Tandoori chicken recipe is not made in the traditional Tandoori oven but can be baked in our home conventional oven or on a Barbaque Oven.

It has a simple recipe and except for the time to bake all that takes is a 3-5 minutes to prepare the marinade for marinating the chicken overnight.

It tastes better when consumed fresh and hot. So at times when we feel we may not finish all the chicken that is marinated, bake only the amount that can be finished at that time. We can save the remaining for the next day to bake it fresh.

Ingredients:
Chicken Thighs with Drum sticks : 4 (Skin and fat removed)
Magarine to coat a Baking Tray lined with foil.
Marination:
Yogurt : 1/4 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste : 1 Tbsp
Tandoori Chicken Masala : 2 Tbsp ( I use Kissan Brand)
Finely chopped Mint and Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Optional
A hint of Seekh & Bihari Kabab Masalas - 1 tsp together ( I use Shan brand)
Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp (for extra spice)

Procedure:
1. Prepare marinade with the marination ingredients above.
2. Marinate the chicken in the marinade masala, preferably overnight or atleast for 3 hours, in the fridge.
3. Pre heat the oven for 350 C,
4. Arrange the Chicken on the foiled tray and place it in the oven to bake for 20 - 25 minutes on one side.
5. Now drain off the excess water and the oil that comes out of the baking chicken in the tray and turn the chicken peices and bake them on this side for another 10 - 15 minutes.
6. Again drain off any excess oil and water, turn the chicken again and bake for 5 minutes more for the final finish and the red color.
7. Remove the tray from the oven, keep aside for 5 minutes and then transfer the chicken peices into the serving plate.

This is served with a salad, slices of cucumber, onions and lemon.