RECIPE: BBQ GARLIC ROASTED CHICKEN

Trust me, once you have eaten a roast cooked on heat beads or coals, any other roast would not taste the same again. I admit there is a bit more preparation involved in getting the oven ready to fire and you may be exposed to the elements being outside to cook the roast…… but the end results are so much more satisfying.

Note: This was cooked on a Weber® Compact Kettle BBQ. You can get the Weber® Compact Kettle BBQ which uses heat beads or charcoal for around $199. It comes with a 5 Year Limited Warranty.


Ingredients – serves 6

1 large (1.5kg) fresh chicken (free range chicken would be better)
1 whole garlic bulb (use Australian or French grown garlic if possible – it tastes so much nicer) – cut into wedges (see my GLOSSARY post on GARLIC)
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Olive oil
Butter
6 to 8 potatoes - peeled and halved
1 bunch baby carrots/1/2 kg carrots – tops removed (if using normal carrots, quartered)
6 small/medium brown onions (optional) – peeled and left whole
1 quantity of BREAD CRUMB STUFFING (click on link)

Method:

Prepare your Weber® Kettle BBQ according to instructions.
Trim the chicken of any excess fat, tuck wings tips under chicken.

Carefully lift the skin from under the breast area and put dollops of butter under the skin. You may omit this step if you want to cut down on fat.

Now rub the chicken cavity with some olive oil and pepper and stuff with the BREAD CRUMB STUFFING (see recipe HERE). Secure with the cavity with toothpick.

Rub the chicken with salt, pepper and olive oil. Make slits all the chicken and insert the garlic cloves.

Bind the legs with kitchen string and tuck the wings into the leg joints to secure.

Using a fork, lightly make some grooves on the potatoes. Lightly rub with olive oil and salt and place in a.

Place the baby carrots (and onions) in another disposable aluminium roasting pan and drizzle some olive oil over. Set aside.

Carefully place the potatoes in the bottom middle part of the BBQ, next to the coals. Put the wire rack in place.


Place the chicken, breast side up, in the middle of the BBQ rack, directly above the potatoes and NOT above the coals. Cook for approximately 1h 20m to 1h 30m or until juices run clear.

After about 45 mins of cooking, place the carrots next to the potatoes. Continue roasting.

When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the BBQ, cover with foil and keep warm in a low preheated oven. Lift the BBQ wire rack and carefully remove the potatoes and carrots. Replace the rack and put the potatoes and carrots on the wire rack to brown off the vegetables, if it isn’t already cooked. Roast until done.

During this time, make your GRAVY and CHEESE SAUCE and prepare other vegetables you may want to accompany your roast such as cauliflower or peas.

To serve, remove the stuffing from the chicken cavity, carve the chicken, and arrange on plates with the roasted vegetables and bits of stuffing and serve with GRAVY and CHEESE SAUCE.

RECIPE: BREAD CRUMB STUFFING

Excellent for stuffing chickens and turkeys….also for rolled meats. You can use fresh sage and thyme in place of the mixed herbs.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups bread crumbs
2 to 3 tbsp butter
1 finely chopped onion
1 clove finely chopped garlic
1 tsp dried or fresh mixed herbs
100 g fresh mushrooms (optional)
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

Melt butter in a frying pan and cook the onion until soft. Add in the garlic and mushrooms if using. Cook until the mushrooms are reduced and fold in the bread crumbs and mixed herbs.

Season with salt and pepper. Lift and set aside to cool before using it to stuff your poultry or rolled meats.

RECIPE: HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE WITH CHAR SIEW (THE WORKS)

Imagine my surprise today when I came home from work and saw a poached chicken and homemade CHAR SIEW (Chinese barbeque pork) on the kitchen bench! Mr G decided to make chicken rice all by himself. I don’t know why I am surprised for he does help me when I do make the dish but it is more due to his initiative to make it on his own accord that caught me by surprised. Anyway, I did contribute a tiny little bit to the effort – I made the chilli sauce, cooked the rice and seasoned the soup ;)

The recipe that we use is from a book called ‘Singapore Food’ by Wendy Hutton (1979) and it’s been my bible for all my favourite Malaysian/Singaporean food. The poor book is looking thin from wear and it is one book that I don’t loan out; ever. My eldest daughter has even earmarked it as hers when I die! I hope that is not likely to happen any time soon….touch wood! Like all recipes, it makes a good base. It is up to the individual to alter some of the basics to suit their palate. For example, this household is very partial to garlic and chilli so we may change some recipes to reflect this.

Anyway, below are the recipes for HAINANESE CHICKEN Rice with CHAR SIEW.

PS: I would have loved some stir fried bean sprouts to go with it but Mr G said that the supermarket had not been replenished since the weekend trade. Bummer!

To serve Hainanese Chicken Rice:
On a plate, arrange the HAINANESE CHICKEN, CHAR SIEW (optional), CHICKEN FLAVOURED RICE and sliced cucumber. Serve with CHILLI GINGER SAUCE in individual sauce bowls, accompanied with CHICKEN SOUP. Nice with Chinese tea or a cold beer (during summer).

PS: My fingers are aching from typing today's posts!

RECIPE: CHINESE BARBEQUE PORK (CHAR SIEW)

‘Char siew’ literally means ‘fork burn or fork roast’ after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire.

The meat, typically a shoulder cut, is seasoned with a mixture of honey, five-spice powder, fermented tofu, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red food colouring (optional) and rice wine. These seasonings turn the exterior layer of meat dark red. (Source: WIKIPEDIA)

Char siew is typically consumed either in a bun, with noodles, or with rice. The accompaniments served with char siew are strongly influenced by regional variation.

There is a good step by step recipe HERE if you want to make it from scratch or you could use my recipe below. You could also use Lee Kum Kee premade Char Siew sauce to make the char siew. It is passable. Just follow the instructions on the jar.

The recipe I normally use is from my Wendy Hutton book, ‘Singapore Food’ and it is as follows.

Ingredients
1 kg pork fillet or boneless loin - in long piece
4 cloves garlic – crushed
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp chinese rice wine
2 tsp tomato sauce
1 tsp chinese five spice powder
½ tsp powdered ginger
Red food colouring – optional

Method
Cut the pork lengthwise into strips about 4 cm thick. Combine all ingredients and marinade the pork for at least 2 hours, turning from time to time.

Put the pork on a greased rack set over a pan at least 4 cm of water and roast for about 45 mins to an hour at 230˚C, basting with the marinade every 10 to 15 mins. Allow to cool, cut into thin slices and use as a supplement to HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE, noodle dishes or stir fries.

RECIPE: ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH ROSEMARY

Mr G made roast lamb tonight. Recipe as follows.

Ingredients
1 leg of lamb
3 large fresh rosemary sprigs
4 to 5 cloves garlic – sliced in wedges
Dried mixed herbs – enough to cover meat
Sprinkling of garlic salt
1 tbsp oil
Extra oil (2 cm oil – to cook roast vegetables)
Vegetables of choice – Mr G used onions, carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes

Method
Pierce meat randomly with paring knife. Rub with oil and insert garlic wedges and rosemary.

Sprinkle with dried herbs and garlic salt.

Put on a roasting rack positioned in the middle of a roasting tray, add 2 cm oil and 1 cup water and place in the middle rack of the oven.

Cook at 180°C for ½ an hour, turn down to 160°C and cover with foil. Add in carrots and onions into the pan (not rack). Cook for ½ hour, turning the vegetables once during that time.

Remove carrots and onions and add in potatoes. Cook until meat is cooked (when juices run clear if pierced with a cooking fork). Remove meat and let stand for 10 minutes. During this time, turn up heat to 180°C and turn potatoes. Cook until brown and crispy. Serve with GRAVY and other vegetables such as cauliflower and peas if desired.

RECIPE: MR G’S PORK ROAST

Today’s offering is a pork roast from Mr G. To be honest, I don’t cook western style roast in my home because Mr G does such a good job that it does not merit me doing it. Another thing to his credit is that his crackling is always so crunchy! This is how he makes his roast.

Ingredients
2 kg pork shoulder – de-boned and skin left intact. Score the skin, i.e. cut shallow slits on the skin, about 2 cm apart
Oil
Coarse sea salt
Water
4 cloves garlic – cut into thick wedges

Stuffing:
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic – minced
1 onion – minced
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
Salt and coarse ground black pepper – to taste
2 tbsp or more of port or make some garlic water from 1 to 2 cloves grated garlic, mixed in 2 tbsp water

Method
Mix all stuffing ingredients, except port/garlic water in a bowl. Gradually add port/garlic water to the dry ingredients until it holds together.

Fill the pork’s bone cavity evenly with the stuffing mixture. Tie with kitchen twine.

Insert the garlic wedges randomly in the slits, by pushing it in with a small pointy paring knife. Rub the pork skin with some cooking oil and then with the coarse salt (about 1 to2 tbsp). This helps the salt adhere.

Put about 2 cm oil and 1 cup water in a roasting pan, with a roasting rack sitting in the middle of the pan. Place the pork on the roasting rack, and insert it into the middle shelf of the oven. Roast at 180°c for 1 hour.

At the one hour mark, check to see if the skin is crisping. If it is crispy, cover with foil and turn down the oven to 160°c. At this stage, add your ‘hard’ vegetables (carrot, potatoes or pumpkin) to tray. Around the 20 to 30 min mark, turn your vegetables over. Cook for around 20 to 30 mins or until vegetables are brown and meat is cooked. The meat is cooked when the juices (if pricked with a roasting fork) run clear.

Lift meat and leave to rest for 10 mins. Lift vegetables out of the pan into a platter lined with kitchen absorbent paper. Keep warm.

Whilst meat is resting, make the gravy (recipe HERE), and serve the pork with the roasted vegetables or other vegetables such as peas, cauliflower or brussel sprouts along with cheese sauce (recipe HERE).