Barbecue with a difference

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Its that time of year when the season is coming to end, yet there is one more holiday to celebrate before putting the barbecue away for the winter (unless like us, you are an all year round barbecue man). Here is a small collection of ‘different’ barbecue recipes from our collection which we think will keep you busy, and make a change from the old Turkey Dinner.

Traditional Armenian Barbecue Recipe

Each nation or ethnic group has its own way of making barbecue. Everyone has heard of so many various Barbecue sauces and an average supermarket is full of them.
Armenian barbecue stands uniquely next to Southern American Barbecue, Eastern Mediterranean Shish Kabob and Greek Gyros. Before you make your barbecue you should always be circumspective of barbecue safety issues and the information at http://www.emaxhealth.com/75/2854.html on barbecue safety is always good to know.

Armenian Barbecue Ingredients:

2 pounds of pork meat
1 onion
Salt and Pepper (Black Pepper and Red Pepper)
Basil Leaves

Cut the pork meat into small pieces and add to it very small chopped onion. Add salt, pepper and some basil leaves. Mix all of them together very well and leave in the refrigerator for few hours so the taste of the salt, pepper and the basil leaves penetrates inside the meat.

Prepare the barbecue grill (can also be done inside the oven). As the barbecue grill is warming up, put the meat on skewers and line them up over the grill. The skewer is very much desired so you can equally turn the meat around and let all of its part cook well.

When ready, serve with tomato sauce and red wine.

Traditional Cajun Chicken Wings

According to the late great novelist Mark Twain, “New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin”. See what exactly Mr Twain meant by cooking up a veritable storm with my traditional Cajun Chicken Wing recipe on the barbecue.

CAJUN CHICKEN WINGS

12 Chicken wings — tips removed
5 Bay leaves — crumbled into bits
3/4 teaspoon Caraway seeds
1/2 To 3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon Ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon Ground coriander
4 Garlic cloves — finely
1 1/2 teaspoons Dry mustard
2 teaspoons Paprika — preferably 3/4 teaspoon Dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Brandy
2 tablespoons Fresh lemon or lime juice

Defat the chicken wings by cooking them in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a large mortar and pestle, grind together the bay leaf bits, caraway seeds, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, garlic, mustard, paprika, thyme and salt for about 10 minutes. Add the brandy and lemon or lime juice to the pulverized herbs and stir into a thick paste. With a pastry brush, cover both sides of each wing with the herb paste. When no more remains in the mortar, squeeze the last few drops from the brush. Arrange the chicken wings on a baking sheet. Bake until the skin turns deep brown and is quite crisp approximately 30 minutes. Takes about an hour to prepare.

Traditional Swahili Wedding Recipe : Chicken Biriani/Biriyani

This something really different for your barbecue. In Africa it would be the main dish, but in other parts of the world, it makes a great addition to any barbecue on a cold autumn night. Also, the rice makes a great accompaniment to the other barbecue dishes,

Biriani is traditional Swahili wedding food. It is usually cooked overnight before the wedding day, so that it is ready to be served at lunchtime.

Ingredients needed (serves 6-8 people)

For the stew:
Half a raw papaya
A glass of fermented, sour milk (Maziwa Mala)
6 big tomatoes
6 big onions
5 cloves of garlic
A stem of ginger (or approx. 100 grams)
100 grams dried cumin seeds
2 small tins of tomato paste
Salt to taste

For the rice:
1 kilogram of rice
Yellow or orange food colouring

Preparing the stew:

• Grind the dried cumin seeds to a powder
• Slice the tomatoes; grind the garlic, ginger and papaya.
• Put the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and papaya in a blender, together with the tomato paste and 2 cups of water.
• Blend the ingredients to a smooth paste.
• Cook the paste on medium heat, including the cumin seeds, for about 10 minutes.
• When the stew is boiling, add the chicken and the sour milk and add salt to taste
• Let the stew cook until the meat is very tender (the sour milk and raw papaya soften the meat).
• Peel the potatoes and let them soak for a few minutes in food colouring, so that they get an orange glow.
• Fry the potatoes in oil, like crisps, but do not slice them up; simply cut them in two’s or four’s depending on the size of the potato.
• Add the fried potatoes to the stew.
• Slice the onions and fry them in the same oil as the potatoes.
• Add three quarters of the fried onions to the stew, save the rest to add to the rice as decoration when serving it.
• When the potatoes and onions are fried, add a cup of the oil used to fry them to the stew.
• Add (little) water and/or salt to taste, depending on the texture of the stew.

Preparing the rice:

• Wash and clean the rice if necessary.
• Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet.
• When the rice is almost dry, add a little food colouring to it by making a small hole on top and putting in the food colouring. Spread out the food colouring over different parts of the rice, but not everywhere. When the rice is ready, gently stir it so that the colour is spread out.
• Sprinkle the leftover fried onions on top as decoration.
Serve the rice and stew separately. You can serve this dish with fresh chilli paste and a salad

Bon appetite!

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