Chicken Rubs

This post definitely comes under the heading of food! It's a catch-up from the summer where I prepped a fair amount of chicken for people to grill and eat.

All the quantities are in teaspoons, but are ratios so that you can easily make more ... a quarter of a teaspoon of a powder is going to be a pain to measure .... multiply everything in the recipe by four, use what you need, and pput the rest in a Zip-lock baggie in the freezer for next time!

Coffee and Fennel

Ingredients
This turned out to be a popular mix, with a lot of positive comments about the "strange taste in the background" (the fennel !)

Coffee	24
Brown Sugar	6
Salt	2
Chile Powder	2
Fennel	3
Chocolate Powder	6

Sweet Garlic and Onion

This one has the potential for heat - be careful of the amount of Cayenne Pepper.

Smoked Paprika	16
Brown Sugar	16
Salt	16
Chile Powder	8
Black Pepper	12
Garlic Powder	12
Onion Powder	12
Cumin Powder	1
Celery Salt	4
Cayenne Pepper	1

Mediterranean Garlic and Onion

This one is similar to the one above, but with a Mediterranean flavour  rather than a more New World one.

Smoked Paprika	6
Salt	6
Garlic Powder	6
Brown Sugar	6
Cumin Powder	1
Sage	2
Oregano	2
Cayenne Pepper	1
Black Pepper	2
Coriander	1

Method

• In all cases, mix your herbs first.
• Open your (thawed, if necessary) chicken
• Cut chicken breasts to desired size - about 4 to 5 inch pieces (2 or 3 per breast)
• Rub herb mixture in to the meat, applying generously
• Pack meat into plastic food savers, add a little olive oil,  and stash in fridge
• Keep for about three days before use
• Every twelve hours bring meat from stash, add a little more rub mixture, and rub into the meat
• Remove from fridge at least four hours before cooking, and allow to warm
• Grill on medium-high heat
• To check for completion cut into thickest part of largest piece after about 10 minutes on grill

Winter Food - Slow Cooker Happiness

 Hot Food After Christmas
After Christmas is always a tough time for cooking. You're stuffed with so much bird that you really can't stand to see turkey for at least another 10 months. Mountains of Christmas Pudding, in lakes of whiskey, drift across your fevered dreams.

So, in the midst of this, food was required, and I was the one volunteered to shop at the local supermarket (here in Spokane, where we're staying for a few days) and make something to stop the incessant background rumbling of tummies !

Ingredients

Leeks	4
Celery	1 head
Chicken Broth	1 litre
Sweet Corn	2 cans
Chicken Breast	2
Andouille	1 large

Herbs and Spices

Fennel	6 tbsp
Herbes de Provence	4 tbsp
Garlic	2 tbsp
Parsley	4 tbsp
Salt and Pepper	1 tsp each

Instructions

• Chop the celery and leeks into small pieces.
• Rinse the leek well to remove and sand or mud.
• Add the greens and the chicken broth to the slow cooker.
• Start the slow cooker at maximum heat.
• Cut the chicken breasts into small (2 cm) pieces and fry them gently in oil (olive oil or even butter will do fine) with more Herbes de Provence added to flavour.
• Slice the Andouille and fry this gently also.
• Add the meat to the slow cooker, and then the balance of the herbs and spices. 
• Mix well and then add the corn and blend well into the mix.
• Leave to cook for two or three hours and then serve.

Bon Appetit!!

TTFN

Autumn Morning

Good Morning!

Obviously we have a small leak of warm air from our house, that our little friend here found last night.

TTFN

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

This was made for an Easter lunch, and everyone seemed to like it very much, which was very gratifying!

The Meat

I took the loins (there were four in all), trimmed any excess fat off the outsides, rubbed them in onion salt and white pepper, and left them overnight in the fridge.

The next day I sliced them length-ways as far through as I could without ending up with two pieces.

Some more salt and pepper seasoning was applied to the new surfaces.


The Stuffing

The stuffing was made with:

• young spinach leaves
• dried cranberries (buy in bag at Target!)
• chestnuts (buy in bag at Target!)
• 2 or 3 fresh eggs
• mushrooms
• sausage meat (Jimmy Dean's)
• olive oil

All this was chopped up and mixed up well into a paste.


















Each loin was laid out, topped with a good thick layer of stuffing mix, folded over, and then gently tied by looping string around it, spiraling from one end to the other. My darling wife was engaged for this task, as I only have two hands!

The stuffed loins were then placed onto a large baking tray, covered with alu-foil, and cooked at 375F for an hour.

Bon Appetit !

Mike

Chicken to Grill

It's been a long time since I was here - sorry!
Here's something to try on your grill or barbeque now that nice warm summer temperatures are here
The star of the show is, of course, the chicken - whatever cut you like, skinned.
The supporting act is this:
Ingredients:

Black Pepper	1
White Pepper	2
Salt	1
Onion Powder	2
Garlic Powder or Flakes	1
Oregano	2
Paprika	1
Coriander	3
Fennel Seed or Powder	3

There aren't any units because they're all the same units - whatever you like! - just make heaps and save what's over for next time!

Notes:

• You'll notice in the photo that there's no salt - I used Onion Salt instead of the Onion and the Salt.
• You'll also notice that there 's two jars to the right - Fennel Seed and Fennel Powder. You can use either or both equally well.

Method:

1. Wash of and dry the chicken pieces
2. If you have chicken breasts decide if and how you're going to cut them up
3. Get the chicken into the right-sized pieces
4. Sprinkle mixture onto one side of a piece of chicken and rub in all over. Turn, and repeat
5. Repeat for each piece of chicken
6. Put chickens into food-savers and sprinkle more mixture over the top of each.
7. Put the lid on and shake the container to make sure all chicken bits are well covered
8. Stash the containers in the fridge for a couple of days

On The Day you'll probably find that the chicken pieces cook a little more slowly that you expect if they're on an out-doors grill. A George Foreman grill, as it cooks from both sides, is definitely quicker.
Make sure that you cut into the thickest part of the thickest piece of each batch put onto the grill in order to make sure that the chickens are done before serving!

As you can see to the left, I've cut off a small piece of the meat, right through the thickest point.

This piece has been cooked on a George Foreman grill, so it browner than it would be on a "normal" grill. It's fairly hard - not quite crisp - on the outside but soft an juicy on the inside. This is from letting the grill heat up well before placing the meat on it.








To the right now you can see that the meat is cooked to be just white all through. I put it back for about another minute after this photo.
The meat is firm but also easy to cut in this condition - after about 4 days marinading in the fridge.

Bon Apetit!

 Mike