rice | apuginthekitchen

May 15

Jerk Chicken Kebobs -I am a Whole Foods Finalist!!

Jerk Chicken Kebob

I just found out that my recipe is a finalist at Whole Foods in Boulder. If you don’t mind voting for my recipe I would really appreciate it. I am so excited and thankful that Whole Foods picked my recipe. Here is the link to Whole Foods Boulder Thank you so much everyone!!

Serves 4-6 depending on serving size

Jerk Sauce

1 scotch bonnet pepper chopped (for less intense heat remove seeds)

2 jalapeno peppers chopped

1 tbs fresh thyme

4 cloves garlic

2 tsp jamaican allspice (whole)

3 tbs packed brown sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp powdered ginger

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

zest of one lime

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 lbs chicken breast and thigh meat cut into chunks

Chop your peppers (remove seeds if desired) In mortar smash the jamaican allspice. Add everything to blender and blend until everything is incorporated. To a large ziplock bag add the chicken and enough of the jerk sauce to completely cover the chicken. Smash it around in the bag so that the sauce covers every piece of chicken, Refrigerate at least 4 hours, overnight is even better.

To grill the chicken you will need enough skewers, if using bamboo make sure to soak in water for a few hours before using them. Skewer your marinaded chicken and grill, basting with the remaining jerk sauce while they are grilling. You can grill either outdoors on the BBQ or pan grill (I highly recommend outdoor grilling for these. Serve with Caribbean Rice and Peas and enjoy!

Caribbean Rice and Peas

1 cup dried pigeon peas, cow peas or whatever bean you like, soaked overnight

2 cups water

1/2 medium onion chopped

2 cups long grain white rice

2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup water or unsweetened coconut water I use Zico

1 cup reserved water from cooked beans

2 whole jalepeno peppers

salt and pepper to taste

After beans have soaked over night, drain and pour them into a med saucepan add 2 cups of water and cook until beans are tender.Season the beans with salt and pepper. Set them aside along with 1 cup of the water that the beans cooked in, you will need that to cook the rice.

To a large saucepan add a small amount of olive oil just enough to coat the bottom of the pan when pan is hot put the chopped onion in and saute until onion is soft and translucent, add rice and cooked beans you judge how much of the beans to add to the rice you don’t want too many beans, stir until rice and onion and beans are combined. Add all the liquid, some salt and pepper to taste and the peppers. Bring to a boil on high flame, cover and reduce heat to med/low and let rice cook until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is done it will take 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat, fluff rice with fork and serve, you can garnish with fresh thyme or cilantro.

Apr 25

6 Comments

Jerk Chicken Kebobs and Caribbean Rice and Peas

Jerk Chicken Kebob

As the weather starts to warm up I’ve got grilling on the mind. I discovered jerk chicken while in Jamaica and it is delicious. When I got home I wanted to try my hand at making it myself so I turned to the internet and found hundreds of different recipes, after pouring over them I took the basic idea and made my own jerk sauce. I love it, its a little sweet, citrusy and spicy. I am the biggest wimp when it comes to heat so I carefully remove the seeds to control the heat. NOTE: Please wear kitchen gloves when working with very hot peppers. I used both chicken breast and thigh meat and instead of grilling on the bone I cut the chicken into chunks and skewered it. The chicken is marinaded in the jerk sauce then brushed with more while its grilling. I like to serve with Caribbean Rice and peas, I totally love this dish. The rice is cooked in coconut milk with whole peppers cooked in with the rice. You can use scotch bonnet if you like and are a lover of heat, I chose to use jalapeno peppers. This is traditionally cooked with pigeon peas, I used cow peas but you can use whatever bean or pea you like.

Serves 4-6 depending on serving size

Jerk Sauce

1 scotch bonnet pepper chopped (for less intense heat remove seeds)

2 jalapeno peppers chopped

1 tbs fresh thyme

4 cloves garlic

2 tsp jamaican allspice (whole)

3 tbs packed brown sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp powdered ginger

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

zest of one lime

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 lbs chicken breast and thigh meat cut into chunks

Chop your peppers (remove seeds if desired) In mortar smash the jamaican allspice. Add everything to blender and blend until everything is incorporated. To a large ziplock bag add the chicken and enough of the jerk sauce to completely cover the chicken. Smash it around in the bag so that the sauce covers every piece of chicken, Refrigerate at least 4 hours, overnight is even better.

To grill the chicken you will need enough skewers, if using bamboo make sure to soak in water for a few hours before using them. Skewer your marinaded chicken and grill, basting with the remaining jerk sauce while they are grilling. You can grill either outdoors on the BBQ or pan grill (I highly recommend outdoor grilling for these. Serve with Caribbean Rice and Peas and enjoy!

Caribbean Rice and Peas

1 cup dried pigeon peas, cow peas or whatever bean you like, soaked overnight

2 cups water

1/2 medium onion chopped

2 cups long grain white rice

2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup water or unsweetened coconut water I use Zico

1 cup reserved water from cooked beans

2 whole jalepeno peppers

salt and pepper to taste

After beans have soaked over night, drain and pour them into a med saucepan add 2 cups of water and cook until beans are tender.Season the beans with salt and pepper. Set them aside along with 1 cup of the water that the beans cooked in, you will need that to cook the rice.

To a large saucepan add a small amount of olive oil just enough to coat the bottom of the pan when pan is hot put the chopped onion in and saute until onion is soft and translucent, add rice and cooked beans you judge how much of the beans to add to the rice you don’t want too many beans, stir until rice and onion and beans are combined. Add all the liquid, some salt and pepper to taste and the peppers. Bring to a boil on high flame, cover and reduce heat to med/low and let rice cook until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is done it will take 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat, fluff rice with fork and serve, you can garnish with fresh thyme or cilantro.

Feb 1

2 Comments

Basmati Rice With Bayberries (Zereshk Pollo)

Served with Roasted Chicken

I learned Persian cooking years ago and am dredging up some of the recipes that I made many moons ago. Zereshk Pullow or Basmati Rice with Bayberries is one of many traditional Persian dishes. One thing you will find when learning the cuisine of Iran is that recipes vary from family to family and region to region. This is how I was taught to make it. Persians cherish their rice dishes and one thing that separates rice cooked in the Persian way from most other methods of preparation is what is called “Tahdig” its the crisp crust that forms at the bottom of the pot when you are cooking the rice. The rice is par cooked and steamed. Zereshk pullow is basmati rice laced with bayberries and layered with yogurt infused with saffron. I always served with roast or braised chicken. I was taught two ways to make this dish, one you serve the chicken separately and the other method is to layer shredded roast chicken and steam it along with the rice. I prefer it on the side so that is what I am featuring in this recipe.

THE YOGURT MIXTURE

3/4 of a 35.3 ounce container of plain yogurt. I like to use 2% or full fat yogurt

generous pinch of saffron

salt to taste

THE RICE

3 cups basmati rice

1 cup zereshk or if you cannot find them use dried unsweetened cranberries

2 tbs butter divided

Pour the rice in a bowl and run cold water on it rinsing until the water is pretty clear. Add more water to cover the rice add a tbs of salt and let rice sit for an hour.

Add the yogurt to a bowl and mix in the saffron and salt. Stir well and refrigerate for 30 minutes so that the saffron infuses the yogurt.

NOTE: I like to use a non stick pot to ensure that the tahdig comes out nicely if you don’t have a large non-stick pot just make sure that the bottom of the bottom of the pot is well oiled when you add the rice.

Add water to a large non stick pot and salt it well at least a tbs. Bring to a rolling boil. Drain rice and add to the pot stirring well. You are par cooking the rice so it only takes 10-15 minutes. Drain rice into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Let the rice sit for about 15 minutes. During that time take the yogurt out of the refrigerator. Once the rice is drained sccop out approximately 2 cups and put into a bowl, add about 1/2 cup of yogurt and mix well. Add the Zereshk to the remainder of the rice, make sure they are distributed well. Dry your pot and coat the bottom with some neutral oil, add 1 tbs of butter and when the butter has melted add the rice mixed with the yogurt, spread evenly in the bottom of the pan. Now add a third of the rice mixed with the berries, on top of that a layer of the yogurt, then another layer of rice etc… ending with a layer of rice. Place a tbs of butter on top of the rice. Lay a paper towel or thin tea towel on top of the pot and place the lid on securely. Turn heat to high and let it build up steam for 5 minutes, lower heat to medium and steam for 40-45 minutes. You will notice that you can smell the rice and the towel will be damp.

I like to serve with roasted chicken and drizzle the pan juices onto the rice for added flavor.

To dislodge the tahdig all you have to do is put some cold water in the sink, sit the pot in it for 30 seconds and then invert onto serving platter.