This ancient Cambodian grilled chicken recipe, called Mann Oeng K’tem Sor, may look complicated, but it’s really just a series of simple steps.
The stone walls of the
Bayon temple in Cambodia, built at the end of the 12th A.D, includes an amazing series of bas-relief pictures of the army supply
trains, encampments, field kitchens, and some of the earliest depictions of
Asian barbecue. Specifically,
you'll see chicken skewered on split sticks and grilled over
pyramid-shaped fires. Nine hundred years later, you'll find the same chicken
grilled exactly as it was done during the height of the Khmer empire. This
recipe may look complicated, but it's really just a series of simple steps. Like most S.E. Asian recipes, the end result is a succulent, savory, melt-in-your-mouth delight. (Feet are optional... ;) )
For the Chicken and Marinade:
1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds)
5 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1…
Chef's Tips for Better Burgers Burgers might just be my favorite food. Now, there's not a thing wrong with the good old-fashioned American Cheeseburger, in fact, it's awesome, but if you feel like expanding your horizons just a bit, here are my three favorites "gourmet" burger styles, as well as some tips for cooking a better burger. All the patties for these recipes are prepped and grilled the same way, so it's easy to make a big batch of one recipe, or set up a burger-bar and let your guests choose which style they want to try. Pan-searing your burgers in a hot skillet is a great method as well!
Four “Better Burger” Tips
· 80/20 ground beef
· Chill patties 15 minutes, after forming
· Season AFTER grilling (except salt)
· Toast buns for flavor and burger stability
· I like to sear my burgers REALLY close to the fire, so I flip my top grill over so that the grates are resting directly on the coals. You can also “re-purpose” an old flat grate from another type of grill. Works great!
1.…
Spatchcocking: "Cutting a chicken or other type of poultry down the middle, removing the backbone, and pressing flat in preparation of roasting or grilling." Spatchcocking is a great method for adding some amazing flavors while reducing your grilling or roasting time by nearly half! To spatchcock a chicken, use strong kitchen shears and cut down either side of the spine. Pull out the spine, turn the chicken over and press down on the breast of the chicken, until you hear the breastbone crack, to flatten it out into an even thickness. Here’s the marinade recipe I like to use
2 Tbs Tabasco Sauce (I like the new Buffalo flavor)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
2 Tbs Light Brown Sugar
2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbs fine sea salt
1/2 orange Juice
2 cups apple juice
Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Put the chicken in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag in a rimmed dish. Pour in half of the marinade. Seal the bag and rotate it around to…
In BBQ, sauces are used to flavor, marinade, glaze, and as a condiment or topping for grilled and smoked meats, especially ribs and chicken. History places the origin of BBQ sauce to the first American colonies of the 17th century and can be found in recipes and cookbooks (both English and French) over the following two centuries. Much like chili in Texas, these sauces were less about gourmet ambitions and more about masking the often off-putting odors and flavors of “aged” meat in a pre-refrigeration society. The origins of these sauces isn’t particularly complicated, take the traditional tastes and flavors of the predominant immigrant population, add in the most similar ingredients that could be found locally, and mix with some good old American ingenuity, and you have the roots of a tradition that has only grown stronger and more popular over the last two centuries. South Carolina mustard sauce, for example, can be traced to that region’s German settlers of the early 18th century. …
In many parts of the country, beef brisketis BBQ. Indelibly tough and bland when cooked with conventional methods, brisket magically transforms, after a long bath in smoke, into a melt-in-your mouth, sweet, savory, smoky treat. Starting with a full 10-12 pound brisket (called a "Packer.") A “packer” brisket is made up of two parts, the flat, and the point. The "flat" runs the whole length of the brisket (slice this against the grain and serve as brisket) while the "point" is a cap that sits on top of one end. (It's this cap or "point" you want to use for your burnt ends, more on that later...)
1/4 cup sea salt
1/4 cup Hickory salt
1/3 cup coarse black pepper
1/3 cup granulated garlic
First, mix all of the rub ingredients together in a shaker bottle with large holes. One hour before smoking, pat the brisket dry, and set in on a sheet of butcher paper in a rimmed baking dish. Next, trim off as much of the hard, external fat as you can, until only about 1/4 inch remains. Next, coat both…
4 Rules for Becoming a Pit-Master Chef Perry Perkins
PitMaster: One in charge of the pit. Someone who, not only has mastered the techniques to create great BBQ, but is proficient in using a variety of pits, or grill to do so.
While there's no one single accepted definition of the title, "Pit Master" (in fact, they vary wildly), I like the one above. I see someone who has "mastered" the pit, as being able to produce delicious BBQ with any number of meats, and a variety of equipment. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Here are four things that I think anyone needs, to achieve the title. 1. Practice Practice Practice!It can't be said enough (though I'll stop at three times), like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get.Chose the cut of meat you want to perfect, then keep working on it until you're doing it the best it can be done. I recommend starting with pork shoulders (the most forgiving) and working your way up to smaller, thinner cuts.Experiment with varied cook…
Humans have been eating beef since prehistoric times and for good reason. Pound for pound, beef is one of the best sources of high-quality protein and nutrients. It’s also the third most widely-eaten meat in the world, accounting for about 25% of modern meat production, after pork and poultry. I love beef. It’s such a straightforward and simple food to cook. Though you can get fancy with it, if you want to, all you really need is a little salt and heat to create one of the most delicious foods on the planet. Loaded with health-promoting amino acids, and it’s one of the single biggest sources of protein in the human diet. How much to serve:I recommend 8oz (½ lb) per “average” person, or ¾ lb (12 oz) for big and lovers of leftovers. Some Definitions: Grass-Fed “Grass-fed” beef refers to cattle that were allowed to graze for their own fresh forage, possibly supplemented with some alfalfa during the winter, providing the closest approximation to the animal’s natural diet. Grains, which are much…
Shopping Tips for Bulk FoodsWhether I'm shopping for my family's dinner, or for recipes I'll use in a pop-up restaurant charity dinner, by buying the ingredients in bulk, I can save as much as 75 percent of what it would have cost to get the same amounts in pre-packaged products. Filling a shopping cart with items from the bulk food section of the grocery store is a key way to both cut food costs and reduce waste, since you can buy small amounts of foods that you don't need much of or don't use very often. Measuring out 1-1/2 cups of ground ginger I'll need for a fund-raising dinner. In the regular spice aisle, buying this much ginger would cost $15.03. In the bulk section, it cost just 98 cents. Size matters when it comes to bulk food sections. Larger bulk food sections have the largest varieties of nuts, trail mixes, rice, and sweeteners. Spices from the bulk foods section are usually a fraction of the cost of the bottled versions found in the spice aisle. And there's often quick…
The holidays are, hands down, my favorite time of year, but it’s no secret that (especially for us
foodies) it can bring with it a lot of kitchen chaos and performance anxiety. So many dishes, so many people, and so many “cherished family traditions” that must be upheld, it would be well-nigh impossible to make it through the season without at least some drama. If you come from an Italian family, like mine, well… fugget
about it! So, if we can’t avoid the chaos, let’s at least try to get a rope on it, right? Here are a few tips to help you avoid enough of the crises to actually enjoy the food and family time, which, let’s face it…is really the whole point! #10 – Don’t sweat the small
stuff! Does anyone really care if the tablecloth is ironed? Does anyone really care if their napkins are shaped like swans? Or if you’ve freshly polished Great-Grandma’s silver? No, they don’t…they want to eat, and laugh, and then eat some more! If you’re low on time (uh,
who’s not?), and that cloth is…
I’ll let you in on a little secret, but only if you promise to tell everybody… The #1 way to overcome Picky Eater Syndrome (and the parental guilt that often
accompanies it) is to teach our children how to cook. Kids a far more likely to try something new, if they prepared it themselves.It’s true! One of the things I've most enjoyed, in this grand adventure of fatherhood, is teaching my little one the joy of cooking.You see, both my father and grandfather were chefs, and though their own teaching methods were not always…stellar, I'm excited about passing this passion and enjoyment of cooking on to The Pickle, and as many other kids as I
can.
The Secret IngredientWorking closely with under-served youth, many of whom have (literally) never boiled water before, has taught me that fear and anxiety, which most of these kids are already dealing with, only increases the likelihood of an injury, mistake, and discouragement. My personal philosophy is that the younger the child, the more praise…