Love all the recipes/ideas posted! For me what makes the huge difference is the quality of the bird… A no-brainer I guess, but after years of using supermarket chix, if I want something really special, I go for locally produced “Mary’s Chickens”… By far, the most flavorful chic available in my area (San Francisco Bay Area)… Delicious without any fancy marinades…
I do chicken tikka/tandoori style chicken quite often. I don’t have a set recipe, but I mix plain yogurt with MDH brand Tandoori marinade, lemon juice, garlic-ginger paste, onion paste, a bit of oil, salt, and red chilli powder (the indian one, so similar to cayenne). Marinade the chicken overnight, then grill until done. I don’t wipe the marinade off but I do let the excess drip off. Make sure you oil your grill grates as the yogurt/garlic/onion will stick to the grates, so the oil helps.
1 Like
LOVE Jerk! That looks great.
So I made a marinade of plain Greek yogurt, garlic, ginger, curry powder, salt, pepper and a little lemon juice. Marinated chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) for a couple of hours then grilled them. I have to say, the result was pretty unremarkable. I thought the marinade had a lot of flavor; the chicken, however, was pretty bland. What did I do wrong?
Might have to marinate overnight in fridge. If I marinate for a couple hours I leave it on the counter , I know it’s wrong but have never had a problem .
1 Like
I have made this a few times. I really enjoyed it, slightly different flavor profile than typical grilled chicken. A Thai lemongrass grilled chicken:
This one is similar to yours. Maybe enough different to be of interest. We have modified it a little bit since we found it in Betty Crocker’s Barbeque Lovers’ Cookbook in 1987- one of those supermarket check-out booklet things.
For 6 servings, it calls for 2+1/2 pounds of cut-up broiler-fryer chicken. We have done it with bone-in sections, also boneless, skinless pieces, and just watched our time and doneness.
A cup (total) of red wine and lemon juice- you tinker with the proportions of each.
3 teaspoons dried chopped onion (Our little jar is subtitled “Cebolla Picada,”)
1/2 teaspoon salt or salt substitute,
1/2 teaspoon aromatic bitters
We marinate the chicken pieces for several hours. Grill the chicken bone side down on a covered grill. Medium coals, 15- 20 minutes. We don’t place the chicken directly over the coals, so its more of an indirect heat.
The recipe calls for turning chicken over and brushing a few times during the grilling process with “reserved marinade,” but that is what the raw chicken was swimming in earlier, so we just splash on some more red wine, alternating with splashing more lemon juice. That latter phase after the chicken is turned over runs about 20 to 40 minutes. When we time the grilling to a little under an hour, it usually comes out moist and tasty. If you’re grilling “a few minutes on each side,” I guess your coals or gas temp are a lot hotter than ours.
If someone felt the “1 hour” timeframe was a recipe for dried out chicken, they could experiment with shorter times.
The other day (4th of July), I had to write out a list so everything got to the table in sinc: what time to start the coals, what time to put on the chicken, what time to turn the chicken, what time to put on the corn on the cob, what time to put on the burgers, what time to put on the asparagus. The list was actually very helpful! "Do we have enough room for all of this on the grill? It’ll be tight, but let’s try it. " The only thing forgotten was to brush the burgers with BBQ sauce.
I marinate minimum 6 hours usually overnight and put into a large ziplock and remove all of the air…
1 Like
I love this marinade on sirloin tips; but it’s good on chicken as well.
-
Exported from MasterCook *
Firecracker Marinade
Recipe By :Country Living, July 2000, p. 120
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Marinade/Rub
Amount Measure Ingredient – Preparation Method
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
4 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes – crushed
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp grated lime rind
1/2 tsp salt
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all ingredients for sauce. (Makes about 1 cup.) Pour over beef (a tri-tip or beef cubes for kabobs) and let marinate in fridge for 1-4 hours or overnight.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES : The Firecracker Sauce is good on grilled shrimp or chicken, too.
LLW Notes 5/06/01: Marinade has just the right amount of bite. The maple syrup and lime juice help caramelize the marinade when the kabobs are cooking on the grill, slightly glazing the meat and veggies.I’m trying that one on prawns tomorrow . I’m not that big of fan of limes but will substitute lemon from my tree .
@emglow101, I wouldn’t marinate the prawns for more than an hour. I usually marinate the sirloin tips or 4-8 hours (make the marinade in the morning, grill on my grill pan in the evening). But with shrimp, I’d think that an hour should work.
I’m thinking the same . Maybe just a half hour .
If they go too long in the marinade just call it ceviche! 
4 Likes
My favorite is chicken thighs – I prefer bone-in for me, but used skinless/boneless for company and it was very nice. I dried them well, then beat up some prepared harissa paste and olive oil and let them marinate for an hour or so. Opened up the hinged grilling thingy and laid them in there, then clamped it shut. Light salt, sprinkled on some Aleppo pepper because I love it, let sit covered until just before service and then grilled them (gas) until just done; they cook very quickly when they’re boned. Served with an Armenian (or Turkish) style pilaf and a nice salad. No leftovers!
The harissa I was using was Le Cabanon, in the tube, which keeps showing up missing on Amazon these days. There’s another French one, also “En Tube”, that I don’t like as much, or there are jarred preparations too. I like to keep it on hand for both grilling and roasting, always with oil mixed in. Good stuff.
1 Like
Well, i like to grill frozen chicken, and it’s safe also.
