Shredded Chicken Quesadillas

Quesadillas are just another of the seemingly endless variations of dishes that can be made using tortillas (either flour or corn varieties). Although authentic Mexican quesadillas are usually made from corn tortillas, in the Tex-Mex variation and also in Northern Mexico, flour tortillas are much more common.

The concept is very simple - place the ingredients of your choice in one half of a tortilla and heat in a frying pan or on a comal - a Mexican cast-iron griddle pan. Then fold over and cut into wedges and eat! In Tex-Mex cuisine, 2 tortillas are often used instead of 1. In Mexico this would be called a sincronizada (synchronised) rather than a quesadilla. Confused?!?!

Tandoori Chicken

This is one of the most popular Indian dishes around the world, and originates in the Punjab region of northern India. The vibrant red colour of the chicken pieces is what makes this dish stand out, while the succulent chicken that has been marinated for hours in yoghurt has influenced many other Indian and "Indian-style" dishes, like Chicken Tikka and the ubiquitous curry house favourite Chicken Tikka Massala.

In authentic Tandoori chicken recipes, the red colour comes from cayenne pepper and red chili powder (Kashmiri chili powder) but due to milder Western tastes, these are often replaced with paprika powder, or even red food colouring. However you choose to flavour (and colour) your chicken, the trick is to let it marinade in the tandoori sauce for several hours or even overnight. You can use a ready mixed Tandoori masala spice mix, or add the different spices individually. I prefer the ready mixed spice mix as you don't have to worry that you are missing out on some of the flavours because you don't happen to have a particular spice to hand.

If you want to make really authentic Tandoori chicken then you will need to cook it in a Tandoor, which is a large cylindrical clay oven fired with charcoal or wood that can reach temperatures of nearly 500 °C!!! As most of us do not have one of these at home, you can replace the Tandoor with a barbecue or an oven on high heat (225 °C).

Ingredients

4 chicken legs, skin removed

2 Tb Tandoori masala spice mix*

150ml plain yoghurt

1 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp black pepper

1 Tb lemon juice

1 red onion

2 cloves garlic

* includes the following spices: coriander, fenugreek, cumin, cinnamon, chilies, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaves, allspice, cardamon

Method

Clean the chicken legs well and cut each leg into 2 or 3 pieces depending on the size. Using a sharp kitchen knife, cut slits into the chicken of 1-2 cm. This allows the marinade to penetrate into the chicken, giving a fuller taste all the way through. Place the chicken in a large plastic bowl.

Peel the garlic cloves and chop finely. Peel the onion and cut into thin strips. Add the spices to the chicken together with the lemon juice and yoghurt. Mix everything well and then cover with clingfilm. Place the bowl in the fridge and leave for several hours. Depending on how far ahead you want to prepare your food this can be anything from 4 hours to overnight. You want to make sure that the marinade gets the chance to envelop the chicken completely, so don't cut corners with the marinading time!

Preheat your oven or barbecue.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a lightly oiled baking tray if cooking in the oven. Roast the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning the pieces from time to time, and basting the chicken with the marinade every 10 or so minutes.

If you are going to barbecue the chicken, cook it over medium coals using the direct cooking method (so directly over the hot coals) for at least 30-40 minutes, basting the chicken with the marinade as you go.

Whichever method you use to cook your chicken, it is very important to make sure it is cooked all the way through, with no pink meat. Pierce the chicken at its thickest part with skewer or knife and check that the juices are clear. If they are not, keep cooking for additional time until they are.

If you have any left over marinade this can be heated on a gentle heat for about 20 minutes, so that it thickens slightly and removes any traces of uncooked chicken. This can then be used as a sauce to accompany the chicken.  

When the chicken is cooked, serve hot with a simple salad or white rice, papadums, and green beans.

Maujan karo! Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW?

Many rural villages in the Punjab region would have a communal tandoor for the people to cook their food. These would be kept burning throughout the day.

DID YOU KNOW? 

The favourite curry house dish, Chicken Tikka Massala, is heavily influenced by Tandoori chicken. Popular belief is that tikka massala is actually a British dish rather than an authentic Indian dish, with several restaurant chefs claiming responsibility for inventing it!

Moroccan Grilled Chicken & Couscous with Roasted Peppers Salad

For today's recipe we move outside of our comfort zone of Italian/Mexican/Chinese/Surinamese to something a bit different!!!

This delicious salad is great as a main course but can also be eaten as part of a picnic or as a starter. The North African flavours of cinnamon, coriander, paprika and cumin are prominent in this dish, and the addition of fresh mint gives it a really aromatic powerful flavour. An important spice mix in North Africa is Ras-el-hanout, which will typically comprise all the traditional spices such as cumin, paprika, coriander, chili powder, cinnamon and fenugreek. There are many local variations of ras-el-hanout, but the base ingredients as listed above should all be present. 

Penne all'Arrabbiata (Pasta tubes with spicy tomato sauce)

This is a simple and delicious pasta dish, requiring very few ingredients and taking little time to make. It is perfect as a "Primo" in a traditional Italian meal; this is the first course before the main Meat course or "Secondo", and is usually pasta, risotto or soup. It is great for vegetarians, or if you want to add some spek blocks or bacon, can be made into a main course.

Arrabbiata means "angry" in Italian, and the dish gets its name from the chilli peppers used in the sauce, which will certainly leave you red-faced, although hopefully in a happy way! Penne are circular pasta tubes, usually with a ridged exterior ("regate"). They are perfect for this type of sauce as the penne hold the sauce due to its cylinder shape.

Chili con Carne

Is it Mexican? Or Tex-Mex? Should it include beans? What about tomatoes? Minced beef, or pieces of chuck steak? Fresh chilies, dried chilies or chili powder? And that's before we even discuss what to serve it with! Rice? Tacos? Tortillas? Jacket Potato?

There are many claims as to what makes authentic chili con carne (simply translated meaning "chili with meat"), and all the recipes differ in one way or another. People get very heated over chili (pun intended!), and you can find endless arguments across the internet on what ingredients should be included and what should be left out.