Wednesday, October 20, 2010

GRILLED CORIANDER & LIME CHICKEN


Rachel Allen made this. Yes the pretty Rachel Allen, with the charming unplace-able accent, whom I always associate with  cakes, pies, cookies, pastry and all things sweet, nice and dainty. And with daisies. Whom I would never place on the same page as fish sauce.

Then one day I caught her making a grilled chicken dish. What a surprise. It was an Asian inspired grilled/roasted chicken dish too. With fish sauce. It was very, very good. FM (Family Members) thought it was sedaaaaap and they kept requesting me to make it again and again. And again. Which is a treat because the aroma of the coriander, lime, lemon grass, ginger, garlic just floated, flirted and flounced with me all around the house. As fragrant as a field of breeze blowin' daisies.

So, my friends, bookmark this grilled/roasted chicken recipe. It'll make us all breeze blowin' happy.



What I found different about this grilled/roasted chicken was that the chicken pieces were slashed at intervals before marinating. Which meant that the marinade could get right into that meat. Which is a good thing of course. The only apprehension I had was that the finished grilled/roasted chicken would look quite mutilated and dry. No?

No. Everything looked mouth watering and and civilized especially when the melted chicken fat and juices started dribbling on and into the crusty parts  of the juicy, golden roasted chicken pieces. 


Post meal

In an an ideal world, scrubbing a roasting pan would not be something one needs to stare at and contemplate over after a meal. But since it isn't (an ideal world) I so do (contemplate).  And my little maid mind told me that if  I lined the pan with thick aluminium foil right up to the sides all I'll have to do, when the roasting's over, is to peel off the foil and I will be greeted by a gleaming and spotless roasting pan grinning back at me. Now that makes me breeze blowin' happy. It so do.

The recipe ~ adapted from Rachel Allen's tv cooking show

6 chicken whole legs, skin on
Juice of 5 limes
8 cloves garlic
2 knobs ginger, grated
2 lemon grass, white bulb sliced finely
1 tsp sugar
about 1-2 T fish sauce (I forgot to measure this)
1 bunch of coriander leaves, chopped


Place all ingredients except the chicken parts into a small food processor and blitz until all ingredients are fairly finely processed. Taste for salt, tang and sweetness. Adjust if necessary. It tasted so good even at this point I was swooning.


Slash chicken pieces at 1 inch intervals. The whole legs may be cut into parts consisting of thighs and drumsticks if you prefer. Rub the marinade all over the chicken pieces, place in a large Ziplock and marinate at least an hour or better still overnight.
Preheat oven at 350 F. 

Place the chicken pieces on the rack of a roasting pan. Save the excess juices for later. 

Roast marinated chicken in oven in a roasting pan with a rack for about 45 - 50 minutes. Check for doneness between the slits. If the juices run clear with no hint of pink, it's done. 

Remove chicken from pan onto a platter and keep aside, covered with a piece of foil to keep warm.

Pour the extra marinade into the roasting pan. Scrape the pan with a wooden spoon so that crusty bits at the bottom loosen up. Stir the extra marinade into them. Push the pan back into the oven and allow the marinade to bubble up and thicken some. Once it looks reduced and fairly thick and syrupy pour that over the cooked chicken pieces. Garnish with some chopped coriander.


Serve this mouth watering grilled/roasted chicken with white rice like I did.





25 comments:

Sarah-Jane - SiliconeMoulds.com said...

5 limes - wow - lot of limes ! Is it really sharp ?

looks heavenly though. I'll make it sometime my husband is away. Unfortuantely he doesn't like lime or corriander...


BUT I DO :-P z

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

I can smell the nice aroma from here, yummy! must try one day.

Zurin said...

Sarah,

It does sound a lot doesnt it?...5 limes...but those limes dnt quite give out much juice really so it was fine. You cld always replce limes with lemon if youre out of limes though. It wld be just as lovely! Give it a taste as you go along. Do give it a go when hubs away :P

Luciana said...

mmmm...it's a perfect recipe, my dear!!! congratulations...kiss :)

La Table De Nana said...

I love lime..and we really enjoy chicken..sounds and looks good:)

busygran said...

Bookmarked as you recommended and it's for Christmas!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Such overwhelming feedback from your family- it has to be really good. I will need to remember this one!

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious chicken
grilled sounds good

Linda said...

OOohhhhhhh Zurin this looks marvelous! I know my family would love this. Much like a Thai Garlic chicken I have been making, but this one looks even more flavorful!
This is most definitely on my must do list....even though we are having chilly fall nights, it is never too cold for me to grill!
I adore Rachel...we just started having her shows in the TV here...love them! Thanks so much!
Do you have any of her cookbooks?
L~xo

Unknown said...

Great recipe. It looks great.

Yin said...

This sound Thai cuisine to me, with the coriander, lemon grass those herbs are really fragrant to me. I just love Thai food. Will def bookmark for my chicken recipes.

chow and chatter said...

wow great recipe and love your cleaning mind :-)

pigpigscorner said...

I like watching Rachel Allen cook, she enjoys her food so much like Nigella, they always make me smile =) This sounds gorgeous, bookmarked!

Rivki Locker said...

Oh my goodness...this looks AMAZING! It must have such wonderful flavors and aromas. I can't wait to try it.

Unknown said...

When you say 5 limes do you mean the juice or the whole lime?

Anonymous said...

When you say 5 limes do you mean the juice or the whole lime?
Thanks

Zurin said...

Karen,

A VERY good question. The juice. Thank you for asking.

I'll make that clear in my recipe too. Silly me ;P

Bakericious said...

looks really sedap! Bookmark this since I recognised all the ingredients :)

Elin Chia said...

Zurin, first thank you for the birthday wishes and second you have given me the best birthday gift..this Rachel Allen's Grilled Coriander & Lime Chicken recipe. Fantastic...love it and I conjure the cooked dish in my mind. I will definitely try this on my next roast. Terima Kasih :)

Anonymous said...

Thuy -- Hi, it's my first time here. The chicken looks irresistible. Thanks for the recipe. By the way, where on earth did you get that Vietnamese-engraved brick that you put the plate on? I'm just super curious :-)

Zurin said...

Anon,

I got the brick from Daiso, a japanese store where I get most of my props from. Oh so its Vietnamese! I was wondering :)

ENTRA EN MI COCINA (ALIMONIA) said...

beautiful looks and recipe.. i like it.. and your blog too...
bye
alimonia

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure you're not actually supposed to put -all- the ingredients in the food processor. You might want to edit that!

Zurin said...

Anon,

LOL you are so right! all but the chicken. Tq so much.:)

Val said...

Just made this for dinner with coconut rice and IT WAS FANTASTIC!!Yes w/5 limes yes with all of it! Thanks

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