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Korean Honey-Sesame Chicken Skewers

Posted on July 2, 2011 by She cooks...He cleans | 15 Comments

Modified from: Barbecue! Bible by Steven Raichlen

Yes, this is yet another post about meat on a stick. We are just plain nuts about grilling meat on skewers (and there are those that would say we are just plain nuts, period). I’m pretty fond of a good sweet-salty combination, which led me to the recipe for Korean Honey-Sesame Marinade in the Barbeque! Bible. This marinade combines the salty taste of soy sauce with an assortment of sweet flavors from honey, pears, and ginger. Then there’s the garlic and the toasted sesame seeds to round it all out.

I modified the recipe to cut down on the sugar, and because I didn’t have all the right ingredients on hand. The chicken turned out great, but I’d like to try it again and stick closer to the original ingredients. Also, next time, I would like to set aside some of the marinade to brush onto the chicken while it’s grilling.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Asian (dark) sesame oil (I substituted regular sesame oil)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup sake or dry sherry
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds*
1 tablespoon minced, fresh ginger
1 teaspoon hot paprika (I used 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small Asian pear or firm regular pear, peeled, cored, and diced (I did not have a pear – I used 1/2 gala apple)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

Combine all ingredients (except chicken) in a food processor or blender; process to a smooth purée. Place the chicken strips in a resealable plastic bag or glass baking dish. Cover with the marinade and refrigerate for at least one hour, and up to 4 hours.

Set up a grill for direct cooking around 400F. Thread chicken onto skewers (I twisted the strips as I threaded them for this thicker, knotted-looking appearance. Bunching up the chicken may help keep it moist.)

Grill chicken for 3-4 minutes per side. Serve ‘em up!

*Note about toasting sesame seeds: Toasting seeds and nuts intensifies their flavors and makes them, well, toasty and better. Sesame seeds are tiny little buggers and are prone to flying all over the place and burning when you toast them, but this can be overcome. Just put the seeds in a dry, heavy skillet over medium heat, and stir them and shake the pan until they are lightly brown and you can smell the toasty goodness. Then immediately get them out of the hot pan or they will burn. Don’t turn your back on them for a second!

I’m somewhat of a gadget geek, and my most recent nifty new thing is a Kindle. I love to read, and anything that lets you carry 3500 books at a time, I’m all for. One of the more interesting aspects is the ability to read a sample of a novel. So, I gave The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece a shot, and my, I’m glad I did! The story of the origins of Bach’s masterwork for the cello, its discovery by a 13 year old Pablo Casals in a second-hand music shop and the change it made to the musical world is fascinating!

Of course, you can’t read about Bach: Six Suites for Solo Cello without listening to them at the same time, right? This is a sublime work, one of the greatest classical recordings ever. Now, if I could only find it on vinyl!

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Posted in Appetizers, Entrees, Meat on a Stick, Poultry

Tagged asian, Bach, BBQ, BGE, big green egg, Casals, chicken, easy, garlic, ginger, grill, honey, Kindle, Korean, low-carb, marinade, pear, recipe, sesame, skewer, soy, street food

Seared Tuna with Mixed Greens and Lemon-Tahini dressing

Posted on June 16, 2011 by She cooks...He cleans | 8 Comments

A week or so ago, I was rushed for time at lunch, so I picked up a little tray of seared tuna from the sushi station at Whole Foods and I ate it at the kitchen counter while unpacking my groceries. To paraphrase Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, that small taste of tuna only managed to arouse my appetite without bedding it down. The next trip to the grocery, I picked up a nice tuna steak!

Like a lot of people, I grew up eating tuna that came out of a can – and it usually ended up in a nondescript casserole (remember Tuna Helper?) or a mayonnaisey salad. Who knew that it existed as a deep-red, meaty steak? A good piece of tuna doesn’t really require anything – in fact, cooking it manages to dry it out and render it tasteless. I like it quickly seared on both sides and rare in the middle – which adds a little flavor from the toasted coating but allows the meat to retain all the delicious properties of raw tuna.

For this meal, the tuna was coated with a mixture of seeds before searing it in a hot, hot pan. I sliced it up and served it with a mixed greens salad with diced cucumber, diced red bell pepper, and lemon-tahini dressing. Add anything you wish to the salad (avocado and tomatoes sure would be good…), but don’t skip this tasty dressing. I had to (again) restrain myself from drinking it, it’s so good!

Ingredients:

~1 pound tuna steak, about 1 inch thick (select steaks that are deeply red with no off-color patches)
1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon flax seeds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (or pepper blend)
oil suitable for high-heat cooking
Mixed salad greens and fixings (red bell pepper, cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, carrots, asparagus, etc.)
Lemon-Tahini dressing (see below)

Using a small food processor (such as the bowl attachment that comes with some immersion mixers), briefly pulse the pumpkin seeds and flax seeds to a coarse meal. (Alternatively, the seeds can be chopped fine by hand with a knife.) Do not over process or you’ll have seed-butter. Add the 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds to the mixture and stir together.

Rinse the tuna steak with cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Gently press the sesame seed mixture on both sides of the tuna steak, using your fingers.

Gather the salad ingredients and prepare the lemon-tahini dressing. Searing the tuna only takes a few minutes and you need to serve it immediately when done.

Heat a cast-iron or other heavy frying pan over high heat until searing hot (the hotter the better). Drizzle a thin film of oil in the pan and immediately add the tuna to the pan. Sear undisturbed for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, then flip and sear the other side for 2 minutes.

Remove seared tuna to a cutting board and slice into 1/4 to 1/2 strips. (It does not need to “rest”.) Plate with the mixed salad greens and vegetables, as desired. Drizzle with lemon-tahini dressing and enjoy!

Lemon-Tahini Dressing Ingredients:

1 egg
Juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
3 tablespoons tahini paste
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon tamari sauce, coconut aminos, or soy sauce
1/2 cup almond or macadamia oil
kosher salt and lemon pepper, to taste

Add the egg, lemon juice, tahini paste, honey, garlic, ginger, and tamari sauce to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. With the processor running, slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream. Process for around a minute longer until creamy. (It will be a relatively light consistency.) Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

What a tasty treat that meal was! I could eat that every day…!

Don’t know how I missed this early album from Rodney Crowell, but once we started listening, song after song were familiar. “Shame on the Moon” was a big hit for Bob Seger, “Til I Gain Control Again” was a great Emmylou/Willie Nelson moment. This is available along with another good Crowell album on But What Will the Neighbors Think/Rodney Crowell. Highly recommended!

Now here’s a record everyone should have, the first solo album from Leon Russell. What a talent! Great songwriter, piano player and vocalist. The songs on here- “Delta Lady”, “A Song For You” and more are classics, and if you haven’t heard this one in a while, treat yourself!