Forgive me I've been away from far too long! But I haven't necessarily been away from the kitchen. I've been trying to make it a habit to cook something different every weekend, something I've never attempted before. And that means playing around with meat meat meat! In Asian countries, we use meat a little more sparingly as compared western countries. Occasionally I do crave a whole slab of meat, but going outside to get it is just really expensive, especially when I know we're perfectly capable of cooking a great meat feast at home on our own!
I got this recipe from watching Jamie Oliver's food tube - Best BBQ Sauce. He used chicken wings, and I suppose it's because this sauce is really a sweet and sour-ish type BBQ sauce, much like how it relates to buffalo wings and sticky asian chicken wings. I did this recipe twice, with different techniques and different meats. The first time was with chicken and pork, where it was just roasted in the oven at 200 deg celsius for 45 minutes followed by 25-30 minutes of basting (original recipe instructions). The second time I used a mix of lamb and pork, but I slow roasted it at 170 deg celsius for 3 hours, followed by 25-30 minutes of basting too.
The verdict? If you really prefer to cut time on roasting, go with the first method but using only chicken because the chicken was perfect! The pork in the first method was good too, but I find that slow roasting pork in the second method really gave it the softness time can only give. The lamb however came out slightly harder than the pork, perhaps using the ribs section of the lamb would have been a better, more tender option that using shanks. But overall, an extremely satisfactory and jolly home BBQ, without the effort of needing to set up a fire outside.
BBQ Meat Roast
Ingredients:
Chicken Thighs or Pork Ribs or Lamb Racks to feed 5 pax
1 fresh red chilli, to serve
For the rub:
2 heaped teaspoons fennel seeds
1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
1 heaped teaspoon golden caster sugar
1 level teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
For the BBQ sauce:
200 g light soft brown sugar
200 g tomato ketchup
200 ml fresh unsweetened apple juice
100 ml bourbon whisky
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 heaped teaspoons English mustard
juice of 2 oranges
a few splashes of chipotle Tabasco
1 pinch of sea salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
To make the rub, bash all of the ingredients in a pestle and mortar until fine. Massage the rub all over the chicken, then place into a low-sided roasting tray. Place in the hot oven for around 1 hour, or until cooked through. (See my comments above if using Pork/Lamb)
Meanwhile, make the BBQ sauce. Place all of the ingredients into a medium saucepan over a high heat. Whisk well to combine, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it's sticky and coats the back of a spoon.
Once cooked, remove the chicken from the oven and reduce the temperature to 110°C/225°F/gas ¼. Take a piece of chicken and dunk it into the BBQ sauce. Using a slotted spoon, remove to a wire baking rack placed over a roasting tray (this will help the smoke to permeate the chicken as it cooks). Place each piece of chicken into the BBQ sauce, placing them onto the baking rack as you go. Return to the middle shelf of the oven for around 10 minutes, or until turning lovely and sticky.
After around 10 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and dip each piece into the BBQ sauce once more. At this point, you can add par-boiled corn and sauteed sausages to make it a really complete meal. Return it to the oven for a further 10 minutes, or until sticky, glazed, a little charred and delicious. Serve with sliced chilli scattered on top.
See you at the next recipe review foodies!
