(ZA) New gear update - Jalapeño chilli poppers

This weekend is going to be "Hot, hot, hot" when we try out our new chilli pepper grilling rack! 

This rack was from Amazon UK for under £13 including the chilli corer and holds 18 stuffed chillis. We will be trying out several different stuffings this weekend including cheddar cheese, cream cheese and bacon to see how this bad boy performs!

As always, a blog entry will follow.....

(ZA & AW) Cedar-planked salmon with a honey & pesto glaze.

Tonight's tea is another new dish. A delicate piece of fresh salmon with a honey and pesto glaze cooked on a soaked cedar plank. 

We soaked the plank for a few hours in cold water and then set up the egg to 350degF direct with the flat side of the cast-iron grill uppermost. To make the glaze, mix approximately 40g green pesto mixed with 1/2 tsp runny honey, 1/2 clove garlic minced and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to loosen the glaze a little. We placed the side of salmon on the plank and brushed it with pesto glaze before putting on the egg for 15 minutes. 

We then placed the cut lemons on the grill and cooked for a further 10 minutes before serving. The fish was done to perfection, flaked perfectly and still slightly opaque. It made a delicious tea served with crispy, buttered jacket potatoes with peppery watercress. We would really recommend that anyone give this a go on their barbecue or smoker as it really does lift a beautiful piece of fish to sublime but affordable treat!

(ZA & AW) Saturday night mixed kebab (No booze required!)

We decided we wanted to cook our own version of doner kebab this evening but add a special element of turkish marinaded chicken kebabs and serve the whole lot in a toasted pitta with the traditional "manky" salad, sriracha chilli sauce and garlic yoghurt sauce. 

First we blended lamb mince with an onion, 2tsp each of coriander and cumin, and 1tsp salt until smooth. We then formed the meat into a fat sausage shape then loaded it onto our specially-made kebab skewer. We wrapped it tightly in cling film and left it to chill in the fridge for a few hours. Egg set-up direct at 350degF, the lamb went in to start cooking. 

After around 20 minutes, we placed chicken kebabs on around the edges of the grill. The chicken had been marinaded in a new recipe we were trying today for Turkish chicken kebabs. To make the marinade, we blitzed together an onion, 2 cloves garlic, 4 tsp natural yoghurt, salt, 1 tbsp tomato puree and 1 tbsp lemon juice until smooth. We coated the chicken pieces in the marinade and left in the fridge until we were ready to load our flexible wire kebab skewers.  

We cooked the lamb to an internal temperature of 130degF, until the chicken was cooked through and had a good, crispy char on the outside. We carved the kebab meat into thin slices and served with lemon wedges, pitta and salad (finely shredded iceberg lettuce, finely slice onion and tomato wedges) It tasted amazing and we didn't even have to be drunk to enjoy it!