Boring, boring chicken and salmon

[TheSkiingGardener]

i always just bake/ griddle these and want to do something more interesting. I also don't really use marinades and have decoded I am boring.

Any marinade ideas? Preferably not using dill/fennel/tarragon though. Thank you.

I make a wicked chicken souvlaki:

For 8

6 chicken breasts cut into cubes
8 warmed pitta breads ( or flatbreads if you can get them )

For the marinade

Small bunch mint, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli deseeded ( pah! never do this ) and finely chopped
juice and grated zest of a lemon
1 tbspn coriander seeds crushed
1 tspn turmeric
250ml natural yoghurt
4 tbspns extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

For the dressing

Large bunch fresh coriander, plus extra for serving
250ml natural yoghurt
juice and zest 1 lemon
2 tbspns extra virgin olive oil

Mix marinade ingreds together in a bowl ( I do it all in a mini chopper )Add chicken cubes and smother in marinade. Cover and chill overnight. For intense lemon taste, marinate for 2-3 days.
Preheat bbq or grill ( I've done both, equally good ), thread chicken chunks on 8 metal skewers and cook for about 5 mins on each side. Leave to rest for 5 mins. Push off skewers and into bowl. Put all dressing ingreds in a copper/food processor and whizz to form smooth green sauce. Serve alongside, stuff chicken into pitta/flatbread, blob on dressing and some fresh coriander.

For salmon and tuna steaksI marinade in olive oil, ginger, lemon juice and soy sauce.
Sometimes I experiment and chuck in other stuff too, like honey, chilli and garlic.

For salmon:

4 salmon fillets
4 tblsp tomato ketchup
splash sesame oil
1½ tbls soy sauce
1½ tbls soft brown sugar
1 fat clove garlic, crushed

Put salmon dishes in a non metallic bowl (pref one with a lid), mix the other ingredients well and pour over the salmon. Leave for min one hour. Heat griddle pan to hot and cook salmon fillets until almost done. Leave to rest for 5 minutes while heating up the marinade.

Lovely with rice or a stir fry veg and noodle dish.

Chicken:

4 medium chicken breasts
1 ball mozzarella
pesto
4/6 slices parma ham

make a pocket in the chicken breasts (I usually remove the fillets for another dish), put a generous slice of mozzarella in and a teaspoon of pesto. Wrap the parma ham around and use a cocktail stick if necessary. Heat some olive oil in a pan and lightly brown on all sides. Put in preheated oven of 175­°c for 20 mins.

Another chicken

4 medium chicken breasts
16 slices parma ham
16 sage leaves
seasoned flour
marsala

Slice the chicken breasts into four escalopes and flatten slightly between clingfilm. Place a sage leaf on each, followed by a slice of parma ham. Lightly coat in the seasoned flour.

Heat some olive oil in a large pan and cook each assembled escalope for about 2½ minutes on each side. Remove to a plate to keep warm. Pour in some marsala to deglaze the pan, pour over the chicken and serve.

Buy a bottle of Teriyaki sauce and soak both salmon and chicken in it in a bowl for about an hour before cooking. EASY!

They all sound gorgeous.

I think it will be the chicken souvlaki first as we love Greek food.

I do do a recipe where I stuff chicken breasts with Feta and oregano but then I just serve it like that. I need to start using the juices to make sauces I think, far more exciting.

honey and soy is lovely

red pesto also, but it spits like a bastard quite a lot if the griddle is too hot

mango chutney and lemon juice....better to do in the oven though or the mango chutney welds itself to the griddle

wholegrain mustard is good too....little bit of OO and slather over.

Ooh, I have red pesto, thank for the warning about the griddle. Have always jut stirred it into pasta before.

I just lack imagination don't I!

TSG juices are your friend! Just add a splash of stock/wine/marsala to them pan while the meat or fish are resting, stir in a few little cubes of butter for decadence and sauce sorted.

Pesto is also great spread on salmon (or any fish really), sprinkle with some garlicky/herby bread crumbs and pop in the oven for as long as it needs.

I have always got breadcrumbs in the freezer - have always got odd bits of bread/baguette at the end of the week, so whizz them in magimix with a clove of garlic and whatever herbs (and sometimes ends of parmesan/pecorino) I have. Instant topping for anything from macaroni cheese to lamb rack or a pork tenderloin brushed with mustard and rolled in them.

Breadcrumbs with pesto mixed in and spooned onto salmon then bake is yummy.

Also a piece of fish baked in a parcel with just about anything you have can be yummy too, slices of lemon, herbs, splash of wine, chilli whatever.

I use soy, honey and lemon on salmon.
Sometimes some finely chopped raw ginger as well.

You can top chicken/white fish with some chopped olives, olive oil and sundried tomatoes (I whizz these up together).

Or, yesterday I found a recipe for moroccan stuffed chicken - cook 50g couscous with a tsp of ras-el-hanut (?), then stir in pine nuts, and chopped dried apricots and stuff inside chicken breasts and cook in the oven for about 20-25 mins (would have been even better with breadcrumbs in hindsight). Other good stuffings are marscarpone and pesto (of any variety) or herbs and butter.

I love putting chicken in pasta sauces with chopped onions, mushrooms and any other veg that's in season. Sometimes I add milk, cornflour and loads of herbs, sometimes I add cream cheese or creme fraiche and lots of cheddar, sometimes I add some mustard and cream/milk and flour. But these would work equally well as just a sauce.

HTH

This is the best roast chicken ever:

Mix together:

2tsps All spice (Jamaica Pepper)
2tsps ground ginger
1tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 deseeded red or green chilli, chopped
1tsp ground cinnamon

Add enough vegetable/sunflower oil to make a thick paste; spread onto chicken.

In another bowl, mix together and set aside:

Juice of 2 limes (put the juiced limes inside chicken before cooking)
About 1/3 of a half bottle of dark rum
1 1/2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar

Cook chicken for about 1 1/2 hours, basting with half the lime, rum and sugar mixture after 20 mins, and the rest after another 20; then baste using juices in pan.

When cooked, let it rest for 20 mins.

Heat the juices in the roasting pan on hob and stir with wooden spoon to release sticky bits, pour through sieve/separator and pour over the chicken.

Serve with rice and peas- Nigella's recipe is very good.

Just making the souvlaki. Smells gorgeous!

Paprika chicken - sprinkle paprika and rosemary on a sheet of baking paper, drizzle over some olive oil, and then rub the chiken in the resulting 'paste' pop in a pan with a little more olive oil, some garlic and cherry toms.

Nyom.

I am just making Rockstock's salmon - it smells amazing! Can't wait to eat it... :D