Let's go back in time a couple of days, feel free to add your own time machine sound effects.
The plan, even in pre-BBQ times, was to try out the "food in a minute" butterflied BBQ turkey recipe. In order to prevent completely tempting fate we thought it prudent to at least try something similar.
Enter the Tandoori chicken.
We had actually planned the chicken as the inaugural BBQ meal but extensive assembly time had curtailed our plans. I decided seeing that I had 24 hours up my sleeve I would do a tandoori chicken so it would have time to marinate.
I trawled through my cookbook collection to find a recipe. Hello, my name is Debbie and I'm a cookbook addict. The blonde was shocked at the sheer number of cookbooks when moved in. I haven't the heart to tell him that there are more stored in my mums garage... Shhhhhhhhh
Anyway I used my Madhur Jaffrey. Like a small novel with no pictures it is perfectly formed and despite owning several beautiful books on Indian cuisine this is still my bible. Naturally the others still provide hours of pleasurable browsing even if they don't get used for practical purposes - try explaining this to the blonde!
The instructions indicated I should use my food processor to make a paste of the onion, garlic and ginger. Great idea. But I really really hate cleaning my food processor so I used my ever faithful mortar and pestle - easy to clean, reduces stress and builds upper body strength.
So one quantity of superbly pounded alliums and 15 different herbs and spices were thrown into a ziplock bag with a generous slug of unsweetened yoghurt and mushed around to mix.
Next one butterflies ones chicken with a swift cut down the breastbone. Interestingly the turkey recipe stipulates to cut down either side of the backbone to remove. My method seemed ok but I'm an equal opportunity butterflier so tomorrow we will try the alternate method. We made the required slashes to breasts and thighs and threw it into the bag to infuse for a day or so.
One day elapse...
We have decided to preheat the grill to as hot as we can. The chicken hits the grill, the smell is amazing, it is all I can do to prevent basting with my own saliva. Trying to resist opening the lid in order to retain as much heat as possible is proving the most challenging aspect of the new BBQ. There was one preemptive removal before the chicken was fully cooked, all up cooking time was about an hour.
It was almost a religious experience. Thank you BBQ.
So taking those learnings on board we are almost ready for the turkey - fingers crossed.
Tonight has been given over to ham preparation. I am not a ham fan. Please don't extol the virtues of ham to me. If I do partake in the ham consumption it will only be as a personal revenge on the pigs backside that has been nesting malevolently in my fridge for the last week. I have been trying to juggle the rest of the contents of my fridge including one turkey which has been living in a chilly bin for the last couple of days. The ham was a gift to the blonde from someone who he now likes a lot more and who I like an awful lot less.
The ham, as you will see from the above photo, also got the BBQ treatment. There was a slight issue with the glaze turning completely black. As I may have indicated from my earlier comments the ham's well being is not one of my primary concerns. The blonde has given it a shave and thinks it's all ok. I think he may have had a sneaky taste test. I hope he did. The more ham he eats the better.
After all, tomorrow it the turkeys day to shine and I won't have my bird upstaged.
Off to bed now or Santa won't turn up
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of half raw turkeys danced in their heads.
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