Black lime chile spice mix

A mainstay of Persian cooking, black limes (aka noomi basra; limoo amani; and loomi)  are fresh limes blanched in salt water (which means they are briefly scalded in boiling water before being plunged into freezing water) and left to dry until they're rock hard, resulting in golf size, brown to black coloured balls with a brittle texture that easily yields itself to a grinder.  You can find them in most Middle Eastern grocery stores.

They are traditionally used whole to flavour stews and spices. I created this rub because I wanted to take advantage of the funky citrus flavour but to use on roasted and bbq meats.

I used dried sugar rush peach chiles because they are my favourite and I have a lot of them but you can use a medium chile powder or any other dried chiles instead depending on the heat you prefer. If using super hot chiles, I’d just use one.

Yield: about ¾ cup

Ingredients

4 dried black limes (aka limoo aman or noomi basra)

3 dried sugar rush peach chiles (or 1-2 tsp chile powder)

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried mint

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground turmeric

Method:

If using whole dried chiles, remove the stems of the chiles and grind to a fine powder in a spice or coffee grinder. Put into a small non-reactive bowl.

 

Crack open the black limes – I used a small kitchen mallet – and remove any seeds. Grind the limes to a fine powder. Add to the chile powder in bowl.

Add all the other ingredients to the bowl. I tend to grind spices as needed so cinnamon was also ground and parsley and mint crushed from whole before adding to the bowl.

Mix it all together and store in an airtight glass container. Store in a cool dry place and it should retain its potency for a few months.

Great as a rub on roasts or grilled meats – just add a few tablespoons to some olive oil and rub on the meat.

Also a great addition to soups, stews, and even popcorn.

 

 ©️ Gail J. Cohen 2022

Grilled chicken with achiote marinade

I’ve had a package of achiote paste in my cupboard for ages. I always forget about it so not quite sure why it jumped to mind when I was trying to figure out a good marinade for a whole chicken I had in the freezer and wanted to spatchcock and grill on the BBQ.

If you’re using a frozen chicken be sure to take it out of the freezer with enough time to let it defrost and allow it to get the marinating it deserves. You can also marinate the chicken before freezing it. That way when it’s defrosted, you are ready to grill!

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 Whole chicken – spatchcocked

For marinade:

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 pinch of salt

juice of one lime (or two if it’s not very juicy)

25 grams achiote paste*

2-3 tbsp olive oil

To make the marinade, first mix the achiote paste and olive oil until it is a smoother but still quite thick paste, then add the lime, garlic, and salt. Mix it all together well. The important thing is to make sure there aren’t any lumps of the paste in the final marinade.

If you’ve never spatchcocked a chicken, it’s easy street: with a poultry shears cut on either side of the backbone and remove it. Keep the backbone for soups or discard. Flip the bird over and flatten it as much as you can. Place it in a glass dish that has sides.

Run your fingers beneath the skin of the chicken to loosen it and, using a teaspoon, place some of the marinade between the skin and the flesh of the chicken on each leg and thigh, then the breasts. Rub it in to make sure it gets spread out. Turn the bird over and rub marinade on the inside of the cavity. Flip it back over rub the remainder of the marinade all over the outside of the skin. Try to get sauce into every nook and cranny. Let sit in the fridge 4 hours to overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, turn your BBQ on full blast and heat it up as much as you can. Then turn off the middle burners and turn the side burners to med-low. If you’re using charcoal, heat it up as much as you can and then push the coals to either side. Either way, you don’t want direct heat on the bird while it’s cooking.

Place the chicken in the centre of the grill with the breast side up (cavity facing down). It should sizzle very nicely! Then you close the lid and let it cook slowly for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the chicken. You should check it quickly every 10 minutes or so and you may want to move it around on the grill a bit but don’t turn it over.

It’s ready when the skin is a beautiful dark red and the juices from the thighs run clear.

Remove from the grill and cut it into quarters and serve. This chicken goes nicely with grilled, fresh corn on the cob or some nice potatoes, and a salad with a vinaigrette-type dressing.

* Achiote paste, also know as recado rojo or recado colorado, is a deep red, mild tasting paste made primarily from annatto seeds. It is available in most Latin grocery stores. It usually comes in a small yellow box similar to boullion cubes. You can always make your own but I take the easy way out with this marinade so it’s quick. It is also apparently really good with pork and fish.

© Gail J. Cohen 2016

Carne asada en adobe de guajillo

My friend Sarah recently returned from Arizona with a couple of bags of chiles in tow; keen to use them but not really sure what to do with them. So I offered to help. If you have a “I want to make things with chiles but don’t really know where to turn” emergency, I’m you’re gal. So we set a date for some Mexican cooking basic training and I set out figuring out something delicious to do with either cascabel or guajillo chiles.

I particularly enjoy guajillos because they have a beautiful deep red colour as well as a lovely fruity flavour without too much heat. Quite often people are afraid of cooking with chiles because they don’t want to eat spicy foods but the beauty of many Mexican chiles is that they’re not crazy hot but deliver a delightful flavour punch.

If you’re ready for some great grilling, this marinade is absolutely spectacular and worth making over and over again on the BBQ this summer (and also winter if you’re anything like me.)

Ingredients:

2 pounds flank or skirt steak

Marinade:

4 dried guajillo chiles

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp cider vinegar

pinch of salt

pinch of sugar

Boil up some water. Stem and seed the guajillo chiles. Soften them slightly on a comal or in a non-stick frying pan. Just heat them for a few minutes on each side until they are soft, don’t burn the flesh because it’ll make your sauce bitter. Put the chiles in a glass bowl, cover with boiled water, and let sit for about 15 minutes or so. Dry roast the garlic (with the skins still on) also in the pan or on the comal.

Once blackened, let the garlic cloves cool then peel and toss them into a blender along with the reconstituted chiles, vinegar, salt, sugar, cumin, and a 1/4 cup or so of the chile liquid. Waz it up until you get a really great smooth paste. If it’s too thick, just add a bit more water.

Take the steak and cut it into two pieces then put it in a non-reactive (preferably glass) plate and smother the meat with the marinade. You want every bit covered in it. Cover and put it in the fridge to marinate for at least four hours but better for eight or so.

When ready to cook, heat the grill until it is super hot. Put the meat on and sear each side for 8 or so minutes. Then flip it a couple of times to finish it off. Make sure you use up all the delicious marinade during the cooking process. Remove it from the heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes, then slice thinly and serve in a taco or over rice.

And why not grill up some shrimp along with it! They are great with salsa verde or marinated in lime and garlic.

© Gail J. Cohen 2016