Category: yoghurt

Categories
chicken yoghurt

what effect does yoghurt have on marinades?

It’s BBQ season in the UK, so it’s time for burned or dry meat all round as we scurry to avoid undercooking everything. But it doesn’t have to be this way! A marinade can help. But which method: vinegar, yoghurt, salt… I remembered a clip from Heston Blumenthal’s In Search of Perfection where he conducted such an experiment by putting a chicken breast under an MRI scanner (of course!). Have a look:

So this proved that yoghurt helped ginger and garlic permeate the meat.

Why use yoghurt in a marinade?

Yoghurt can have a positive effect on marinating chicken in several ways:

  1. Tenderizing: The natural enzymes and acids present in yogurt, such as lactic acid, can help break down proteins in the chicken, resulting in a more tender texture. The calcium content in yoghurt also aids in tenderizing the meat.
  2. Moisture retention: Yoghurt can help retain moisture in the chicken during the marinating process. The thick consistency of yoghurt coats the chicken, creating a barrier that prevents moisture loss and helps keep the meat juicy.
  3. Flavour enhancement: Yoghurt can add a subtle tangy flavour to the chicken, enhancing its taste. The acidity in yoghurt can also help balance the flavours and complement the other ingredients in the marinade.
  4. Flavour infusion: Yoghurt acts as a carrier for other spices and seasonings in the marinade, allowing the flavours to penetrate the chicken and impart a more pronounced taste. The acidic nature of yogurt helps in the absorption of flavours into the meat.

It’s worth noting that marinating chicken in yogurt for an extended period (typically several hours or overnight) can have a more significant impact on tenderizing and flavour infusion. However, excessive marinating time with yoghurt can potentially make the chicken mushy or overly tangy, so it’s important to not overdo it.

That said I’m a big fan of brining meat, so how does that measure up?

Why brine meats?

Brining chicken involves soaking it in a solution of salt and water (sometimes with other flavourings) before cooking. Brining can have several effects on marinating chicken:

  1. Moisture retention: Brining helps the chicken retain moisture during the cooking process. When you brine chicken, the salt in the solution causes the meat to absorb water, resulting in juicier and more succulent chicken. This is particularly beneficial for lean cuts of chicken that tend to dry out easily.
  2. Flavour enhancement: While salt is the primary ingredient in the brine, you can also add other flavourings like herbs, spices, sugar, or aromatics to the brine solution. These additional ingredients infuse the chicken with subtle flavours, enhancing its taste.
  3. Tenderising: Brining can contribute to the tenderisation of chicken. The salt in the brine helps to break down proteins in the meat, resulting in a more tender texture. This can be particularly beneficial for tougher cuts of chicken.

But how does that come out in the final chicken? I decided to find out. Taking 3 chicken breasts and pounding them to about 2cm thick, I then steeped them in 3 marinades for about 6 hours.

Sample 1: just ginger and garlic (a sort of control)

Sample 2: ginger and garlic in 5% salt brine

Sample 3: ginger and garlic in yoghurt

I then used my trusty Grill and Press to sear them for about 2 minutes. Pounding them thin and using a marinade gets cooking going much quicker. Plus the grill heats from both sides. I checked that the chicken was done to at least 70°C.

What were the results?

The three were similar, but it was possible to see, taste and feel differences between the methods.

Ginger and garlic only allowed the natural chicken flavour to shine through. The marinade effects were less pronounced, and it had a slightly more chalky, overcooked texture.

Brined chicken had a noticeable well seasoned flavour, though the ginger and garlic itself wasn’t as strong. It was the moistest of the three.

Yoghurt chicken developed a well-browned surface, and allowed the ginger and garlic paste to come through. It wasn’t as moist as the brine sample.

I made a short video recapping the results:

So what does this mean? Personally I recommend brining. The chicken is tasty and moist and the risk of undercooking is so negligible. Some people don’t like the ‘deli’ salted flavour that brining gives though, in which case yoghurt marinades are the way to go. Add seasonings afterwards to develop the flavour of your recipe.

Categories
chicken meat recipes red onion yoghurt

chicken souvlaki

Most people’s best food memories, aside from the childhood dinner table ones, come from a holiday experience. For me it was the perfect steak in New York, an amazing chocolate dessert in Florida, or even a lamb chop in the Peak District. The good times mingle with the food, being with friends and family, and a rose-tint descends on the memory. Back home, in your familiar surroundings you try and recreate that magic to capture those good feelings.

That’s the idea behind James Villas’ #MyHolidayDish campaign. Working with the brilliant Jo Pratt, she came up with holiday-inspired dinners such as Puglia Pasta Con Le Cozze, Rhodian Whole Baked Snapper and Cypriot Souvlaki. Here’s my take on it, a chicken souvlaki.

I took Jo’s recipe and swapped the pork for chicken, added my own pickled onions and have included a recipe for flatbreads if you want it. If it’s too much faff, buy your own flatbreads and tzatziki.

You can find Jo’s original recipe here, or here she is on video cooking the kebab:

Print

chicken souvlaki

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 8 chicken thighs
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoons dried paprika
  • 2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
  • 1 red onion peeled and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • Pinch sugar

For the flatbreads:

  • 300 g self raising flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 300 g natural yoghurt

For the tzatziki:

  • 1 cucumber halved and deseeded
  • 200 natural yoghurt
  • Small handful of chopped parsley
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

Instructions

  • For the chicken, mix the chicken, lemon, oregano, paprika and garlic together with a tablespoon of oil thoroughly, season with salt and pepper and cover. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
  • For the flatbreads, mix the flour, baking powder and yoghurt with a pinch of salt to a smooth dough. Cover for 30 minutes.
  • For the tzatziki, grate the cucumber and dust with salt. Leave to drain in a sieve for 10 minutes, then squeeze out as much of the moisture as you can. Combine with all the other dip ingredients.
  • For the onion pickle, cover the red onion in vinegar and a pinch each of salt and sugar.
  • Get your grill really high, or light the barbecue. When hot, skewer your chicken and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Leave to rest on one side while you portion the flatbread dough into 8 balls. Press into thin circles and cook for a minute or two on each side until puffed up. Serve the meat in the breads and top with lovely pickles, tzatziki and your favourite salad.

James Villas kindly provided the ingredients to cook this with.

Categories
food peppers yoghurt

green pepper raita

When I started food blogging, I didn’t really appreciate the wide universe of other food bloggers out there. I was writing for myself and completely underestimated how many other people were doing the same thing. Eventually, via Twitter and other foodie feeds, I found lots of like-minded obssessives.

One of these blogs was Stone Soup; a blog devoted to pared-back no-fuss cooking. The freshness and purity of the recipes was appealing, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that the photography is achingly gorgeous.

To celebrate the launch of Jules’ book Five Ingredients, Ten Minutes, she’s going on a “blog tour”. There’s a banner over there > somewhere describing all the places she’s visiting. As part of the blog tour she’s offering cooking advice for troublesome ingredients. I didn’t give her too much of a curve ball but I do look down on the green pepper. When you get one of those pepper multipacks, I use the red one first, then the yellow or orange ones, then invent excuses not to use the green one. So here’s what she said:

GREEN PEPPERS
When Gary asked me to give some suggestions for green peppers, I loved that he described them as ‘the red pepper’s more bitter cousin’. Normally I’m a fan of bitterness but there’s something unripe and green about our friend the green pepper that I’m just not attracted to. So while I use red peppers all the time (there’s even a photo of one on the cover of my book), I hardly ever bother withgreen. Even though they tend to be cheaper.

But if someone were to give me a crate of green peppers from their garden, I wouldn’t throw them out. I’d probably use them raw so at least they provide something in the form of freshness and crunch. 

I’d slice them into long fingers to use instead of green beans as a side or salad. Or I’d use a vegetable peeler to shave them into the finest strips possible then toss in lemon juice and a little olive oil for a super crunchy side salad. 

They also have enough similarities with cucumber that you can substitute green peppers in most places. I haven’t yet tried it but I imagine grated green pepper mixed with natural yoghurt may make an interesting alternative to raita to serve as a cooling side to curries. Especially for people, like my Irish fiancé who are allergic or intolerant to cucumber.

It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who struggles to love the green pepper. But I was game for the green pepper raita – I wasn’t convinced that cucumber have that many similar properties but there’s something in that.

And it was very pleasant. Fresh and zingy, with a crunch that went well with a chickpea curry. Thanks Jules!

Green pepper raita:

150ml natural yoghurt

½ green pepper

Squeeze of lemon juice

Pinch of chopped coriander

  1. Grate the pepper into the yoghurt and add salt, sugar and lemon juice to taste. Garnish with coriander.
Categories
cream cheese jelly lemon yoghurt

lemon yoghurt cheesecake

[There is supposed to be a photo here, but once I’d seen it I couldn’t inflict it on your poor eyes. It was an awful abomination unto lenses. It did however taste great.]

The lovely people at Frank PR sent me some Onken Sicilian Lemon Yoghurt to try. Trying it neat it’s has a wicked tang, properly lemony. Really nice texture too that coats the tongue. But I couldn’t leave it at that, I thought it would taste perfect in a cheesecake. The version I’ve made has a jelly topping which is completely optional but just gives it one more tart edge. Zestilicious!

Lemon yoghurt cheesecake (makes about 8 servings):

200g shortbread biscuits

25g butter

1 450g pot Onken Sicilian Lemon yoghurt

300g cream cheese

1 tablespoon icing sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

1 gelatine leaf

50g caster sugar

  1. Bash the shortbread to dust and melt the butter. Combine to form a sticky paste and put it in the bottom of a pie dish. Bung in the fridge while you carry on.
  2. Combine the icing sugar and cream cheese and beat in the yoghurt until smooth. Put this on top of the biscuit base and return to the fridge.
  3. Snip the gelatine into bits and soak in the lemon juice on a heatproof bowl. After 10 minutes add the sugar and a splash of water, and sit on top of a saucepan of simmering water. Stir continuously until all the gelatine has dissolved, then pour on to the yoghurt base.
  4. Pop in the freezer for an hour, then transfer to the fridge for another hour or overnight if you can. Serve once the jelly has set.
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