Interesting but Basic Facts of Marination

While cooking last night I realized myself stuck in wrongly marinating the meat ..although nobody complained (thanks to God) but i realized that i need to share the correct way of marinating the meats(let it be any kind of meats, these are the basic points)
Marinating is a method of food preparation that involves soaking foods in a liquid to improve the tenderness, juiciness and flavor of the meats . This liquid, called a marinade, typically contains oil, herbs, spices and an acidic base such as vinegar,lemon juice or wine. Marinades are commonly used on poultry, beef and fish. The length of time the food is soaked can vary from minutes up to 24 hours, depending on the food and type of marinade.
function -There are two major reasons to marinate: to enhance flavor(use of fresh herbs and flavourful spices) or to improve the texture of a cut of meats.
Types -Marinades can be created from many liquids but in general there are two main types--those made with spices for adding flavor and those made with an enzyme or acid for tenderizing meat.
Effects -Flavor-imparting marinades add savory spices to the taste of the meat while tenderizing marinades alter texture by breaking down connective tissues.
Considerations -Flat cuts do best with tenderizer as the marinade must come in contact with all of the meat in order to work.
Careful -Marinating a meat for too long may result in a mushy texture since once the meat is in a marinade the proteins will continue to break down until the meat is cooked.
Tissue breakdown- here i would like to explain how meats tissue breaks, the acid causes the tissue to break down, allowing more moisture to be absorbed and giving a juicier end product. However, too much acid can be detrimental to the end product( be careful in this). A good marinade will have a delicate balance of spices, acids, and oil.
Health- The American Institute for Cancer Research is a large United States cancer research organization associated with the World Cancer Research Fund umbrella organization....
recommends discarding used marinade that has been applied to raw meats. Meats, such as red meat, fish, and chicken, may contain unhealthful substances which may enter the marinade, according to health experts attributed by the AICR. These substances would become neutralized in the cooking process but using the same marinade later in preparation holds the risk of reapplication. If additional flavoring from the marinade is desired, prepare a new batch.

ok this is enough with the basics lets go for an interesting recipe for this week:
Have not discussed anything from chinese cuisine....till now so now i am going to share an interesting accompaniments for all the boozers(m not sure whether this word exists or not)
CHICKEN 65--------------

Chicken 1 Kg,Chilli Powder - 4 tsps,Chicken 65 masala ( optional ) ,Ginger & Garlic paste 3- 4 tsp,Tumeric Powder 1 tspCurd ( optional ) ,Lemon,curry leaves,oil,salt to taste, Flour .
Method Take the chicken and wash it nicely. Then add the chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, tumeric powder, curd ( optional ) salt and marinate the chicken, keep it aside for 1 hr. Then in a kadai take some oil and heat it for deep frying the chicken after coating it lightly with flour or corn flour. While deep frying the chicken add 3-4 curry leaves to each set you are frying that will give a flavour. After frying the chicken , squeeze the lemon on top of it and serve.

Newly Introducing

Hey Guys, hope u all doing well...Today i have to tell you something that i am going to put in my blog on weekly basis:

1) Some Quick tips for making your preperation delicious and creat the wow factor while dinning your dear ones.(not restricted to the chicken only)

2)Rice/indian bread preperations incase of curry.

and for direct feedback mail me on santosh766@gmail.com

Chicken with South Indian Touch

Looking for a quick dish a few days back, I found a little boneless chicken in the freezer. Since I felt like something meaty with a south Indian touch to it, this recipe followed, which turned out quite well really.
You’ll need boneless chicken cut into strips, finely chopped onions, mustard seeds, curry leaves, yogurt, freshly ground black pepper and some salt. After heating a little oil, crackle some mustard seeds and fry your onions till pink/transparent. Add the curry leaves and throw in the chicken and turmeric powder. Stir fry for a few minutes, then add the black pepper/ slit green chillies, salt and some yogurt. Not too much yogurt, just enough to coat the chicken,toss it and serve hot with chapatti.

Springonion and Chicken Sandwich

Hi guys ,after a weeks break with my family finally i am updating my blog with one of the exotic sandwich receipe(as my little daughter has given full marks and ate whole 2 slices jumbo sandwich) .But here before starting the receipe i would like to tell you how to differentiate between white bread and brown or wholemeal bread.
The difference in taste between white and brown bread is significant, as is the texture and obviously the way it looks. The way it was successfully introduced to me recently after many failed attempts was through "quasi" brown breads such as light rye. The taste difference was more subtle, which made for the perfect stepping stone to true wholemeal. These days I actually prefer brown bread to white.
White bread is made is from wheat flour from which the bran and germ have been removed. This is where much of the nutritional bread value is. White bread is lower in zinc, fiber, thiamin, niacin, trace elements and "good" fats and oils. White bread in many countries has to be fortified with vitamins and minerals *by law* during the bread making process. These are usually sprayed into the mix. It's somewhat ironic that the nutrients that are removed from wheat are re-added by this means. Nature provides, we destroy, then add it back in via a man made form.
Once the bran and germ is removed, the flour is bleached using potassium bromate, benzoyl peroxide or chlorine dioxide gas. Potassium bromate is also known as Bromic Acid or Potassium Salt. It's an oxidizing agent, can be fatal if swallowed, is harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin and may also cause kidney damage. Benzoyl peroxide is another irritant that can kill animals, birds, or fish, and cause death or low growth rate in plants. Chlorine Dioxide is also a pesticide and even though it breaks down very quickly, it is ranked in the USA as one of the compounds most hazardous to the environment.

So even before the baker adds his chemical magic, there's some pretty solid cons relating to white bread. Another point to note is that anything that needs "refining" requires more energy resources to do so.
By the way, just because bread is brown in color doesn't necessarily mean it's brown bread in the traditional sense of the term, i.e. meaning whole wheat or wholemeal. Check out the ingredients on the bread that you buy and ensure that the first ingredient is whole wheat or wholemeal flour rather than enriched wheat flour or just wheat flour. Enriched/wheat flour is the same type of flour used in white bread. The presence of caramel also is an indicator that it's not true brown/wholemeal bread as caramel is used as a coloring agent. A couple of other ingredients to avoid if possible are fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oil/fats; aka trans fats.
The general rule of thumb is the less ingredients in the bread and the presence of wholemeal flour as the major ingredient, the better it is for you - and the planet.
Many of us consider this as bakwaas but i am just sharing this information with you as this time in Delhi one of my known wanted some clarification so he asked me a question do we add brown colur to the flour to make brown bread as this is hot selling item..and this misconception was wrong (adulteration). There is a hell of difference between a simple white bread and a wholemeal bread. Its not only matter of adding the colour or the caramel to the bleached flour.
Well guys this is enough now coming back to the receipe:
2 slices of jumbo brown bread/any bread
chicken mixture:
grilled breast of chicken(premarinated with salt pepper and garlic paste)
shred(as fine as possible) the grilled breast after chilling it further.
add the chiffonade(fine shredded) greens of onion.
some black olives
add generously some chopped parsley.
fine chopped red onion(our Indian desi Onion),,but mind it that add this by the end .
add some mayonnaise(can prepare or can buy the readymade).
her you can add some peices of cheese(just make peices with fingures only, adding the pieces of cheese gives richness to mixture and act as binder as after taking bite the mixture wont fall aside)
mix all the ingredients nicely keep aside.
now, take the slices of bread put a very-very fine layer of butter with help of knife only on one side. these sides are the one facing outside now put the mixture in the centre spread the mix evenly put the other slice. pre heat the sandwich griller and put the sandwich(remember the butter layer outside.)
give the nice grill marks and the sandwich is done. serve with french fries and tomato ketchup and mustard .

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Hi Guys....

this is the receipe and the detailed step by step procedure for making dum ki chicken biryani( it needs patience but worth by end).I suggest you to differ in quantity as per your taste but keep the procedure same .
Lal Quila Basmati rice-500gms,
Chicken cut in peices-1 kg(can be with bone or without bone)
Red Onion sliced and fried golden brown- 3 big sizeSaffron soaked in milk-1/2 tea spoon
fresh lemon juice- 3
Fresh Corriander Leaves chopped- 1 bunch
Fresh Mint Leaves chopped- 1 bunch
green chillies slitted -5 no.
mustard oil - 90ml
desi ghee - 90 gms
ginger garlic paste- 3 tbsp
turmeric-1tsp
chilli powder - 1tbsp
kasmiri chilli- 1 tbsp
salt - as per your taste
curd thick(hung curd if possible)- 1.5 cups
achaar ka paste- 1.5 tbsp
cloves - 6 pcs
cinnamon - 2 sticks 1" each
cardamom green - 5 pcs
black cardamom - 3 pcs
Kewra/Gulab jal- 3 tbsp
atta dough as per degchi.

fried cahewnuts if u want.
first and foremost dry roast all the whole garam masala in pan and spread it quickly as to avoid burning on paper .

fry the thinly sliced onion in oil til golden brown and spread it on blotting/newspaper.
wash the chicken peices drain out excess water keep aside.
take brass parat (steel will do)put 5 tbsp of yoghurt(dahi),75% of lemon juice(keep rest lemon juice in fridge without wasting time) ,ginger garlic paste ,turmeric,chilli powder,mustard oil , achaar masala ,slit green chillies, kashmiri chilli ,little bit of saffron strands and salt. ...mix with your hands( please dont use any blender or spoon)..mix the marinade with the chicken peices. the first major step is done.
keep it for 3 to 4 hours (recommended do it by 2 pm).
after break

in second step soak the long grain basmati rice for atleast 40 minutes.
by the time put the golden fried onions,80% chopped mint and chopped corriander,remaining lemon juice,ghee,remaining yoghurt,(3 pcs of the cloves,1 peice of cinnamon,2 pcs of green and 1 pc of black cardamom ground it coarsly and mix)add a bit of kewra water in chicken mixture and keep for 40 minutes.

Boil the water with remaining garam masala and salt and 1 tbsp of refined oil.when water starts boiling put the pre soaked rice in the boiling water and cook 75%.
prepare the lagan with chicken mixture(means heat the marinated chicken till chicken is 70% cooked in medium heat) and lower the heat to minimum add the rice on the top put the kewra on top and some saffron ,fried onion,mint and corriander.
seal the lagan with top and atta dough.cook further for 35 mins .

Penne with Chinese Style Grilled Chicken

Hi today I am going to discuss a recipe which I made last night after the rounds of booze with my mates. Here I would like to tell you that these recipes which u will see in my blog are not the bookish one, quite innovative, well tried and tasted.
Last night I made Pasta (Penne) with lots of seasonal veggies(for the Vegan people) and same penne with strips of grilled chicken (teriyaki merination/ or make it simple Chinese marination).Hey don’t worry this recipe is not too complicated or technical its looking too lengthy as I have tried to put every step in detailed way.



for 6 people
1 pkt of Penne is sufficient.
1kg tomatoes—cut 750 gms in Quarters with the seeds part on
250gms in 4 pcs lengthwise,remove seeds and skin(u have to b a bit carefull- a bit technical) then marinate both tomatoes separately in little amount of oil u prepare, salt &pepper
Some fresh Basil(25-50 gms) put in standing position in jar with little’ water at room temperature
Oil / Olive oil
! cloves of garlic peeled and thin flakes lengthwise.
Heat the regular oil and put off flame add sliced flakes of garlic and let it cool down(u can see garlic turned slight pale and oil has a sweet flavour of garlic---Hey u have made garlic flavoured oil U can keep this for a week at air-tight at room temperature)
Green of spring onions diagonal cut and strips / slices of white bulb of spring onion
4 Carrot cut it in 4 pieces lengthwise, take out the white part(pith) and cut diagonal/diamond cut(Chinese cut)
Some Dry red chillies flakes(Remove the seeds as they spoil the actual flavours of other ingredients by their overpowering effect)
Mushrooms(simple button mushrooms, wash for sure under running water and cut in 4 pcs don’t scrap off the stem cut them too I wont suggest u to put slices of mushroom as the flavour retains in chunks and u will get the bite feel and judge the difference yourself).
Beans- remove the strings at the side of beans and cut 1inches Chinese cut.
Capsicum- again cut in 1 inches diagonal/diamond or Chinese cut.
(Here the vegetables mentioned are not fixed u can alter it according to the availability,, but make sure use fresh veggies and the herb-Basil )
Chicken(boneless)- marinate in light soy ,garlic,salt and pepper for 15 min and grill it on little oil till its 80% cooked take out mince some garlic and add some more soysauce robb on hot chicken and deepfreeze..when cool down cut it in strips with knife or just with the help of fingers.

Heat the water quantity should be enough for the pasta. With some salt in it(don’t put any oil as lots of people do that and yes don’t forget to cocer the water as it saves time and gas- precious) when steam starts coming out ,Remove cover carefully(very hot- my friend touched it bare hand as was drunk and got nice hit after).
Now here we have to blanch the vegetables (ok here we need to blanch only hard vegetables-carrot -4 minutes and the beans -3 minutes..and use tea strainer to take them out,,,,so u can use same boiling water for the pasta too—cost effective isn’t it…. don’t put cover while blanching as this discolor the vegetables ) refresh them under cold water,,,,keep aside.
Put pasta once the water reboils…wait till u see there is a thin strained line of uncooked part after having the bite(this is Al Dante stage- u get the feel of bite when pasta is finished,,otherwise generally its always overcooked/mashy/biteless).Keep the strainer ready in the kitchen sink and strain the pasta.
Put the pasta in parat /tray-(should be big enough to hold single layer of pasta).
Don’t refresh it ( generally chefs and people do refresh the pasta… even I was doing in my early days as a chef, but thanks to the Molecular Gastronomy and Maria- One of my Italian Chefs Mom as I visited her in Bari-Italy while working in Luxury Cruise Liner) Refreshing of pasta takes of the starch out as when the pasta is hot maximum starch is on outer periphery ) Drizzle some garlic oil and stir till the pasta cools down.

Preperation- always prepare pasta when every body is ready to have the meal..
Heat the garlic oil/olive oil put some extra garlic,Chilli flakes if u want, add mushrooms sauté on high heat to avoid the juices of mushroom to come out and then add other vegetables lightly sauté (keep in mind the vegetables should be crunchy but not Raw) Keep aside.
Same pan- heat it again put Garlic oil and thon add quarter tomatoes cook till it is soft and add chicken/vagatables and pasta…add the salt and fresh crushed toasted peppercorn. Toss the pasta..put off heat and pour 1teaspoon of garlic oil and hand plucked Basil leaves or simply quarter spoon of dry basil herb on pasta mix nicely…take it out place it on pasta plate …garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese if possible..

BASICS OF STORING AND COOKING CHICKEN

Chicken is a great source of protein with the added bonus of being low in fat and calories, especially if you don't eat the skin. But like all fresh meats, it is perishable. Since raw poultry can transmit illness-causing bacteria such as Salmonella and Listeria, use care during handling and preparation.
Keep It Cold
Never leave raw or frozen chicken at room temperature. Raw chicken should be stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator and used within two days. Freeze any chicken that won't be used right away. You can freeze it in its store packaging, but if you plan on storing it for longer than two months in the freezer, you should unwrap the chicken and rewrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and a plastic freezer bag.
When thawing frozen chicken, do so slowly and safely. Other approved methods are thawing in a cold water bath or by using the defrost cycle of the microwave.
Keep It Clean
Rinse chicken with cold water, inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels before preparing. To prevent cross-contamination, thoroughly clean all surfaces, utensils, cutting boards, knives and hands with hot soapy water after handling raw poultry.
Get It Done
The only way to tell if a chicken is cooked properly is to use a meat thermometer OR PEIRCE IT WITH KNIFE TIP(A DESI WAY)--seeing if the juices run clear is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Remember that the meat will continue to cook once it's removed from the heat source, so you may pull it out of the oven or off the grill a few degrees below the target temperature--just keep the thermometer in place and check to be sure the temperature climbs to a safe heat.
More Chicken Safety Tips
Marinating or brining? Always let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator, even for a short soak of 30 minutes.
Do not baste(BASTING IS POURING OR LAYERING EXTRA FAT) the cooked chicken with the same marinade: either make extra marinade and set aside a portion for basting only, or boil it for two to three minutes to kill any bacteria that might be present.
Cooked chicken should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours.
Properly handled cooked chicken can be stored in the refrigerator for two days.