My Recipe for East meets West Hot Wings

Every country I can think of uses chicken wings as a finger food, so making a recipe that is unique to one country would be impossible in my idea of cooking. That's why I mixed it up a bit with my East meets West Hot Wings. A few Asian ingredients meet some Caribbean Herbs and get tossed up with some world over Vegetables. Baked and not fried for a guilt free conscience and easy as 1-2-3 for smiles all around.

Ingredients:

8 -10 Chicken Wings

The Marinade:

Place these into a food processor and whizz:

1 Onion, roughly chopped

3 Garlic Cloves

5 cherry Tomatoes

4 red Birds Eye Chillies

1 tbs Thyme Leaves

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 tbs Brown Sugar

3 tbs Soy Sauce

1 tbs Dark Rum

Taste for balance between sweet, sour, spicy and salty.

Lay the Chickenwings into a baking dish in a single layer.

Spoon over the Marinade and let it do it's thing for about 5 hours.

Bake the Wings right in the baking dish, marinade and all, at 200C for about 1 hour, until cooked through and getting a few nice brown edges.

Turn them over every 15 minutes or so.

Serve on a bed of Salad Leaves and devour using your fingers of course!

Chevapchichi (Serbian/Croatian Sausages)

Hurray the Sun has finally made it's way through the clouds and BBQ weather is here! 

Homemade Sausages are on the menu. Try something new and make these Serbian/Croatian spicy mixed meat Cevapchichis.

Ingredients:

200g Minced Beef 

200g Minced Lamb 

200g Minced Pork 

200g Minced Turkey

1 Onion, very finely chopped

3 cloves of Garlic, minced

1 green Chilli, finely chopped

1 heaped tbs Cornflour

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Brown Sugar

Mix everything very well together with your hands and leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Shape the mixture into Sausages and chill in the refrigerator to firm them up for about an hour but even until the next day.

Lightly oil your hot BBQ rack with an oil soaked piece of kitchen paper, then grill your sausages turning frequently until done.

Kuda Bandos, Maldives

If you're looking for a 'marooned on an island' excursion on your Maldivian holiday, Kuda Bandos will be worth a visit.
No matter how many times I've been here it always has the wow effect, every time. The water couldn't get any bluer, the sand couldn't be any softer and the sound of the waves gently lapping against the beach couldn't be any more relaxing.
Top Tip: (from a german) As soon as you get there grab yourself a sunlounger,


It is the easiest place for snorkelling I have encountered so far. Just step into the water and you're there, surrounded by a multitude of tropical reef fish. The best place to snorkel is to the right of the little channel they use for jet ski's and small boats next to the pier. Be careful though at low tide. The coral is closer to the surface and can be razor sharp.

To get to Kuda Bandos arrange a picnic trip from your resort or hire a private transfer. It currently costs $11 entree fee to be payed on arrival at the island.
If you are not part of a picnic excursion, there is a small bar that serves cold drinks, beer and some snacks. Otherwise a Top Tip is to loiter around other peoples BBQ and take a look after the tour groups have finished eating. Many times I have been offered to help myself to anything that is left. Sometimes they even put a few fresh bits on the barbie just for us.

Must do:
Keep some bread for the fish at the pier.
You will get a huge array of colourful fish coming for a feeding frenzy. It's a small effort but such fun!

BBQ Turkey Kebabs

It's the time of the Year, the sun comes out and the BBQ goes on.

I had some lovely free Range Turkey Steaks from farmerschoice.co.uk in my freezer.
Those looked perfect for making my Kebabs.

Ingredients:
(serves 2)
2 Turkey Steaks (about 400g) each cut into 8 chunks
Season the Chunks with
1 tbs Olive Oil
a large pinch of each: Turmeric, Paprika, Sea Salt, Pepper and fresh Lemon Thyme

Thread the Turkey Chunks onto skewers and grill or BBQ for about 5 minutes on each side.
Serve with Salad or Vegetables on Rice or in a Pita Pocket :-)