Taystit by Hasna: September 2018

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Alabama White BBQ Sauce

Fancy some homemade grilled chicken? You are at the right place! My family and I have a special penchant for bone-in chicken pieces, preferably the thigh and drumstick of a chicken. When I found this recipe, I immediately fell in love with it. I couldn't wait to try this one. I am really glad I did.

I always like to start off my chicken dishes with a rub of salt to marinate it until I prep the rest of the ingredients. Doing this little step is important to bring out the flavour of the chicken when you put them on the grill/cook it. Try this super delish grilled chicken and your family/friends/colleagues are definitely going to get impressed. Yeah! You can thank me later.

The sauce goes very well with the chicken, which is the highlight of this recipe. I served it with pita bread (homemade from scratch - recipe coming soon, watch out), homemade hummus and roasted veggies. And finish off the dish with a mayonnaise-based Alabama BBQ dressing. The sauce gives the chicken a whole new dimension. The sauce can also be used as a Cole slaw dressing too. So let us kick start and move on to the ingredients...

Ingredients

Alabama BBQ Sauce

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Chicken

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/4 cup kosher salt

Instructions

To make the BBQ sauce:

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients until completely combined.
Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

To make the chicken:

In a small bowl, stir together the pepper, coriander, paprika, cumin and garlic powder until completely combined.
Season the chicken on both sides with salt, then sprinkle both sides liberally with the rub. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
About 10 minutes before cooking the chicken, begin heating a cast iron grill pan/ non stick grill pan over medium-high heat. Evenly space the chicken across the grill grates and cook for 8 minutes on the first side. Flip and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 10 minutes. Do not overcook, this will make the chicken very hard.
Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let rest for 5 minutes. Drizzle generously with the Alabama BBQ sauce and serve.

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me a mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits AKA Popeyes Biscuits

Bismillah.

And here I am finally doing what I really wanted to do; creating an impression on the taste buds using recipes from all around the globe.

Being a big fan of the biscuits of POPEYES , a fast food restaurant chain, since childhood I and my siblings used to devour their buttermilk biscuits which were crunchy on the outside yet soft and pillowy on the inside which was filled with so much aroma that we used to actually buy it, sit and smell the biscuits for a good 2 minutes. Yeah I know it sounds crazy, but after you bake some of these I'm sure you would get what I am trying to convey. Since childhood, I used to wonder if we could bake these little softballs at home. Which indeed I did and oh boy did I get the expected results? Whoa, I was astonished and very happy that it came out so good. Better than what I expected it to be. Alhamdulillah.

And so, I am proceeding to share a small piece of my childhood, which I hope and believe my dear readers would try and recreate; the famous SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS.
Go on, TAYST IT!

How to Make It

Step 1

Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt; stir well. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender/ a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix as overmixing can cause the dough to bake to a bread like texture.

Ready to bake!

Step 2

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 10 to 12 times. Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Or make small balls out of it (I actually prefer the ball shape), because it resembled the real Popeye's biscuits. Place biscuits on a baking sheet lined with a baking paper. Brush some buttermilk on the top of the biscuits for that extra crunchiness, and they are ready to bake. Bake at 400°f for 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Note:

*If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you may take 1 cup of milk and 1 tbsp of white vinegar and give a little mix and allow it to stay for 5 minutes; your homemade buttermilk is ready to use.

Recipe Courtesy www.myrecipes.com (I made little changes in the measurements and some directions, it did come out great!)

Feel free to comment below all your thoughts and questions. If you try out this recipe, please do tag me at #taystit, so that I can find all your lovely creations. Lots more great recipes coming up. Stay tuned!