If summer is good for nothing else, it is perfect grill weather. There’s nothing better than a warm Saturday afternoon, a cold beer, and the smoky smell of meat charring on your grill. Of course, I take this to the next level, and make it my business to grill as much during the week as I do on the weekend. Dinner takes on a whole new level, with endless combinations of meats and marinades. Their easy, fresh, and delicious.
I love having variety in my life, but I also have a busy schedule that doesn’t allow me to spend as much time in the kitchen (or on my balcony) as I’d like. So I try to create a protein that I can morph throughout the week, keeping my meals different without the effort of cooking something entirely new. This week I decided on a kick ass wet rub. These have actually been my true passion this summer. I still fear the dry rub to a certain extent because they’re so potent; I have definitely over seasoned and ruined meals with them. The wet rub is a perfect middle child. It’s just a more intense marinade, usually with fresh herbs and ingredients the step up the flavor impact.
When I was sick and miserable for many months this past winter and decided to make soup my new obsession, I ended up picking up a grill guide to everything saucy at the same time. I have yet to try a recipe from this book that I didn’t like– Barbecue Bible: Sauces Rubs and Marinades by Steven Raichlen. There’s a sweet picture of the guy on the cover with a pair of very 90s sunglasses and a long sleeve denim shirt. If that doesn’t scream grill guide, I don’t know what does. Oddly enough, I saw this same book in my parents’ house last time I was home. It was at that point I knew these recipes would be gold. My father has a black belt in Tai Kwon Do and grilling the shit out of meat. All I’ll say is that when he got his new gigantic beautiful grill for our backyard years back, he transformed our old one into a smoker, and bought a sidekick to attach to it. The man knows his way around a side of beef.
So two Sundays ago, as I was laying on the beach, half asleep listening to the lapping of the waves, I had a sudden serious desire for fresh chicken tacos. In true K fashion, I rode my bike home, found a recipe, and realized I had 1 hour to get everything done before having to meet some friends for a play. There’s a whole other story regarding being locked out of my apartment and my own idiocy that I don’t need to get into here. Let’s just say I just barely made it to this show on time. Regardless of how easy a marinade or a rub is to make, always leave yourself at least 15- 20 minutes to get it down. Not 10 minutes. Never 10. Any other normal person would have just waited until later, but this chicken needed to marinate for 2 hours, and I wanted my effing tacos when I got home. With that, here is the recipe for the Tex- Mex Tequila- Jalapeno Wet Rub:
- 1 large bunch cilantro, washed and stemmed
- 4-6 jalapeno chillies, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbs tequila
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Basically you’re going to blend all these ingredients together in a food processor. It is recommended that you use this within 2 hours because it’s so fresh. The result of this is enough to marinate 2 lbs of meat. When I’m just cooking for myself, I usually cut the recipe in half, as I rarely need that much. Like a tool, however, I often have a time management issue so while I’m rushing around, about halfway through I forget I cut it in half. In this scenario, it happened when I added the salt and cumin. Some cursing and scraping later, I managed to salvage the rub. I covered my chicken and took off.
Later that night, I grilled my chicken and created two small tacos. I wanted to create a cilantro avocado lime sauce to put over them, to compliment the marinade. My avocado, however, went rogue and I was left to improvise. I found some guacamole in our fridge and added lime and cilantro to that, with some olive oil to make it more of dressing. It was perfect. The marinade had soaked into the chicken, creating a light cilantro flavor with a touch of heat from the jalapenos. The avocado dressing wasn’t enough to overpower the chicken, but added a little extra fresh cilantro to the mix.
I had made a week’s supply of chicken and decided to make a pseudo taco salad for lunch for the week. So I mixed the chicken into some greens, a handful of black beans, a sprinkle of cheddar, topped with some taco shells I had baked and crumbled on top. The avocado dressing served as my salad dressing, adding the exact amount of flavor the bare parts of this salad were missing.
Roaring Tiger 