a lively marinade for chicken wings

lively marinaded chicken

English weather is topsy-turvy at the best of times and right now is no different. In mid September, it felt as if autumn was well and truly on its way. Chilly mornings and evenings and damp air all around. But it that beautifully perverse way that English weather has, as October approaches so does the balmy weather and that Indian summer we thought had passed us by has firmly come to stay.


In that mood I needed a more summery feel to our evening meal. A selection of salads crowned with simple barbecued chicken and everyone was happy.

Huseyin Ozer of Ozer and Cafe Sofra fame describes this marinade as being "lively". It is one of those simple marinades that can be as frenetically spicy or languidly chilled as you like. It just depends on how much chilli you like. Since I like mine spicy, mine is full of exuberance and joie-de-vivre!

Serves 3 - 4
Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
16 x chicken wings, trimmed and chopped in half
marinade
200ml olive oil (or other vegetable oil such as rapeseed or sunflower oil)
1 x Spanish onion, grated
4 x garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 tbsp dried crushed chillies (or more or less to taste)
1½ tbsp paprika (I like to use a mixture of sweet and smoked paprika)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. Prepare the marinade by finely grating the onion into a fine pulp. Combine the pulp and onion juice with all the other marinade ingredients and set aside. (You could actually bung the whole lot in a blender and whizz up until roughly combined).
2. Prepare the chicken wings by trimming any extraneous bits of fat or droopy bits of skin. Snip off the wing tips with a pair of scissors. Snap the wing bone joint so that you have two relatively similar sized pieces for each wing. This means that they will cook more evenly.
3. Pour the marinade over the chicken pieces and cover.
4. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours (or preferably overnight for a fuller flavour). Turn the pieces occasionally to ensure that the flavour is able to permeate the chicken pieces.
5. Preheat the grill or barbecue.
6. Cook the chicken for about 6 to 8 minutes on each side (or until a golden crust has formed). As you turn the chicken baste with more of the marinade.

tip:

• Perfect finger food for parties.