Columbia book: Mojito chicken cookout
I’m in the final throes of writing and editing the Columbia Spanish Restaurant’s Centennial history and cookbook, but it isn’t all solitary toil. I tried out a few of the restaurant’s recipes at a recent cookout, and the results were impressive. For a simple gathering, I chose to make the Mojito Chicken and Rice and Corn, with grilled asparagus on the side.
For the rice, simply cook onions in a little bacon fat and add the corn and rice. Use the liquid from the canned corn with broth. When the rice is finished, add the crumbled bacon and stir. I made the mistake of trying to stretch the recipe a bit by adding 50% more rice. While it was tasty, I will follow the recipe next time.
The chicken’s marinade is mojo with plenty of lime juice and fresh mint added. While the chicken got started on the grill, I made the simple glaze of sugar, water, mint, lime, and rum by boiling and thickening it. The sweet, fragrant, and sour mixture heightens the grilled chicken flavor admirably. It is easy to see why the dish is a popular special at the Columbia restaurant. I gave the cooked chicken a final brush with the glaze before serving. The grilled chicken has a caramelized mojito crust.
I finally got a grilling basket for fish and vegetables. It sure helps with the asparagus. The bottom of the basket sheltered the veggies from the harshest heat and I toss them as if they were in a pan, making it much easier to cook them la dente.
Wake up your chicken with the Columbia Spanish Restaurant’s great recipe. My centennial history of the restaurant (kind of like the Sopranos, except with less bullets and more food) is due out in Summer/Fall 2009, to be published by the University Press of Florida. I’ll leave it at that tonight and discuss it in more depth another time.