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Hunan Chicken

2009
03.05

I like to try a lot of different seasonings when cooking outdoors. This practice can be expensive; however, I have found a little special place, which allows me to try out gourmet seasonings and marinades at cut-rate prices. You will find my special spot at the Farmers’ Market in Flagler Beach every Friday. You will find Sandy’s Boxes of Goodies along South Daytona Avenue (just look for all the boxes on tables). If you have never stopped by this place; do yourself a favor and dig into all the many outdoor cooking useful supplies. This is the place that I originally found five-spice powder (Hokan FiveSpice Powder) that I use on my deep-fried turkeys and also Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasonings which I use to prepare my ribs for smoking. There are other goodies I have found lately at cut-rate prices, and I will share them with you and how I have used them

Barbecue Sauces Galore

There is always a box of just barbecue sauces. Some are mild, some are sweet, some are hot, etc., There are even international barbecue sauces. Recently, I found a Thai barbecue sauce (Mai Kitchen Thai Barbecue Sauce). I found Texas Best Barbecue Sauce (Cajun style), VH Sauce for spare ribs (dry garlic), and a host of others that allow me to sample them without a major cost. When I am serving barbecue, I put all my sauces out for my friends to try. I picked up a bottle of House of Tsang Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce and found that it is rather tasty on ribs, but really great on beef (Satay-Thai Barbecue).

Great Marinades

I like to put my own marinades together, but at Sandy’s place the price is so right on the dry packs as well as bottled marinades, that I just had to pick some up. Recently, I picked up these outstanding marinades: Cardini’s Roasted Garlic & Herb (chicken), Trinidad Steak Marinade (steak, chicken and pork); McCormick Golden Cajun Style; West Indies Spice Co. PIRATES’ GOLD (Meat, Poultry & Seafood) Marinade; Caribbean Jerk with Papaya Juice; and you can generally find most, if not all of Chef Paul Prudhornme’s MAGIC Seasoning Blends. I have just used a few, but there are many other marinades that I plan to use as soon as I find space.

Rubs And Mustards

You will find all ingredients to make any rub that you may want to put together. Not only that, you may find some stuff ready to go. I came upon Konriko’s Jalapeno AllPurpose Seasoning (excellent as jerk chicken rub). I would have a hard time making a spicy rub any better than this one. It may be a bit too spicy for most! I also picked up a can of Szeged Hungarian Hot Paprika. This is really good stuff, and sometimes hard to find. Again, the price was right! There are lots and lots of mustards to try, from the basic Mister Mustard (Hot) to the Maine Honey Dijon (dijon mustard with honey).

All Kinds Of Vinegars And Oils

Heinz Gourmet Tarragon Vinegar; Nakano Seasoned Rice Vinegar (great in marinades and in salads); Maitre Jacques’ Raspberry Wine Vinegar (this is great when mixed with almond oil ); and a number of other special vinegars with herbs. You can always find extra virgin olive oil at a fraction of the cost. I need not tell you how much fun you can have putting some of the special vinegars together with some of the special oils. To me, this is the outdoor cook’s dream, an opportunity to try out and experiment with all kinds of flavor possibilities. I plan to introduce some new rubs, pastes and marinades in the future from the things that I pick up at Sandy’s Place.

Recipes Made From Things I picked Up At Sandy’s place

Vinaigrette Dressing

  • 3/4 cup Maitre Jacques Raspberry Wine Vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups Deviance Extra Virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped l teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon dry oregano
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  1. Combine all ingredients; mix well.
  2. Store in refrigerator.
  3. Serve chilled over fresh greens.

Hunan Chicken

  • 2 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 pounds frying chicken cut in pieces
  • 21/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon FiveSpice Powder
  1. Marinade the chicken in mixture of soy sauce and FiveSpice Powder for three hours.
  2. Heat oil to 350 degrees in large saucepan, and deep fry chicken for 15 minutes;
  3. serve.

There are a lot of other things at Sandy’s, such as special popcorn, pickles, crackers, soups and jellies, just to name a few. But, if you get a chance to stop by and find something you can use in outdoor cooking,

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