Welcome to 3AW. Skip directly to: Search Box, Section Navigation, Content.

3AW - Fairfax Radio Network

Thursday May 24, 2012

What we're talking about

Bob Hart's Boneless Chicken Dishes

Posted by: Bob Hart | 26 November, 2010 - 8:45 AM
Chicken breast

We've talked about cooking chickens whole - beer butt chicken and butterflied chicken, for example.
But chicken pieces - breasts or boneless thighs - also work brilliantly well cooked in a number of ways.
These are grilled dishes, but they give us a chance to explore a couple of techniques: the first is brining, the second the use of an Asian glaze, in this case a Japanese yakitori sauce.


Try this:
Prepare a brine for a couple of whole chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, or for four boned chicken thighs, by placing 1/4 cup sea salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 20 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and two red chillies, thinly sliced, into a glass or earthenware bowl and pouring a cup of hot water over.

Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved, and then ad 3 cups of cold water and allow to return to room temperature. Place the breasts or thighs in a large, flat dish and pour the brine over them. Add a sliced lemon, two flattened and peeled garlic cloves, a sliced knob of fresh ginger and a small, sliced onion. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours, taking out after an hour to turn the chicken.


Cook the chicken over direct heat - starting at 45 degrees to the grill bar and turning through 90 degrees after 2-3 minutes. After another 2-3 minutes, turn over and repeat the 90 degree move, cooking the same amount on the second side. Check to ensure the chicken is cooked and remove to warm plates. Serve with steamed or stir fried greens, such as broccolini or gai lan.


YAKITORI CHICKEN takes the meat a step closer to Asia by grilling it, and glazing it with a classical Japanese sauce. Start by making the sauce by mixing 1 cup soy sauce, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup mirin, two finely chopped spring onions (white part only), 1 sliced and then finely chopped knob of fresh ginger and 1 strip of lemon zest. Simmer this mixture in a non-reactive pot for 6-10 minutes, or until it thickens into a glaze. Cool to room temperature.


Prepare a grill for direct cooking. Cut 4 chicken thighs into equal sized pieces about 2cm wide by about 5cm long. Cut the white and green stems of a few spring onions into 5cm lengths. Alternating chicken pieces and spring onions, thread the chicken and the spring onions, sideways, on to pairs of soaked, parallel wooden skewers to make rafts. Grill these for a bit over a minute a side to seal the meat, brush with the yakitori glaze and grill for another 3-4 minutes a side, or until cooked through. Serve on the skewers, with a sprinkle of Japanese pepper, as an entree.

Bob Hart's Classic BLT

BLT BOB HART RECIPE: Two things have happened in the last week to make me rush home and prepare my favourite sandwich, a classic BLT - bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Fennel and Oyster Soup

Bob Harts and Oysters With the weather being as odd as it is, I reckon a great soup is the perfect meal at the moment, and this is a great one, and very simple - fennel and oyster. Both are in the shops and in good nick at the moment. You will love this!

Blog comments Your Say

  • I have been looking for your description of deboning a spatchcock and marinating same on you program on 19.02.2011, but I can't find it. Can you help me find it.

    Lainy Minch Saturday 19 February, 2011 - 4:59 PM

  • Fabulous!!!!!!

    Faye Cudmore Thursday 9 December, 2010 - 1:18 PM

Post a comment * Mandatory fields