Today is Columbus Day, the day we celebrate the man who discovered America, but if you read last week’s column you know it was really discovered by a 1970s pop star!

Columbus Day, which is annually on the second Monday of October, remembers Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas on October 12, 1492.

What is really exciting about this year is that the holiday falls on the same day that the wife and I take our annual visit to the Miami Dolphins stadium (now called Landshark stadium after a piss poor beer!) for the visit of the New York Jets.

The rivalry between these teams is great; Miami fans really do hate the Jets.

Last year I saw a guy wearing a shirt that read on the back “Even the baby Jesus hates the Jets.” Classic.

So we will be chilling and grilling in the car park in 90 degree temperature, fantastico!

I know about 15 Chefs who are season ticket holders and they tailgate before every game, Monday’s game starts at 8pm so we are meeting at 4pm to cook and drink. I don’t think that I will remember much about the game but who cares. I am making Chicken Tikka drumsticks, you can too.

I am going to cook them before we go, as I don’t think that me lugging around raw chicken in that heat is wise, and then I will finish them off on the BBQ to get a nice char grill taste and color on them.

TANDOORI CHICKEN TIKKA

Ingredients:

1 lb. of Boneless Chicken Breast or chicken drumsticks

1 tsp. Salt

Lemon Juice (from half of a lemon)

½ tsp. of Tandoori color or a few drops of Red Food Coloring mixed with 1 tbsp. of Tomato Puree

2 cloves of Garlic (peeled & coursely chopped)

½ inch piece of Ginger Root (peeled & coursely chopped)

2 tsp. of Coriander (grounded)

½ tsp. of Garam Masala Powder {or just use curry powder}

¼ of a whole Nutmeg (finely grated)

½ tsp. Turmeric Powder 

4 tbsp. Cooking Oil

½ tsp. Red Chilli Powder 

Method:

Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt from the specified amount, and the lemon juice. Mix thoroughly. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.

Put the rest of the ingredients into an electric food processor or liquidizer and blend until smooth. Put this marinade into a sieve and hold the sieve over the chicken pieces. Press the marinade through the sieve with the back of a metal spoon until only a very coarse mixture is left.

Coat the chicken thoroughly with the sieved marinade. Cover the container and leave to marinate for 6 to 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a roasting tin with aluminum foil (this will help to maintain the high level of temperature required to cook the chicken quickly without drying it out).

Thread the chicken onto skewers; leaving a ¼-inch gap between each piece (this is necessary for the heat to reach all sides of the chicken).

Place the skewers in the prepared roasting tin and brush with some of the remaining marinade. Cook in the center of the oven for 6 to 8 minutes.

Take the tin out of the oven, turn the skewers over and brush the pieces of chicken with the remaining marinade. Return the tin to the oven and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes.

Shake off any excess liquid from the chicken. (Strain the excess liquid and keep aside for Chicken Tikka Masala). Place the skewers on a serving dish. You may take the tikka off the skewers if you wish, but allow the meat to cool slightly before removing from the skewers.