OK, I am grilling Saturday (now the jungle in the back yard has been pegged back).
Friend is coming over who is allergic to the following:
Beef
Pork
Soy
Wheat
Corn
Sugar
I’m looking for a quick and easy, yet stunningly tasty, chicken marinade for breasts and/or boneless thighs. I’m kind of blanking, which surprises me. And ANYTHING commercial falls foul of the sugar or corn problem.
Any tasty sides ideas would be nice - I am prolly going to grill up some veggies, but I am willing to bet any commercial mayonnaise will fall foul of these restrictions, and I cannot be bothered to make my own.
I’ve heard that Italian salad dressing makes a fantastic marinade for chicken, but I’ve never tried it myself. If you’re worried about your friend’s allergies, you could make your own “homemade” versions, using one of the pouch mixes from the store (like Hidden Valley Ranch, only for Italian dressing) and your own oil and vinegar - I think that by reading the labels you’d be able to find one that would be acceptable.
I’m sure there’s tons of recipes on the web, too - I googled and found thisone right off the bat. (There’s tons more; take a look and find what you like. I even found an Olive Garden knockoff, if that’s your thing. Hey! Their dressing isn’t bad).
Oooh! I just thought - I have a fantastic rub that I usually use on pork chops, but it might work for chicken. It’s rosemary-based, which should go equally well with chicken. It’s originally for chops that you’d grill, but I generally pan fry them (mainly because I’m used to making them in the winter when it’d be a pain to pull the grill out in MN). I don’t know how well it’d work with legs and thighs, however - I’d recommend using it with breasts.
Here’s the method (for 2 - 4 pork chops):
– 3 Tbsp olive oil
– 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, pulled from the stem and chopped
– 1 tsp kosher salt
– 1 tsp freshly cracked pepper
Mix all ingredients in a shallow bowl or plate. Lay the pork chop (or chicken) in the rub and flip to coat the other side. Repeat with the remaining chops. Place the chops in a large gallon ziplock and refridgerate for 8 hours (or overnight). Grill until slightly pink (granted, you don’t want to do this with chicken!), 2 - 4 minutes per side.
I also just got a cooking magazine that has a marinade for something called, I believe, mojito chicken. I don’t remember it off-hand, but it’s got rum, limes, mint, maybe some olive oil and salt and pepper? I’ll look it up this evening.
It sounded interesting to me - I haven’t tried it yet, but might soon.
And the rub is really great - I love rosemary too. It’s also easy to scale up, should you need to.
Exactly what I came in to suggest. Many brands carry a Zesty version and that’s the way we go. For instance… Kraft Zesty Italian.
Ingredients: Vinegar, Water, Canola Oil, Sugar, Salt, Contains Less than 2% of Garlic (Dried), Garlic, Red Bell Peppers (Dried), Onions (Dried), Xanthan Gum, Spice, Vitamin E, Natural Flavor, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Oleoresin Paprika.
Sugar is 4th. Does your friend need it to be completely sugar-free?
I don’t use italian dressing anymore, because I found it to be too vinegary for my tastes. I’ve had better success making my own marinade similar to it, sans vinegar.
No wheat and gluten, eh? So I guess beer’s out of the question? If not, and you don’t have any problems doing a whole bird, you can always do a Beer Can Chicken. For people who haven’t had it before, it’s always great to see their faces when you put it on/take it off the grill, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad one.
For a side, you could do a cold cous-cous salad. Little oil, parsley, some lemon juice, some roasted red peppers, salt and pepper, and you’re good to go.
Beer is out unfortunately. Though I am almost certainly doing BCC for the other guests.
Cous Cous will work. At least I think it will. I’ll check.
As to the ‘veracity’ of the allergies, it’s not a fight I am going to get into. Even if the person doesn’t pass a message board strangers test of what a “true” allergy is, I’m probably not going to be rude enough to tell a friend that I don’t believe her, and just serve whatever I think she should be able to eat.
Then beet sugar would be a good option if you wanted to sweeten. (Alternately, Splenda that isn’t cut with sugar, if you wanted to go that route.) Perhaps corn syrup… scrolls up whoops, never mind. Real maple syrup, honey.
There are gluten-free beers these days, though naturally they’re not very common.
it’s kind of hard to find beet sugar in the US - or to know it is 100% beet sugar at least. There are other sweetners out there she was saying can be used.
My problem is I have to work unexpectedly tomorrow, so I was looking for quick and dirty. Just dumping a bottle on top of chicken and putting it in the fridge no longer looks possible. I was also hoping to brine a chicken and smoke it, but that ain’t going to work.
When my friend’s allergies get to that point, we do Bring Your Own BBQ. It isn’t their veracity - its that trusting myself to know their list, know the food, and treat it as seriously as they do isn’t possible. For instance, I’m “gluten free” (I LOVE cous cous, but won’t eat it), but the amount of gluten in a beer wouldn’t bother me (I don’t drink beer though). I can’t promise to take someone else’s food sensitivies more seriously than I take my own.
Corn syrup is in everything. What is hid under names like “food starch.” A lot of jarred spices use gluten as a filler. And soy appears in a LOT of things you wouldn’t expect either. If I were going to cook for someone with that list, I’d keep it very simple - salt, pepper, maybe some lime. Grilled vegetables with olive oil and salt.
The other reason I do Bring your Own BBQ or keep it simple is that once you start claiming issues with cane sugar but not beet sugar - you are well down the path of “my naturalist has decided that this week I’m allergic to water!” I’ve watched two friends claim allergies to citrus, tomatoes, soy, wheat, eggs, broccoli, milk, rice, meat in any form (both were vegans for a while), nuts of all sorts, scents at different times over the course of several years (I’m probably missing a few - the bring your own is so I don’t need to pay too much attention other than the civil “really? how is that working?”) It really sucked to go out of your way to cook a meal for someone with a list like that - only to have them show up and decide they are allergic to olive oil. These people - in my experience - tend to be searching for a cure to what I think are pretty normal aches and pains - headaches, achy feelings, mood issues - and are certain that removing something in their diet (or adding something - suddenly its walnut week!) will make them feel better.