11 - Chicken Brochettes With Spices and Honey [Brochettas de Pollo con Especias Y Miel]

I made this marinade yesterday and have been wanting to eat it ever since. I thought I'd make this as a victory dinner/ incentive to reach this weeks deadlines [which were reached]. I was up till 3am working and very nearly made these then. Only thing stopping me was sheer tiredness and respect for my lovely flat-mate. So what is this you say? Caramalised honey marinade/ glaze filled with some of my favorite spices and a chilli kick. Yes please. I also added in a magic birthday lime to the lemon juice mix. I felt a bit sorry for it as I've been carrying it around for a while and it was destined for Gin and Tonic  [it will also be used in a celebratory glass after dinner] but being a birthday present wanted to give the poor thing a good send off. I figured this may be it!

The Verdict:
Oooooh yeeeaahhhh. This tapa is AMAZING. Sweet and sticky and spicy and chargrilled and tender and.... generally all round fantastic. I had worried that looking forward to it this much throughout a shattering day would mean I was disappointed in it but really I needn't have feared. Without a doubt this is my favourite tapa so far and I'm glad I added the lime, you can really taste it and it goes so well with the chilli and the honey. This dish tastes distictly eastern and I was wondering that as tapas originated in Adalucia in the South the addition of honey could perhaps be a moorish influence? In any case its delicious. I could quite easily go on about this but its time for victory gin and bed..

Taste :     5/5       I Just Love This 
Time :      3/5       20 Minutes [plus marinading time]
Visual :     4.5/5    Smells Great Too.
Magic :     5/5       Now With Birthday Limes!

The Gin: 
I was lucky enough to get a bottle of Aviation gin for my birthday. I may be a huge fan of gin and having sampled a lot in the past year this one is up at the top of my list. Having done a lot of research on this tipple recently for another side project I can now impart some [useless] facts about it: 


Aviation gin is a New Western Dry style from Portland, Oregon. Its creation was a collaboration between mixologist Ryan Magarian and House Spirits Distillery in Portland, run by Lee Medoff and Christian Krogstad. It was established in 2002 with the intention to design a gin perfectly suited for the Aviation cocktail. On the label is a 1930s McDonald Douglas plane. After the botanicals are steeped for 48hours for maximum release of flavour, the spirit is then pumped into a copper pot for single distillation and diluted to boiling strength. Although Juniper is present, the other botanicals in Aviation contribute more strongly to the flavour of this gin in comparison to other brands. 

Aroma: Menthol, Spearmint, Dark Chocolate, Cardamon, Salt
Flavour: Juniper, Coriander, Cardamon, Sarsparilla, Lavender, Ornage, Angelica
Recommended Cocktails: Aviation, Corleone, Flying Hemmingway, The Last Word, Honey Basil Deluxe, Martinez, The Delicious, Singapore Sling, The 2othC Cocktail, NW Blackberry Bramble.
G+T : Add Pepper, Mint