Mike Van de Elzen: BBQ chicken skewers with rockmelon chili pickle

Let's wake up those taste buds as we enter autumn, with a bit of fire!

The reason why I'm talking about rockmelons is that they are in season right now. We had to harvest ours last week, mainly due to the rains. But all melons, including watermelon are around at an affordable price now.  

A rockmelon season runs from January till March, however with all the weather events we have been going through you just need to harvest them when you can. A ripe melon can be identified by its ripe aroma.  

Storage of rockmelon is important as they have been known to carry food borne illnesses.

Listeria being the most common, it can go from the soil to the melon skin and although it doesn't grow on the skin, when we slice the melon to eat it that can introduce it into the flesh. Then we mightn't eat it all at once but a few days later cut it up some more and put it out to eat at a picnic, and the bacteria has grown even more. 

So, best practice is to wash the fruit thoroughly before consuming and I would go so far as to always peel it and keep all surfaces clean.  

Enjoy!

BBQ chicken skewers w rockmelon chili pickle:

Cook time: 25 minutes 

Prep time: 15 minutes 

Serves: 6 

250gm boneless, skinless chicken thighs  

3 cloves of garlic, crushed  

½ tsp salt  

Juice of 1 lemon  

1 tbsp grapeseed oil  

12 bamboo skewers  

½ rockmelon, peeled and diced in 2cm dice  

150g tomatoes, skin and seeds removed, diced  

½ white onion, finely chopped  

1 clove garlic, finely chopped  

2 tbsp peeled and grated ginger  

juice of 2 lemons  

½ tsp salt  

½ tsp ground cinnamon  

½ tsp ground nutmeg  

½ cup cider vinegar  

½ cup caster sugar  

1 red chili, cut in half and seeds removed 

Preheat your BBQ or oven to 180*C Cut the chciken into large pieces and marinate in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Skewer onto the bamboo and rub with oil before placing onto the BBQ to cook.  

For the rockmelon pickle:

Place all ingredients apart from the rockmelon in a heavy-based saucepan. Over a medium heat, bring mixture to the boil, stirring frequently. Cook until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook out for 15 minutes, or until syrupy. Cool slightly before adding the diced rockmelon.  

Once the chicken is cooked, place all the skewers onto a platter and drizzle with rockmelon pickle.  

To serve as a main dish, serve alongside some cous cous and yoghurt if you wish.

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