Paisano: Yogurt/Sumac Chicken

Strange Spice



I've no doubt given the impression that when I get together with the Paisano all we do is cook, but that's not true, sometimes we let other people cook.

I was attending a conference in San Francisco back in 1993 and gave Paisano a call in case he was going to be in the area. He was and invited me to a party. Microsoft happened to be having a party that same night for conference attendees, but I'd been to those parties before - free beer, wine, unbelievably bad pizza, and drunken geeks. It was an easy choice to make. The party was in Berkley but that and directions were all the old man would tell me.

One particular chicken dish caught my attention with a flavor I simply couldn't place

I'd rented a car because I was planning a side trip down to Monterrey over the weekend so around 7:00 I headed over the bridge to Berkley and after a couple of wrong turns I found the place.

Aside from a couple of other Euro-types like Paisano and myself, the rest of the guests (and the hosts) were middle-eastern. My friend knew I'd lived in Egypt for a year and thought I'd fit right in and, in fact, I did. There were people there from Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and I don’t know where else. They were all either students, grad students, or professors at UCB and the party was one in series that had been taking place every month or two for six years.

The food was awesome, but one particular chicken dish caught my attention with a flavor I simply couldn't place. So I started asking around and eventually found a young woman named FohzAn. It turned out the flavor was sumac, a deep red powder made from the sumac tree's berries. It's lemony in flavor, but instead of sour it seems slightly musty to me, which is what threw me. I also learned the chicken had been marinated in a mixture of yogurt, garlic, and sumac. I didn't get a recipe, though, and the dish eventually slipped my mind. Then I received a review copy of Zov: Recipes and Memories from the Heart by Zov Karamardian and flipping through it I found a recipe that took me back to that evening in Berkley. Zov's version is based on an Indian recipe, but it's close to what I remember, and note, I've tweaked the recipe a bit.

Sumac-Coated Chicken Kebab
Serves 4.
(Adpated from Zov: Recipes and Memories from the Heart)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1"x1" pieces
1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 cup finely-chopped mint
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. sumac
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Thoroughly combine all ingredients in a zippered storage bag and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning and remixing 4 to 6 times while marinating.

Build a medium hot fire in your grill. Divide chicken pieces among 4 skewers. (Note: I can no longer use a grill, so I used my grill pan over medium-high heat.)

Grill kebabs for about 3 minutes per side over a fire or 5 minutes per side on a grill pan for a total of 12 or 20 minutes respectively. Serve garnished with mint chiffonade and lemon wedges. I served them on couscous with a salad on the side.

I'll be posting a review of Zov's book in the near future (after I've had time to check out a few more recipes), but I can tell you now that she has a passion for food and cooking that equals my own -- and her book is gorgeous.

Paisano is a fictional character created for my column on Gather.com and the events related here are a mixture of truth and fiction, The food, however, is real.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | seafood | shrimp | jerk

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Spot-On: Sustainability Redefined

Sustainability: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged. - Meriam-Webster Online.

The definition above isn't wrong, but, it seems to me, it is incomplete, at least when it comes to food (and probably everything else) since it's too focused on micro-effects as opposed to macro-effects.

Read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | spot-on | sustainability

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Smoked Duck Breast

Bottom of the Barrel



Several months back I ordered some duck legs to make confit from Hudson Valley Foie Gras and they tossed in a whole breast, gratis. Woo hoo! But I was focused on the confit so I tossed them in the freezer and promptly forgot about them. Then the economic downturn hit some of my clients (and me), food prices continued to rise, and tax time hit. I've been scraping the bottom of my larder and what should I find? Duck breast.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love what I do for a (cough) living? I never have any money and I work all the time. But I wrote off the duck legs as an expense because they were part of two articles and when duck breasts are scraping the bottom of your larder you must be doing something right. So what to do with them?

When duck breasts are scraping the bottom of your larder you must be doing something right.

I happened to be working on a review of the Cameron Stove Top Smoker and smoking them seemed like a great idea. I'd previously smoked a duck breast, but in that case I was working from a recipe for preserving them. They were really good, but too potent for a main course, much more suited to an antipasto or flavoring in some other dish. This time I planned to eat them straight up.

As I had the previous time, I made a brine but kept it simple and didn't include the sodium nitrate. After 24 hours in the brine I smoked the breast halves to 160F using oak sawdust. Served with a steamed artichoke it was delightful.

Smoked Duck Breast
Serves 4.

2 whole duck breasts (12 - 16 oz each)
Brine:
2 c apple cider + 1 c water
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic — smashed
6 pepper corns
8 juniper berries — crushed
1/4 c kosher salt

Place all brine ingredients except salt in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in salt until dissolved. Cool brine to room temp. Place breasts in a ziplock bag, add brine, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Prepare smoker and place over heat. Score the skin of the duck breasts, cutting almost all the way through to the flesh, in a crosshatch pattern.

Insert a digital probe thermometer in one of the breasts and cook to 160F. Set on a platter, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | duck | smoked duck | main dish

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Fried Purple Potatoes

A Strange Pudding



Purple potatoes. Julienned.

Duck fat. Hot.

Garam masala. Sprinkled.

Salt and pepper. Pinched.

Purple potatoes, duck fat, garam masala, salt and pepper. Served.

Delicious. Oddly sweet. Tastes like a strange pudding.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | potatoes | vegetables | side dishes

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Chicken Parmigiano

How Did I Miss It?



Wednesday night I taught a class on cooking fish. The class was packed — 22 students — and as usual, great fun. I began with sautéed jerked shrimp, moved on to broiled tilapia with arugula pesto, did salmon in parchment, grilled tuna and topped it with Romesco sauce, and ended with poached tilapia with a lemon/cream sauce. The only significant technique I didn't cover was frying fish and there was simply no way to fry at that venue for that many people. All together I cooked served 16 pounds of fish.

I was standing behind the counter after serving the last dish, trying a bite of it and listening to the "hmms" running around the room and couldn't resist saying, "You know, I get to eat like this all the time." And you know, I do and that's the point.

I was surprised a week ago to realize I'd never made Chicken Parmesan — in fact, somehow I'd never even eaten this Italian restaurant staple.

The underlying theme that links all of my classes, the articles I write, and even the food I prepare for my personal chef clients is simplicity. Like Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee I'm sensitive to the demands of schedules, the lack of good kitchen training, and the desire for bold flavors. Unlike them, I think you can cook such meals without taking shortcuts. At the Pasta and Herbs class I did a couple of weeks ago the students kept noting how easy the dishes were and yet full of flavor: "I could come home from work and make this."

So I was surprised a week ago to realize I'd never made Chicken Parmesan — in fact, somehow I'd never even eaten this Italian restaurant staple. I did some research and came up with this recipe, which is largely based on a recipe from **Cooks Illustrated. The egg dip enables lots of cheese to adhere to the chicken and produces a wonderfully crisp crust.

Chicken Parmigiano
Serves 4.

4 chicken breasts — pounded to 1/2" thick
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs — whisked
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup grated parmigiano
1 tsp. dried thyme
Marinara sauce

Heat oven to 225F. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Place 1/4 cup flour in a pie pan. Put egg in a pie pan. Combine 2 tablespoons flour, Parmigiano, and thyme in a pie pan.

Season breasts with salt and pepper. Coat 2 breasts in flour and shake off excess. Dip in egg and coat thoroughly. Dip in Parmigiano and coat thoroughly. Cook two breasts for about 4 minutes per side until lightly browned. Transfer to an oven proof-plate and keep warm in the oven. Repeat for other breasts.

Serve, topped with warm marinara sauce.

This version is boldly but simply flavored. Each element from chicken to cheese to sauce works in harmony. An Oregon Pinot Grigio would be a perfect wine.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | chicken | italian

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Usefulness

Usefulness



In a recent blog entry, one of my favorite writers, Michael Ruhlman, raised the issue of favorite kitchen gadgets. It's a great question, particularly for those of us in love with gadgets.

Ruhlman writes, "I’m not the first to suggest that a tool that has only a single use is just as useful in the garbage as it is in your drawer. A mango slicer, please. An egg separater — Jesus, an egg separator! We are born with the perfect egg separators, right at the end of our arms! Why would anyone be moved to invent one?" And he's right, Alton Brown has been lecturing for years on avoiding specialty tools, what he calls, "single-use gadgets."

This brings up what I think is the real issue: ubiquity.

But there is something that has been bothering me about this philosophy for a long time and, as he often does, Ruhlman managed to cast the issue in way that illuminated what I had problems with.

It seems to me that a knife is a single-use gadget — it's only good for cutting things. Yes, it can cut multiple things, but then my deep-fat fryer will fry multiple things. And sure, I could open cans using my paring knife but it would be hard on the knife and wouldn't work very well, instead I turn to a can-opener, a device only good for opening cans. Admittedly I could make coffee in a skillet, but I'm also sure I'm happier with the single-purpose coffee maker I use every day.

This brings up what I think is the real issue: ubiquity. My coffee maker is essential because it's ubiquitous — I use it every day. And my coffee maker is perfectly designed to do its one job supremely well. I also use my chef's knife every day, but only use my paring knife perhaps once every three weeks. I use my can opener every two weeks or so, but what else would I open a can with?

I've moved seven times in the last 12 years and I've been ruthless about pairing down books, gee-gaws, and kitchen gadgets with each move. Nevertheless, I still have a 15" by 20" roasting pan that I only use about three times a year. The problem is, when I need to roast two large pork loins or cook a dozen crème brulees I have to have it. So although it's not ubiquitous, it is essential.

At the moment I own (in order of purchase) an electric hand mixer (the original was replaced in 1988), a Cuisinart food processor (1977), a Krups mini food processor (a Christmas gift from my mother, circa 1987), a 1960 Oster blender (given to me around 1990 by my mother when my parents moved), a Kitchen Aid stand mixer (1996), and a KA immersion blender (2004).

That's a lot of tools that do the same thing: chopping and mixing. On my next move I'll get rid of the hand mixer (the stand mixer is great for big jobs and the immersion blender for small ones), the mini food processor, and the blender (again, the immersion blender can replace them). But note that both the KA stand mixer and immersion blender are new tools for me and are designed to perform multiple tasks — and because of that they have become ubiquitous and essential.

As for the deep-fat fryer, I'm reserving my decision on it. I use it no more than twice a year, but it works well, is easy to clean up, and minimizes the frying odors that are so appetizing when fresh and so unpleasant when stale. And I do love my yearly allotment of perfect fries, potato skins, and homemade fish and chips.

Technorati: Food | essay | kevin d weeks | seriously good | tools

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