Iraqi Yellow Spice-Rubbed Chicken

Saveur magazine has the most intriguing articles. Some of their food stories are so well written that the writer's longing and aching nostalgia for the food he or she once experienced is palpable. Reading the Iraqi chicken story was like that for me. It was the memory of a young soldier stationed in a camp on the the Iraq-Kuwait border in the yearly days of the war. The food choices for her in those early war days were bland MREs, or exploring some local food options, which is how she happened to find this flavorful Iraqi Yellow Spice-Rubbed Chicken (Djaj Bil-Bahar Il-Asfar). Read the story by Felicia Campbell here. Here is the list of spices you'll need: coriander seeds, cumin seeds, whole black peppercorns, cardamom pods, dried chiles de árbol, allspice berries, whole cloves, dried rose hips, curry powder, ground cinnamon, ground sumac, ground ginger, nutmeg, fenugreek, garlic cloves… Phew.

The story was touching and prompted us to gather up all 15 of the seeds and spices that went into this Middle Eastern chicken masterpiece. I actually had them all except for the sumac, but I'm not sure how many people actually have things like cardamom seeds and fenugreek in their pantry. And I only had the dried rose hips for a Turkish doughnuts with rose hip syrup recipe that I've yet to make. Back to the chicken...We ground up all the spices and made the dry rub and grilled the butterflied whole chicken. The aroma was exotic and heavenly, and reminded us a little of a Jamaican jerk chicken. We served it with a yellow saffron rice, and a cucumber, tomato and onion salad, which is similar to Indian salads that we've made before. Give this recipe a try for something slightly exotic.

We started the meal with lemony hummus and pita chips.

Grilled peaches + burrata

This salad screams summer in Tuscany! Juicy ripe peaches that have been quickly grilled for a bit of char are a sweet punch to creamy pillows of burrata cheese. I placed crumbles of crispy pancetta and placed the lot over arugula and frisée greens. For the dressing I made a classic vinaigrette, to which I added a spoonful of Stonewall Kitchen's Bellini (peach + prosecco) jam. Get thee some burrata cheese and give this one a whirl. It's molto eccellentissimo with a glass of bubbly Italian prosecco.

Shrimp on the barbie!

My oldest brother Ron is a great cook! He explores and is influenced by the restaurant scene in Boston and the Cayman Islands. At a family party a few weekends ago he made these delicious lemongrass grilled shrimp which were the perfect balance of sweet, spicy and zesty. Delicate shrimp can easily become overcooked and dry on a hot grill, but these were cooked to perfection—slightly charred yet moist and succulent. Along with the shrimp Ron made made a gorgeous, spicy mango, red pepper, cucumber and red onion salsa—those fruit salads are a perfect match with seafood. Below is his shrimp recipe.

Lemongrass shrimp

1 lb. cleaned and shelled shrimp

 2 garlic coves rough chopped

 2 tbsp finely minced lemongrass

 2 Thai chiles thinly sliced

 Thumb size piece of fresh ginger, grated

 1 tbsp of sliced shallot

 3 tbsp soy sauce

 3 tbsp Asian fish sauce

 1/4 cup brown sugar

 1/2 lime fresh squeezed 

 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

 1/2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper

 Mix all ingredients. Marinade shrimp in 2/3 of the sauce for 20 minutes (no longer, or the lime will 'cook' the shrimp!) Put on skewers. Cook 2-3 minutes each side (depending on the size of the shrimp), and baste with the other 1/3 of the sauce while cooking. 

Click here to read more about fruit salsas.

Zucchini + tzatziki!

There's three Zs in that header! Thinly sliced and grilled zucchini strips were playfully arranged lattice style, then dressed with a dollop of a minty yogurt sauce. I made a cross between an Greek tzatziki sauce and an Indian raita sauce, excluding the diced cucumbers,  so it was yogurt, mint, dill, garlic, lemon juice, dash of cayenne, smidge of honey, salt and pepper. Then I added some halved grape tomatoes, red peppercorns and olive oil. Meals should be fun, right?  

photos, Diane Carnevale

Grilled lobstah!

Today is the last luscious day of an absolutely beautiful spring, and nothing says 'Bring on summer!' better than grilled lobster with basil butter. You can cut back on the amount of butter that Bobby Flay uses in this recipe (it's obscene!) but do use all the basil—it adds an interesting flavor. This lobster was succulent and sweeeet. Since there was a slight Italian vibe, we served this with a side of Italian farro and drank a chilled Prosecco. Bellissimo!

Swizzle + sizzle

It's still ridiculously hot, so last night we grilled up a batch of Vietnamese shrimp on sugarcane swizzle sticks, which just happened to pair perfectly with a Szechuan noodle salad and cool papaya.

You may also like this other Vietnamese food post.

grilled corn

photo, Dan Ryan

These grilled corn, red onions, and, Monterey Jack stuffed jalepeños

paired nicely with grilled tequila-lime chicken breasts. 

Sizzlin'

photo, Dan Ryan 

Burgers sizzlin' on the grill, a classic Memorial Day tradition, 

are a great way to kick off the unofficial start of summer!

Grilled chops and peaches

photo, Dan Ryan

This ain't your grandmas porkchops and applesauce! These grilled pork chops are spicy, salty, sweet, and delicious. They've been shellacked with piquant and sweet glaze made from Stonewall Kitchen's Bellini jam (made with peaches and procecco), and sriracha chili pepper sauce, and BTW, this would work really well on chicken too. The peach halves were wrapped with a slice of pancetta before grilling, then topped with a nice nob of salty blue cheese. The dressing on the greens below it was made with the aforementioned peach jam, too. What would grandma think of this combination of flavors?

photo, Dan Ryan

Peach salad dressing

1 tbsp Stonewall Kitchen Bellini jam

1tbsp chardonnay vinegar (or white wine or champagne vinegar)

3 tblsp grapeseed oil

1 small shallot, minced

salt + pepper

Peach grilling sauce 

2 tbsp Stonewall Kitchen Bellini jam

2 tbsp water

1/2 tsp. sriracha chili pepper sauce
squeeze of lime
salt + pepper

Peaches and prosciutto

                         photo, Diane Carnevale

I was delighted to receive a bag of home grown peaches from our lovely neighbor, Lu! Because they are organic they were on the smallish side, and perhaps the skin was not as perfect as one finds in the green grocer, but to me they were nothing short of a bag of gold. (I am growing an espaliered peach tree in my French potager garden, but it's only in its second year so no peaches yet.) On the short walk home from Lu's house my mind raced with what to make with them: Peach soup with pancetta crisps?... Wrapped in prosciutto and grilled along with a peach and chipotle shellacked pork chop?... Peach and avocado salad?... Well, we ate most of them for breakfast the next day—just as they were—and some less than perfect ones are destined for a soup, but I saved one gorgeous peach to have for my lunch. I got the grill screaming hot and quickly seared the peaches, then added them to a bed of peppery arugula (anointed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar glaze), a few thin slices of prosciutto, and judicious shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. The salty prosciutto is a perfect marriage with the sweet peaches. Thanks Lu!

                                                                                                                                                              photo, Diane Carnevale

Mahi mahi + fruit salsa

A lime green cilantro chutney wakes up a piece of grilled mahi mahi fish and a bright, fruity (and spicy) papaya pineapple salsa takes you to the islands, mon. Fruit salsas go perfectly with grilled fish or chicken and they are fun and easy to make. You don't even need a recipe for salsas, just some rough guidelines. photos, Dan Ryan

Beautiful papaya!

Here's my fruit salsa formula: I use mango, pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe, pears, or any combo of those, and to the fruit I always add an acid to brighten the flavors (a squeeze of lime or vinegar), heat to give it a kick (sriracha chili sauce or diced jalepenos), a sweetener to balance the sour flavors (honey, sugar or agave nectar), some kind of a crunch (diced red onions, green onions, carrots, jicama or sweet red, yellow, or orange peppers), cilantro, and of course, salt and pepper. If you have an Asian fish sauce, absolutely do use that but then skip the salt. The fish sauce adds a killer umami. A drizzle of olive oil will add a nice savory flavor and depending on how wild I am feeling I might even add some shaved coconut, curry powder or even a splash of rum, and garnish with a flower from the garden. There's no right or wrong to fruit salsas, just experiment and have fun!

Cilantro chutney
a thumbsize piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 fresh hot green chile such as jalapeño or serrano, trimmed
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro sprigs
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper

Notes:

You can also add in 1/4 cup grated coconut 

Mint leaves will darken with the acid, so don't mix them in until you're going to serve dinner.

Grilled pizza

Unless you have a pizza oven (two words:"wish list"!), a charcoal grill produces the crispiest pizza. Even pizza cooked on a stone will not come out this delicate and crispy; besides, who wants to blast the oven to 500° in the summer anyhow? We use hardwood charcoal for intense heat that helps the crisp factor, and we make 4 small pizzas instead of one large one. Be sure to have two heat zones on your grill (charcoal on just one half of the grill). I cook the dough directly over the hot fire for a less than a minute, flip it over, put the toppings on and let it cook over the fire for a minute or so, then move it to the side of the grill (covered) with no fire under it to finish cooking. This is when the cheese melts the way it would in a regular oven. Our favorite pizza has got to be good old Margherita pizza, but we also love a white pizza topped with pancetta, a white pizza topped with shrimp, rosemary and scallion (shown below), and a chicken sausage pizza (shown above). Smoky, crispy, molto bene!

photos, Dan Ryan

Oh, baby!

We're in the midst of some "wicked naahsty" summer heat and humidity, which means it's way too hot to be in la cucina. Luckily I had steamed some baby artichokes last weekend so they were all ready to grill. The pics above show the process before, during and after. Artichokes never look as pretty as when they are raw, and the Italians actually shave and eat the baby ones just like that, but I prefer them steamed with garlic and lemon. A drizzle of some olive oil and lemon and dinner is done. 

Smokin'

photos, Dan Ryan

In complete contrast to last week's fine French food fête, we spent yesterday afternoon grillin', swillin' and chillin' with our pal Mr. Stubbs. We made a classic barbecue meal that took much of the day to cook. (Relax, Mr. Weber really did most the work, not us.) 

First we put a dry rub of spices onto a pork shoulder and put it in the fridge for a day so they could all get to know each other. Then Dan fired up the grill Saturday morning using Stubbs hardwood charcoal briquettes and put the pork shoulder on the grill, where it cooked in indirect heat (about 250 degrees) for six hours. Chunks of hickory provided added smoke and flavor. The neighbors must have been mad with curiosity about the heavenly aromas wafting through the air. Here's a link to the dry rub recipe.  We don't follow Cook's Illustrated's cooking instructions because they have the pork finished in the oven (as if!) Dan usually just finds some other recipes for cooking it all on a grill; this one's a good one (heck, we might even try their rub/injection recipe someday). 

Next come the ancillaries. A good barbecue sauce is a must, and we've been using one particular recipe from Steven Raichlen for years. It's the perfect combination of tangy-sweet-molasses-spiciness. The recipe uses the usual barbecue sauce suspects, plus some unusual ones, such as apple cider. And Martin's Potato Rolls are the perfect bun for this pulled-pork sandwich.

Side dishes included Boston baked beans (an amazing metamorphosis of the humble navy bean into an insanely rich mahogany-coated, slow-cooked wonder—canned beans are fine, just skip the salt); cucumbers and red onions in a sugared vinegar sauce; and a citrusy coleslaw. The bright and tart freshness of the cucumbers and coleslaw were a nice counterpoint to the rich beans and pulled pork sandwiches, slathered in that BBQ sauce. A $12 bottle of Cline zinfandel (red, of course) packed enough punch to go perfectly with the festival of flavors. There's plenty of summer left, so get out those checkered napkins and roll up your sleeves.

Oh, Fiorentina!

Italy was calling us. For our first grilling of the season Dan made us an amazing bistecca alla Fiorentina. First he got the hardwood charcoals screaming hot, seared the thick Porterhouse steak directly on the coals for about 3 minutes on each side to lock in those juices, then he cooked it a bit longer on the grate. The seasoning for this Florentine classic is nothing more than good olive oil (Italian, of course) basted with a rosemary sprig, salt and pepper all added during grilling, and a big post-grilling squeeze of lemon juice to bring out those lovely high notes. With the beef we also had roasted potatoes with sage, rosemary, parsley, and olive oil.  (David Rocco recipe). With this spectacular Italian beef dinner we drank a really fabulous 2005 Brunello di Montalcino from Fattoria dei Barbi. The entire experience was insanely delicious.