Sunday Dish

Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) and Cucumber Salad

 What do you call them, chickpeas or garbanzo beans?  I grew up a garbanzo and have switched to chickpea, not sure why.  Garbanzo is the Spanish name for them and, actually as I sat and thought about it, this came to mind...if you say garbanzo with an accent a la Jersey Shore, gar-ban-zo, it is way more fun.  Maybe I'll switch back.

Never-the-less, chickpeas, garbanzo, ceci,  revithia (had to throw in the Greek name) are legumes that have been given a bad name by being one part of the trio that makes up the dreaded three bean salad.  But lest we not forget that they are also used to make hummus and are quite tasty in cous-cous and all kinds of other Mediteranian dishes.  

I used them in a salad the other night because they are high in protein and my daughter seems well on her way to becoming a vegetarian.  Getting protein in this kid is becoming an exciting challenge.   I used canned chickpeas but have a goal to use fresh in the near future and see if there is a huge difference taste and texture-wise.  

Chickpea and Cucumber Salad with Mint

2 cucumbers - peeled, seeded and sliced.  
(I highly recommend seeding the cuc, makes your salad much less water.)
1 can garbanzo beans drained  (see, I am conflicted.) 
1/2 Red bell pepper - seeded diced
Salt
Pepper 
Honey
Couple sprigs of mint - chopped very fine
Olive Oil
Red Wine vinegar

I tossed the chickpeas with the salt, pepper, honey, mint, olive oil and vinegar and let them marinate for about half and hour.  Then I added my remaining ingredients.  I actually would have liked to add a little red onion, but am getting more allergic to it as I get older so had to leave it out.  If raw onion doesn't bother you, definitely add it.  Other options would be a little feta cheese and some fresh oregano. 

Enjoy! 

Kotopoulo Stifado - Say That Three Times Fast

 

Kotopoulo Stifado.  For the love. I've been exposed to the tongue tying names of Greek food since I was a kid, and this one got to even me!  

"Koh-TOH-poo-loh"  "Sti-FAH-tho".  I think the hardest part is not putting the wrong em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble.    

Pronunciation aside, this is a really tasty dish and one that my Grandpa Pete liked to whip up from time to time.  The basics of this dish are his.  I added a few things here and there and I feel confident that he'd approve of my tinkering. 

Kotopoulo is the chicken and Stifado is the sauce.  And the sauce is what makes this dish sing.  It's perfect food for a cold rainy day.

Oh and for those of you not in So Cal we are actually having some weather.  Not that wimpy "oh it's misting, get your umbrellas and slam on the car brakes"  kind of weather, real rain.  We're on day five of cats and dogs, hail, thunder and lighting.   It felt really nice to be hunkered down in the kitchen cooking last night while Mama Nature did her thing.   

This dish is perfect over potatoes, rice or noodles.  A good crunchy French bread is a must to sop up the flavorful cinnamon and clove infused "gravy".

Kotopoulo Stifado

- olive oil
- 1 lb. purple boiler onions - peeled and left whole
- 1 lb. white or yellow boiler onions - peeled and left whole
- 1 whole, cut up chicken (throw away the innards or save them for something else fabulous)
- 6 cloves of garlic - minced 
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added, with juice
- 1 1/2 lbs. tomatoes - chopped
- couple shakes good quality balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 pepper corns
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 whole allspice berries
- salt to taste

 Cook the onions for about 3 minutes in boiling water and drain.  Once they are cool enough to handle use kitchen shears to trim the top and bottom off then peel off the out layer.  

 Heat up some olive oil in a large pan and saute the onions until they are brown on the outside and bouncing nicely around the pan, set aside.

In a large Dutch oven heat a very small amount of olive oil and brown the chicken pieces taking care not to crowd the pan.  If you need to, brown in batches.  Once the chicken is brown, drain any excess rendered fat if needed and then add the garlic and let it soften up for about 2-3 minutes.

Next, deglaze the pan with the white wine, making sure to scrape of any tasty brown bits from the chicken left on the bottom of the pan.

From there, add all the remaining ingredients and pop the onions back into the pot.  Let it come to a boil then lower then heat, cover and let it simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. 

After 1 1/2 hours remove the chicken and then onions to a platter, covering to keep them warm.  Check the sauce in the pot and adjust your seasonings to taste.  If the sauce feels a little thin let it continue to cook for another 10 minutes uncovered.  Fish out the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and other whole seasonings before serving.  

Serve over potatoes, rice, noodles, cous cous or quinoa might be nice as well.  Like I said the crunchy French bread with lots of butter is a must, as is a glass of wine.  

I thing either red or white will work, but I found a nice dry white (I did Savignon Blac) cuts through the headiness of the sauce. 

I hope you enjoy it - I'm gonna go heat myself up a plate of leftovers right now!

Classic Greek Chicken

Learning to make Greek Chicken as I was growing up was kind of like a rite of passage.  There was a friendly competition between all the women in my family as to who could make the best batch...to see who's version could cause the eater to take that first bite and then close their eyes blissfully.  Even though we all used the same ingredients there is something intangible about what each cook does to this recipe that can make it transcend ordinary baked chicken.   

What truly makes me happy is that this recipe has been passed on beyond the familial boundaries and I now have friends who will call up to tell me they made this dish for their family and how well it turned out.  Nothing could make me feel more proud!

I haven't put exact measurements for some of the ingredients you'll have to trust your palate and use your best judgment with that.  As the weather begins to get cooler this is an easy, comfort food, kind of supper. Let me know how it turns out...

Ingredients:

1 whole cut up chicken - discard the innards.  You can also use your favorite chicken pieces, but if you do be sure to use bone in chicken with the skin on.  Even if you remove the skin later, trust me, it will be much better if you cook with the skin on.

1-2 lbs. red potates

Juice of 6 lemons

1 cup white wine

1 can chicken broth

8 garlic cloves  - thinly sliced

olive oil

salt and pepper

Dried Oregano

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Rinse your chicken and pat it dry

Clean potatoes and depending on the side either cut them in half or quarter them.

Place the chicken in a large roasting pan and scatter the cut up potatoes amongst the chicken pieces.

Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and potatoes - you want to lightly coat each piece - then rub the oil in with your hands.

Pour the lemon juice, half the white wine and half of the can of broth over the chicken & potatoes.

Scatter the garlic slices around the pan.

Season all the chicken generously with salt, pepper and oregano.  Don't be shy - you don't want wimpy flavors - think Greek!

Place the pan in the oven and let it bake for 20-30 minutes until the skin starts to brown.  Baste the chicken, then lower the heat to 375 degrees.  Bake for another 40-60 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, basting at least every 20 minutes - you can do it more if you like. 

Note:  If the sauce in the bottom of your pan begins to dry out, add the remaining wine and chicken broth.  If not,  drink the wine and keep the chicken broth for another day.

Once the chicken is done,  remove it from the oven, cover  the pan with foil and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with Peasant Salad or Corn Salad (I'll post those simple recipes another day) along with a nice white wine and a toasted baguette to sop up all that fabulous lemony sauce!

Opa!!

Chicken with Lemons and Olives

I haven't been cooking as much as I'd like lately.  It bums me out.  I look around at all my favorite blogs (and the ones I wish I had time to frequent more regularly) and I see delicious things like Gingammonbread a la A Southern Grace,  Fennnel and Fig salad from Bitchin Camero and even something as simple as slow roasted tomatoes from Smitten Kitchen.  Gosh, it all looks so good, and I have been adding too infrequently to the fray, for my taste.   

But,  I got my druthers together the other night, and threw together this yummy chicken.  I think I may be slightly insane for cooking a chicken in the oven when it's 90 + degrees outside, but that's what central air conditioning is for....give me a "holla" if you agree!

Chicken with Lemons and Olives

- 1 chicken (2 1/2 - 3lbs)

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon turmeric

- 1 red onion

- 1 cup white wine

- 2 cups chicken broth

- 2 tablespoons honey

- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger root

- 4 lemons - quartered

- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

- olive oil to cook brown the chicken

- salt and pepper

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Start by mixing the cinnamon and the turmeric together...

Then rub it all over the chicken, get under the skin as much as possible.

Note:  I was a newbie to turmeric.  It STAINS!  It's a gorgeous color, but it stains.  It stained the counter, the utensils, the cutting board and my finger nails (yes, gross).  Suffice it to say I spent quite a while scrubbing said counters and cutting boards. And my nails?  Cut to the quick, the next day.  Just an fyi.  Next time?  Plastic gloves and much more care will be involved when seasoning with turmeric.   Moving on....

From there, brown the chicken in a generous amount of olive oil.  Use a dutch oven or other pot that can go from stove top to oven.  Another note, don't make the same mistake I did.  Don't try to turn the chicken over too quickly or you may rip the skin off.  It doesn't change the flavor, but it can ruin how it looks,  and looks count in my book (at least when it comes to food!)

While the chicken is browning cut up one, large red onion.

Ain't she a beaut?   
Then,  remove said chicken, set aside and cook the onions in the rendered chicken fat.

Once the onions are soft  (5-10 minutes) deglaze the pan with white wine.   Then add the chicken broth, honey and ginger root and combine.

Make sure to scrape up all the good bits.  Then pop the chicken back into the pot.

Scoop some of the goodness on top of the chicken. 

Cover, and put it in the oven at 370 degrees for 30 minutes.

After 1/2 an hour pull the chicken out of the oven and add the lemons, olives and salt and pepper to taste.   (Not to obsess, but see the missing bit 'o' skin?  Ooooh!  As Handsome Cohorts youngest daughter would say.... "Tartar Sauce!"    That's how Sponge Bob curses, I believe.)

Cover it back up, pop it back in the oven and continue to cook for another 45 minutes.

The Results:
I served this with steamed veggies.   The flavor was tart and sweet all at the same time.  I really enjoyed it.  It was different, but that's a good thing in my book.   The best part?  When I took the left over chicken and turned it into chicken salad.  I forgot to document it though...
"TARTER SAUCE!"

Fassolakia - Green Bean With Tomatoes

How many of you went on a diet this summer?  I can't see them, but I can feel hands raising across the world.  One of my favorite food programs to follow, the Mediterranean diet,  just happens to contain my favorite foods in the world.  Lucky me!  It's all about lean meats, fresh veggies, including lots of tomatoes, and good for you fats.  I lean toward Greek recipes which are high in flavor. 

Fassolakia - means green beans.  This dish, like most Greek dishes, has many different versions.  The common ingredients, green beans (of course) potatoes and tomatoes. This can be served hot, but is usually served at room temperature, making it a great summer dish, or a good make ahead kind of thing.  The only real task is snapping the ends off the green beans, but that's what Little Chef is for! ;)

Fassolakia:

Ingredients: 

- 1 pound green beens - end trimmed off

  - 1 pound white potatoes - scrubbed and cute to the thickness you like, I tend to like my pieces on the bigger side, but, dealers choice!

- 1 large yellow onion - chopped

- olive oil

- 5 cloves garlic - minced

- 1/2 cup red wine

- 1 can diced tomatoes with the juice

- 2 tablespoons tomato paste

- 2 teaspoons oregano

- salt & pepper

- 1/2 cup or more water

- 3 pods allspice (did you know that allspice is really ground from a dried fruit?  I didn't!  Read all about allspice here...)

- 1 tablespoon butter

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Start by cooking your onions and garlic in a generous amount of olive oil.  Cook until the onions are soft, but not brown.

Then add your washed and trimmed green beans to the pot and give them a good toss.   Let those cook for about 10 minutes, or until the green beens begin to get tender.

Next deglaze the pan with the red wine, then add all the remaining ingredients, except the tomato paste and the butter, combine well.

Let the mixture come to a boil, then reduce the heat and place a lid on the pot half way.  You want some steam to escape so your sauce will thicken up.  Let that cook for about an hour. 

Uncover the pot add the tomato paste and let the sauce continue to thicken for about 15 minutes. Finally, add the butter, combine then take the pot off the heat.  Let the mixture stand until it's room temperature.

Serve it as is, or, if you like, sprinkle a little feta cheese on top!

The Results: 

This dish is easy to make, very flavorful and good for you too!  We actually enjoyed it for breakfast the next day.  I tried it cold as well, and although the flavor held up, the texture wasn't my favorite.  I'd make this again in the winter time and eat it piping hot with some crunch French bread and lots of butter.  But while it's still swim suit weather, I think I'll stick to this version.