It's chilly, so...chili!

Here in NY we've suddenly fallen out of fall and smack into winter.  I'm glad I enjoyed the crisp air and colorful leaves while they lasted.  Today I think Dan and I will have to take the A/C unit out of the window.  We've stubbornly resisted long enough, but summer is officially over.  And denial is not just a river in Egypt.

Just a quick post to share my favorite chili spice blend with you.  Although it may seem like a lot, I typically use the whole recipe amount when I'm preparing a big pot.  The resulting chili, whether it's chili con carne, chili non carne, or whatever form of chili in between, is sure to stand out in flavor.  Just be sure to supplement with enough salt so that all this rich spice really shines!

Chili Powder Blend (adapted from The Joy of Cooking)
makes 1/2 cup

5 tablespoons ground mild chile pepper (such as ancho, pasilla, new mexico, etc.)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground red pepper (Aleppo is best, cayenne is also good)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Use immediately, or store in an airtight container.

Christmas is a cookie

I'm not a huge cookie person, nor am I much of a holiday enthusiast, but these soft and chewy molasses cookies, reminiscent of gingerbread house disasters of yore, really hit the spot!  I used a modified version of a recipe found in the recent NY Times holiday cookie feature, substituting butter for the called-for shortening, because I'm that kinda girl.  These are especially delicious warm out of the oven, with a glass of cold milk, and some requisite Christmas Sinatra crooning in the background.

Holiday Molasses Crinkles (printable recipe)

(makes about 30 cookies)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg
1/2 cup molasses

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat, if you have one.

With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Next mix in the egg and molasses.   In a separate bowl, sift together the remaining dry ingredients and blend well.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the molasses-butter mixture, mixing with a spatula until entirely uniform.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Using a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon measure, lay out small balls of cookie dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.  Dip the scoop or spoon into hot water in between scoops to make it easier.  You should be able to fit about a dozen cookies on the sheet at a time, meaning you'll do 3 batches (or use 3 separate baking sheets).

Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and allow to settle on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  Enjoy immediately, or store in an airtight container for later enjoyment!

Chicken pizza?!!

Yes, folks, you read that right: Chicken pizza. Or, really, chicken lamejun. Lamejun is a flatbread made in Armenia and Turkey that is typically topped with ground lamb, onion, and spices chopped finely into a paste. This non-traditional version, again taken from Ana Sortun's "Spice," is a wonderful adaptation. Imagine an aromatic chicken meatball spread all over a thin piece of bread (called lavash). Having just acquired an 11-cup Cuisinart food processor (thanks, Mom!), I thought I would take it for a test drive with this simple recipe:

Chicken Lamejun with Roasted Red Peppers, Pistachios, and Za'atar
(makes 4 large lamejun)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 small Spanish onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 scallions, trimmed and minced
1 teaspoon za'atar (see previous post)
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg white
1/4 cup milk
1 cup toasted and ground pistachios
4 rectangular pieces of lavash
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 roasted red peppers, deseeded, skinned, and sliced into strips
Homemade labneh (see previous post) for serving

1. Trim chicken breasts of any cartilage or fat and cut into 1- to 2-inch cubes.
2. Grind the chicken in a food processor until you get a smooth paste, for about 1 minute.
3. Use the pulse button to add in the onion and scallions, za'atar, salt, and egg white.
4. Remove the mixture to a small bowl, and stir in the milk and pistachios.
5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Spread a thin, even layer of the chicken mixture onto each lavash, all the way to the edges.
7. Put the lamejuns on a baking sheet or a pizza stone (or even in a baking dish that is too small, so the ends hang over the sides - you'll end up with a bowl-shaped lamejun!) and bake for about 15 minutes, until the lavash is crisp and the chicken mixture is totally cooked (it should be completely firm).
8. Serve each lamejun with a few red pepper strips and a dollop of labneh cheese.

Dan enjoyed his lamejun!

My new super-snack

This might not be what you typically reach for when you're feeling peckish, but my new go-to is warm whole-wheat pita with homemade labneh and za'atar. It's delicious and healthy. This new dish was inspired by yet another wonderful addition to my cookbook collection: "Secrets of Cooking," a collection of Armenian/Lebanese/Persian recipes by Linda Chirinian. The book came wrapped in brown paper, with a NYC return address label that showed the headquarters of the AGBU (the Armenian General Benevolent Union) - for some, a mysterious benefactor, but I knew right away that this was a gift from my Aunt Viviane in Paris, who presides over the AGBU (in French it's "UGAB") in the City of Love. Big batchigs to you, Viviane!

Now, onto the definitions: Labneh is a yogurt cheese, made by straining plain yogurt, mixed with a bit of salt, through a sieve lined with cheesecloth for up to 12 hours. Imagine Greek yogurt, but even better. It is tart, creamy, and spreadable.

Za'atar is a word that refers both to a family of Middle Eastern herbs, closely related to thyme and oregano, as well as to a spice mixture that is a blend of sumac, toasted sesame seeds, the green herb itself (whichever variety you go with), and sea salt. I mixed a variation on what I found in the cookbook and on various websites:

1/4 cup sumac
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon sea salt

Simply toast the sesame seeds lightly in a dry skillet, then grind them gently, either in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle (my preference). Then mix in the remaining ingredients and Voila! you have homemade za'atar.

To enjoy these two creations together, spoon some labneh into a bowl, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkle generously with za'atar and more sea salt to taste.

Happy dipping!

A condiment occasion

One would think my full-time job as a cook might slow my pace of home-cooking, but not so, sir! Yesterday I spent exactly the entire day in the kitchen, made two new spice blends (a fish spice and some Ras El-Hanout), used the latter to make homemade harissa, made a pickled red onion condiment, and also whipped up some parsley butter with loads of garlic. Also, I oven-dried some tomatoes to use in my harissa. Here's the aerial view:


You may be asking yourself, what's this harissa stuff? Well, it's a sauce typically used in North African (ie. Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian) kitchens for many purposes, such as flavoring meats, brightening soups, mixing into cous-cous, etc. The uses are rather infinite because it's so damn tasty. The number of recipes for harissa are just about as infinite, but mine is a blend of the following (makes about 1 cup):

1/2 cup ground hot red chilis
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (I used my oven-dried ones)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons Ras el Hanout **
2 tablespoons olive oil

Note: you'll want to strain this blend through a fine-mesh sieve before serving to extract all the chili pepper skins and seeds.

** Ras el Hanout translates from Moroccan Arabic to "head of the shop" and refers to a spice mixture comprised of the best products the shop owner has to offer. So, again, many different variations on this tune. Mine has cumin, saffron, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and loads of medium-hot paprika.

After I had played mad-scientist with my spices for long enough, I made a simple dinner of grilled steak strips placed on pita bread to showcase my new repertoire of condiments: the still hot steak got a slight schmear of parsley butter, then a pile of pickled onions, then a drizzle of my extra hot harissa.

Accompanying the main was a salad of thinly-sliced fennel bulbs, sectioned oranges, and baby greens, seasoned simply with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a light sprinkling of chopped parsley.


Oh, and there was plenty of vino! Dan contributed a shiraz, and Steph a syrah - both totally hit the bulls-eye of appropriate meat-pairing wines. And both were mercilessly drained by the end of the evening!

Spicy food for the Soul

Friday night dinners have become a real thing around here for the past few weeks. Last time, it was the "spoon lamb" with my rice pilaf. This time, I improved upon my rice with a fancy new spice mix I made, and served it alongside some Persian fried chicken (me!?? fried?? health nut...no more??) and salad with pomegranate vinaigrette.

I just worked all day and I'm not feeling too chatty, so I'll just dump these pictures and quick blurbs into your lap(top) for you to gander at.

Sweet (and savory!) dreamzzzz...Take 2 of my pilaf involved the same basmati rice, this time with carrot ribbons braised in orange juice and zest, chopped toasted pistachios, and a spice blend that featured dried rose petals, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, ground to a fine and fragrant powder in my spice grinder. I mixed the spice with some olive oil to make a paste, with which I coated the still hot rice, thus quickly cooking the spices and allowing them to melt into the soft floral scent of the basmati. Mmm, can you smell that....?

The Persian Fried Chicken recipe came from page 56 of Ana Sortun's book (still my new obsession), so I can't disclose the thing, but I'll tell ya this: I marinated chicken thighs in yogurt, garlic, and mint, and then dredged them in paprika-spiked flour, and fried them in a vat of hot oil until they looked like something deeply Southern. But they tasted Middle Eastern! Quite tricky.
The spinach salad was refreshing and dressed simply:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 3/4 cup olive oil

I'm considering going into business selling my own spice blends:
Whaddya think?

SPiCE!

As a kid, I used to love mixing watercolor paints, inventing bold new colors, and sometimes just making a mess on the page. As an almost-adult, a palette of (and a palate for) spices has replaced my watercolor collection, and thanks to a gift from my dear friend Zahra, I now have a new source of inspiration for my taste compositions: "Spice," a cookbook by Ana Sortun, the chef/owner of my favorite restaurant in Cambridge, Oleana. (Mom, remember that meal??) Her approach to the cuisines of Turkey, Morocco, and the Arabic tradition in general, is totally exciting and accessible.

The problem with me and cookbooks, however, is that I tend to get too excited to wait and try an actual recipe. I flip through the pages, skimming the ingredients and looking at the pictures, until my impatience and food fervor takes hold of me and I am compelled to do some improv cooking with what I have at hand. It's sort of my way of welcoming a new cookbook into my life.

So, this snowy morning, drawing inspiration from Ana, I cooked a pot of chickpeas, mixed a spice blend of my own, and made a salty, addictive snack food that will knock those old wasabi peas right off your shelf!


Crunchy Chickpeas

3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 teaspoon whole cumin
1 teaspoon whole coriander seed
3 whole cardamom pods, outer green shells removed
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

2. Set a dry saute pan over high heat. Once hot, add the cumin, coriander, cardamom and peppercorns. Swirl the pan around until the seeds are fragrant but not toasted or burnt. Remove to a spice/coffee grinder, let cool, and grind to a fine powder.

3. Add the spice mixture to a small bowl and mix in the turmeric, olive oil, and salt.

4. In a large bowl, mix the chickpeas and spice paste until the chickpeas are evenly coated. Pour out onto the baking sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes, stirring the chickpeas every 10 minutes or so to ensure they roast evenly. Enjoy these as a garnish for a grain pilaf, or on their own as a healthy snack.

I want to know: What's your favorite spice mix?