spork me

Festive Toast

Not that long ago, I went to a little hole in the wall Lebanese place in Sydney, where they had hummus, and festive hummus. I’m not sure what necessarily makes something festive or not, but it seemed like the most appropriate thing to call this jazzed up toast.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of bread
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp dukkah
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp butter
Sprinkle of salt

In a sandwich press, start to grill the bread. Mix up the rest of the ingredients and mash with the back of your knife to form a spread and all the spices are mixed into the butter. Once the bread is pretty brown, split the spread between the 2 slices, and grill for 2 or 3 minutes more, until golden.

Spicy Tunisian Carrot Frittata

I only had carrots and eggs one morning, and no bread, for breakfast. I found this recipe and made a version of it (a version, because I didn’t finish reading it), the main difference being that I sprinkled it with dukkah for a crunchy topping, and finished it with some parmesan cheese. Good way to use up all those carrots in the refrigerator drawer.

Dukkah Chicken with White Wine Barley and Mushrooms, and Red Cabbage

Ingredients (chicken and mushrooms):

2 chicken marylands
2 tbsp dukkah
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup of white wine (you can use half verjuice if you have it)
1/2 cup barley
1 cup water
2 cups roughly chopped mushrooms (any kind)
Salt, pepper and olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, diced

In an oven proof pan, saute the garlic a bit in some olive oil. Add the mushrooms, mix, then the barley. Top with the wine and get warm, then add the water. Season with salt and pepper. Put the chicken, skin side up, on top. Rub the chicken with olive oil, the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the whole dish with dukkah, and put in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200C until the chicken is crispy and the liquid has absorbed.

The red cabbage is a variation of this one; I ran out of dried fruit and used cilantro instead of dill, but it was really nice with this dish.

Dukkah Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Goat’s Cheese and Basil

Served with a side of green beans, you could also make this by tying the chicken or wrapping it with pancetta, but it works out fine the “lazy” way. Takes about 30 minutes total.

Ingredients (serves 4):

6 pieces of boneless chicken thighs
6 tbsp goat’s cheese
6 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
4 tbsp dukkah
1/2 onion, sliced
4 tomatoes
Salt, pepper, olive oil

Get an ovenproof skillet warm on the stove and saute onions in a bit of olive oil. Mash up the goat’s cheese and basil and season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Split the cheese mixture between the 6 pieces of chicken, and wrap it so it’s on the inside (it will probably come apart a bit while cooking). Place the chicken in the pan with the tomatoes and sprinkle the whole dish with dukkah, and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes at 200C / 375F.

Dukkah and Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Strawberry, Butter Bean and Balsamic Salad

I thought I’d try Saskia Beer’s chicken and see what the hype was about. It wasn’t as cheap as “regular” chicken ($8 instead of $3.50 for about the same amount), but I’m completely sold. I didn’t marinade this at all, probably cooked it for too long, and it was incredibly juicy and had an amazing flavor. I served it with a really easy salad, all up it was about 10 minutes of work and an hour of drinking wine in the living room with the kittens.

Ingredients (salad):

3 cups torn cos lettuce
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 can butter beans, rinsed
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil

Toss the lettuce, strawberries, butter beans, salt and pepper. Add the balsamic and oil right before serving and mix well.

Ingredients (chicken):

2 whole chicken legs with thighs
3 tbsp dukkah
Salt and pepper
2 small onions, halved with skins removed
4 garlic cloves, woody ends removed but skins on
1-2 stalks rosemary
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil

In an oven-proof skillet, add the oil. Rub the chicken with the dukkah, salt and pepper, and brown the top on high heat for about 3-4 minutes. Flip over the chicken, add the onion and garlic to the pan, and pick the rosemary leaves off the stalk and add over the top. Squeeze lemon juice over everything and then cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 150C / 300F for about an hour, then remove the foil, scoop the pan juices over the top of the chicken, and bake at 200C / 375F for 10 minutes.