My approach to cooking to seek genuine recipes that come from folks who know about a particular cuisine and in this instance I’m the wisdom of Art Smith, one-time chef to Oprah Winfrey. At Table 52, Art Smith’s restaurant in Chicago, he serves his fried chicken only on Sunday’s for his Southern Brunch.

Art Smith’s Fried Chicken is first placed in a brine solution over night then place in a buttermilk/Tabasco  for a day then, it’s dredged in flour and buttermilk twice, giving you lots of that delicious crispy skin and juicy, succulent chicken meat underneath. This isn’t health food but it’s delicious and everyone should make and offer it on occasion for family or friends.

Brining is a method of making meat (often poultry or pork) moister by soaking it in a basic solution of water and salt (sugar and other flavourings may be added) then the meat is cooked. I was first introduced to brining when I heard about how this method will guarantee my roast turkey will turn out moist & juicy each and every time. Chicken is moister than turkey so you know how the results are going to be here!

The second step in Art Smith’s Fried Chicken is to allow the brined chicken to then soak in buttermilk that’s been spiked with some Tabasco sauce. I used my favoured hot sauce, Sriracha and I got the heat I wanted plus more flavour. The enzymes in buttermilk tenderize meat and don’t think that the buttermilk is going to get dumped – no, NO! You see, during the third step in making the best fried chicken ever is to remove the chicken pieces from the buttermilk then dredge it in an Old Bay seasoned flour then dunk the chicken once more in the reserved buttermilk and finally dredge one more time in the flour.

My previous attempts at homemade fried chicken failed because they were dredged in flour just once and what I ended up getting was either a fried chicken with a coating that looked unappetizing and burnt or just golden but the chicken meat inside was not fully cooked. I’m convinced the double coating of buttermilk and seasoned flour protects allow the coating and chicken meat to endure the 12 minutes cooking time in the fry pan.

The flour here is seasoned with Old Bay seasoning, a mixture that’s often used for seafood boils in the South and now very popular throughout Canada and the US. Old Bay is named after Chesapeake Bay where this seasoning mix was born. Many fish mongers now sell it, many grocery stores and high-end food shops will also sell it. There’s always mail-order and you could always mix your own batch of Old Bay seasoning. Everyone should add Old Bay into their pantry and everyone should make Art Smith’s Fried Chicken.

On the day I first sunk my teeth into this dish from the heavens, I collaborated with Paula of Dragon’s Kitchen to make a southern-style dinner. We settled on the fried chicken, some macaroni & cheese, cheddar & chive biscuits and collard greens with smoked turkey or ham hocks. Collards are a loose large leafed plant with long stalks that belong to the broccoli and cabbage family. The collard greens were a dish I thought of including after having this delicious side dish while having lunch in Harlem, New York at Sylvia’s, Queen of Soul Food.

Collard greens are not difficult to prepare but they do require some time: cut the stalks off (I discarded them) then soak and rinse them free of any dirt/grit then add them into a large pot with some diced onions, garlic, stock (or bouillon cubes with hot water) plus a leg or thigh or smoked turkey or a smoked ham hock. The collards are then simmered until tender, taking on the flavours of the melting onions, garlic and smoked meat. A fantastic side dish that/s perfect for fried chicken.

The other key to perfect fried chicken is to shallow-fry them. I used a heavy-bottom Dutch oven to fry them and when one says shallow-fry, you’re talking about frying in about 1-inch of oil. The chicken is fried in batches and for about 6 minutes /side. You’ll see the flour coating turn a lovely golden-brown and after making this fried chicken a few times, I can say with confidence that the chicken is also cooked through! Don’t you feel like fried chicken tonight?

Art Smith’s Fried Chicken

(serves 4)

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces (thighs, legs, wings, backs), trimmed of any excess skin

1/2 cup salt

enough water to cover chicken by 1 inch

enough buttermilk to just cover chicken (approx. 4 cups)

2 tablespoons Tobasco (I used Sriracha sauce)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil, for frying

1. In a pot, dissolve 1/2 cup of the salt in the water. Submerge the chicken in the brine; refrigerate overnight.
2. Drain and rinse the chicken. Rinse out the pot. Add the buttermilk and hot sauce (to taste), submerge the chicken in the buttermilk and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
3. In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, garlic powder, Old Bay, cayenne, black pepper and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Run your fingers down each piece of chicken to remove excess buttermilk then dredge in the flour. Dip the chicken back into the buttermilk and coat again in the flour.
4. Meanwhile, in a large cast-iron skillet, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 350-365°. Fry the chicken in batches until golden and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in a pre-heated 250F oven until ready to serve.

Collard Greens

(for 4)

1 bunch of collard greens

2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil

1 large onion, peeled & sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 smoked turkey leg or ham hock

chicken stock (or 1/2 tsp. of chicken bouillon (cube) + hot water)

1. Lop-off the stalks from the collard greens and discard then place the leafy greens in a your sink and fill with water. Allow to soak for a few minutes then drain. Repeat until sand/grit is removed.
2. Now add the olive oil/butter into a large pot and add the onions, garlic, smoked meat sweat for 6-7 minutes. Slice/chop your collards and add into the pot and cover. The steam will render the water in the collards and after about 5 minutes, stir and cover and steam for another 5 minutes. Now add enough stock (or water plus seasoning) to just cover the collard greens and simmer on medium heat with the lid ajar for about 30-40 minutes or until fork tender. Remove the smoked meat and cut up and stir-in. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve as a side with your fried chicken along with some macaroni & cheese and biscuits.

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

Dukem is located on the Danforth, just west of Donlands on the northside. Upon walking into this restaurant you’re transported to another place: African music plays softly in the background, low lights (but not dim enough to not see your food), the exotic aroma of spices (Berbere is an Ethiopian spice mixture) and the smell of coffee beans roasting. Coffee’s origins are from Ethiopia and they take it very seriously. You can request/order an Ethiopian Coffee ceremony where the entire process of coffee making is performed right in front of your table. We caught the table behind us being presented with a pot full of roasting coffee beans. The smell was intoxicating!

Injera bread

The room is very tastefully decorated with photographs of Ethiopia displayed and on sale. The tables are wooden, menus and drinks lists already at hand a long with salt, sugar, napkins and wet-naps! You see, you’re not going to get any cutlery at an Ethiopian restaurant as you’re supposed to eat with your right hand. The national bread of Ethiopia is Injera, a spongy large bread with the consistency much like a pancake and made of sorghum flour.

I entered Dukem with little info on Ethiopian cuisine other than knowing Berbere spices were prominent, one ate with your hands and the way to eat was to pinch a piece of Injera bread and scoop some food off the communal platters that you are served in. In Ethiopia, food is eaten family style and that’s how the portions arrive – big and you’re supposed to share. Our server was all to willing to offer assistance in ordering from the menu: lots of meat and vegetarians options raging from lamb, beef and chicken to lentils, spinach, beets and split peas.

Once again, the portions are generous and you should go to an Ethiopian restaurant with friends so that you may order more and share! After the menu was explained by our server, we settled on a meat (tibs) combo of meat, chicken and lamb with an array of vegetable offerings on the same platter. We also order a vegetable dish…always seeking a balance of meat and vegetables.

The first dish was the “special meat combo” that included marinated lamb, beef and chicken, all similar all different in their spice blend along with lentils, split peas, spinach, beets. I loved the beef and lamb, the spices in the chicken were a little bitter for my liking and I loved the vegetables and lentils too! There’s a lot of variety here and the pinching of Injera bread and picking up a different bite of food each time was exciting for the palate.

I saw that some other patrons were drinking wine but my server suggested beer as that’s what most seem to enjoy with Ethiopian food. Wine is a better sale for a restaurant but I appreciated her honesty. I ordered the Ethiopian beer on the menu but sold out – the Heineken washed the Ethiopian food down real well! The next dish to arrive was the “vegetarian medley” combo. What arrived was a stir-fried beef with onions and peppers and served on a hot plate – much like fajitas would. Although this dish also tasted good, it did remind me of fajita seasoning and if I were strictly vegetarian this dish would be a problem. Did we mis-communicate our order? Did we in fact receive tibs (meat) with vegetables?

The food was delicious (save for the bitter-spiced chicken), loved eating with my hands, Injera bread is a great conduit for the food, most of which has some heat but nothing too fiery and besides…it’s all washed down well with beer! For some reason our orders took awhile to arrive but the food was hot, very aromatic and delicious. Service is attentive and prompt and a dinner for two will set you back about $50-60.

The smell of the spices wafting in the air as you wait for your food is worth the visit alone and I have to go back for the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony. Who’s coming along?

Dukem Restaurant

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

I’ve seen many takes of this dish around Greece but Dirk was served chicken with Ouzo at a taverna in Rethymno, Crete, a small city with an old Venetian harbour that’s located about 90 minutes west of the Cretan capital Heraklion. The original dish had an Ouzo-cream sauce which you can adapt the recipe to but on the day I made this dish I opted for a non-cream sauce and instead serve the chicken in Ouzo sauce with some rice and strained Greek yogurt.

The yogurt can be swirled into the sauce or served on a piece of chicken or swirl it in with some rice…another fave combo of Greeks. Have you ever topped rice with yogurt? Here’s your chance!

Chicken With Ouzo (Κοτόπουλο με Ούζο)

(serves 4)

1/4 cup olive oil

4 breast of skinless chicken breasts or 6 thighs, boned and diced

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

all-purpose flour for dredging

3 large sized tomatoes, diced

1 zucchini, finely diced

1 large red onion, diced

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 cup of Oyster mushrooms (or whatever fresh mushroom is available)

1 tsp. all-purpose flour

1/3 cup dry white wine

1 shot of Ouzo

1 cups of vegetable or chicken stock

pinch of Boukovo (chilli flakes)

1 tsp. dried Greek oregano

1. Rinse the chicken well and pat-dry, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Place a skillet on your stovetop over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly dredge in all-purpose flour and place in the skillet when oil is hot then brown on all sides and remove with a slotted spoon, reserve.
2. In the same pan, add mushrooms and zucchini and sauté until just browned for about 2-3 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Now add the onions, garlic, peppers, and add a pinch of salt and some fresh ground pepper and stir in. Sweat the vegetables for 5-6 minutes then add 1 tsp. of flour and stir  for 30 seconds then add the wine, stock, Ouzo and bring up to a boil. Now add the chicken back in the skillet, the tomatoes and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency.
3. Ad the reserved mushrooms and zucchini and stir in to heat through. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add the chilli flakes and dried Greek oregano. Serve with rice and a dollop or two of strained Greek yogurt.

As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway“

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

Thanksgiving doesn’t change much: there’s the turkey, mashed potatoes, a soup, stuffing, roasted vegetables and dessert. I try to keep most of our traditional menu but I also like to break the monotony of the same old-same old Thanksgiving dinner: out was the whole roast turkey and in came Cornish hens. Out was homemade loaf of bread and in with cheddar-chive biscuits. Soup was out of the question as Toronto lucked-out on some Indian Summer and yesterday temperature reached 26C – not a soup kinda’ day. Dessert was brought in by a dinner guest and like every year…dessert can be anything as long as the ingredients are autumn-like.

Our Thanksgiving meal began with a grilled fennel salad with mixed greens, pickled red onions, supremes of orange and julienne of red peppers.

Next up were these light, airy and very flavourful Cheddar and Chive biscuits, courtesy of Mike at Mike’s Table. You need some aged cheddar and lots of chives to make these biscuits a success. These were real easy to make and everyone at the table love them!

The main course was up: roasted Cornish Hens stuffed with goat’s cheese and figs. Since I didn’t roast a turkey I thought I could at least brine the hens. Result? Moist, succulent little birds that were wonderfully flavoured by  the marinade of wine, garlic, herbs and citrus. I didn’t tell my guests their main was stuffed. It was a surprise. My sister-in-law cut into the hen and tasted the filling…”OH MY GOD THERE’S GOAT CHEESE IN THE STUFFING”!!! I think every dinner should have a surprise in one of the courses. This time it was the goat cheese and fig stuffing.

Side dishes included garlic mashed potatoes and gravy from the drippings in the roasting pan.

You can’t have a Thanksgiving Dinner without cranberry sauce.

I also love a traditional stuffing: I take the meat out the casings from Italian sausage and brown them with giblets, onion, celery, sage and stale bread and mix them up with stock and cream and throw it in the oven until golden. Now it smells like Thanksgiving!

All that’s left is to serve dessert: one of dinner guests brought a Pumpkin cheesecake with a Bourbon-Caramel-Walnut Sauce, many thanks to Paula of Dragons’ Kitchen. The perfect end to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I was speechless.

There’s always leftovers after Thanksgiving…do you want a “Ducky-Bag”?

Roasted Cornish Hens Stuffed With Goat Cheese & Figs

(serves 4)

4 Cornish hens (thawed overnight in frozen)

fresh ground pepper

coarse sea salt

Brine

water

1 cup salt

Marinade

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground fennel seeds

1 Tbsp. sweet paprika

zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

2 tsp. ground pepper

Stuffing

1 goat cheese

10 dried figs, roughly chopped

zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp. thyme leaves

1 egg

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Pre-heated 400F oven

1. One day ahead, rinse your hens well and place them in plastic container large enough to hold them. Fill the container with enough water to cover the birds them remove them set aside for a moment. Now add 1 cup of salt and stir until the salt has melted. Now place the hens back in the brine and cover and place in the fridge overnight.
2. The next day, rinse your hens well and pat-dry. Place them in a container along with all the marinade ingredients (oil, wine, garlic, paprika, fennel, lemon juice and zest, thyme leaves and fresh ground pepper. Toss the hens well in the marinade and place in the fridge for for 3 hours. Remove from the fridge and allow about 30 minutes to return to room temperature. In the meantime, add the goat cheese in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the remaining stuffing ingredients into the bowl and mix well and taste/adjust seasoning.
3. Spoon the filling into the cavity of each hen then tie-up your birds with butcher’s twine. Pre-heat your oven to 400F. Place the birds on your roasting pan (raised on a rack) and pour the reserved marinade over them. Season the hens with salt and pepper and cut up one carrot, one medium onion and about 1 cup of chopped fennel bulb and place on the rack around the hens) and add about 2 cups hot water into the pan. Stick a spring of rosemary in between the leg and breast and roast your Cornish hens for approx. 60 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 180F (check to see if you need to add more water).
4. Remove the hens from the rack, cover with foil and reserve. Pour the liquid in the pan into a gravy separator (discard veggies) and place a medium saucepan on your stove-top – medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp. of butter and when it melts, add a heaping Tbsp. of flour and stir in with a wooden spoon. Now add your hot pan juices gradually into the pot while stirring. Taste and adjust seasoning and when it’s thickened to your liking – take off the heat and reserve until dinner is served.
5. By now your Cornish hens have rested – snip the butcher’s twine and place on a platter with roast vegetables and serve. I like red with this dish, try a Pavlou Estate Syrah-Xinomavro P62.

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

In the winter time when people are entertaining the kitchen seems to become the center of gravity as the guests hover near the food. The same goes for the outdoors – guests hover around the grill. My uncle built a covered outdoor grill pit that is used to entertain and he’s even rigged it for rotisserie lamb for Easter!

One of these days I’m going to make it to Greece for Easter but in the meantime, I have wonderful memories of Spring in Greece and one of them was grilling this “spatchcock” or butterflied chicken at my Theo Mitso’s. I helped him by butterflying the chicken with a cut down along the spine of the bird, we then flattened the chicken with a heavy pot and tossed it in a marinade of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper.

My uncle’s chicken was juicy, with crisp skin and that mellow smoky flavour that only fruit wood can impart, the meat was juicy and flavourful and I can still smell and taste this chicken now! Here in the west, butterflying a whole chicken in this way is called “spatchcock” and I do like saying “spatchcock”, I know you secretly like to too but if you’re too shy you may call this butterflied chicken.

The flavours of this marinade will please the Greek palate: oregano and thyme, lemon and garlic, paprika and pepper, sea salt and bay leaves. I’ve also added a couple of shots of Tsipouro into the marinade to help soften the meat and add some complexity to the flavour. Tsipouro is made with the stems and grapes leftover from winemaking and it’s tradtionally made in Autumn. The grapes, stems are crushed, fermented and boiled in copper stills and then double (sometimes triple) distilled until the “heart of the heart”, the purist Tsipouro is made. Tsipouro is a digestif often served after meal and it may contain anise or not. The Tsipouro I used here contains no anise but the aroma of the grapes and stems comes through. The Cretans call this Raki or Tsikoudia and Italians produce Grappa. Choose your booze, butterfly and grill a whole chicken and welcome the grilling season!

Spatchcock Chicken (Κοτοπουλο Πεταλουδα στη Σχαρα)

1 whole chicken, rinsed & patted dry

Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, minced

zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp. sweet paprika

2 shots of Tsipouro (or Grappa)

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano (1/2 if dried)

1 tsp. fresh black pepper

1 tsp. sea salt

4-5 bay leaves

1. Flip your chicken with the back facing up towards you. Using kitchen sheatrs or a heavy sharp knife, cut down along the spine to open the chicken’s cavity. Flip the bird (breast side now facing you) and press down on the carcass with your hands. You may also use a meat mallet or heavy pot to help flatten the bird. Rinse and pat dry the chicken and reserve on a baking tray/vessel.
2. In a bowl, add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, paprika, Tsipouro (grappa), thyme, oregano, salt and pepper and whisk well with a fork. Pour the marinade over the chicken, add the bay leaves and rub it into the entire chicken. Cover and place in the fridge for 6 hours to overnight.
3. Allow your chicken to return to room temperature before grilling. Prepare your gas or charcoal grill with the goal of attaining a medium heat (count of 5 when placing hand over heat). Brush your grill surface and lightly lubricate /wipe with an oil-treated towel.
4. Season your chicken lightly with coarse sea salt and a bit more fresh ground pepper and when you’ve attained medium heat, slap the bird breast-side down over direct medium heat. In the meantime, add some halved onions, lemons and whole tomatoes and peppers on the grill as they make for a wonderful complement to your spatchcock chicken.
5. Grill on each side for approx 20 minutes a side and stay near your grill and be wary of any fat flare-ups from the fat in the chicken’s skin. The chicken is easy when the juices run clear, the quarter leg should wiggle/almost come apart from the body or use a meat thermometer (should read 180F).
6. Remove the chicken from the grill and serve on a platter with BBQ potatoes, grilled lemons, tomatoes and peppers, Drizzle some olive oil on the chicken and squeeze some of the sweet grilled lemon over the bird. Sprinkle some dried Greek oregano and garnish with some thyme or oregano sprigs. Serve with a Boutari “4 Seasons” white.

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.