Sumac chicken with flatbread

Picture by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times Newspaper 22 April 2015.

You suspect that you‘re on a winner when your dinner guests go unusually quiet, and the only thing that fills the conversational void is the clang of cutlery on plates.  Confirmation comes when your guests finally break their silence to ask for a second helping.

Tender chicken pieces cooked in caramelised onion and spiked with the tartness of sumac make a perfectly messy finger food when partnered with home made flatbread.  Add a salad and bingo, a complete and easy meal.  This dish can also be presented as a pulled chicken flatbread slider.

While the recipe isn’t difficult or particularly complex, all the flavour components work together seamlessly. It’s as simple as that.  

Don’t be intimidated by the quantity of sumac required in the recipe. This spice provides the unique piquancy to the dish, so distinctive in Turkish and Middle Eastern food.  Sumac can be purchased at delis or supermarkets, and sold fresh in quantity at the Nut Shoppe at Fyshwick Markets.

Flatbread

1 ½ cups plain flour, extra for rolling dough

1 tsp salt

1tsp sugar

¾ cup water, warmed

1 ½ tsp dry yeast

Chicken

1 large chicken, quartered

ground black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup ground sumac

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 large yellow onions, minced finely in a food processor

1 tbsp honey

1 small chilli, chopped finely

½ cup chicken stock

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup slivered or flaked almonds

Combine and mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Combine the water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, firstly mixing together lightly by hand. Allow the yeast mixture to sit for about ten minutes to develop foam on the surface. After the foam has developed, turn the stand mixer to a low speed, and slowly add the flour and salt, mixing until a dough forms and the mixture pulls together into a mass. This should take about three to four minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and cover the mixer bowl with cling wrap. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.

Wet your hands first before dividing the dough into two balls. Place the balls on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Cover the balls with a damp, clean tea towel and set aside for about forty-five minutes.

In a large bowl, toss the chicken quarters with half of the olive oil, 3 tbsp of the sumac, half each of the allspice and cinnamon and half of the minced onions. Add a good pinch of pepper and salt and set aside to marinate for about half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 220C. Heat a large non-stick frypan over medium high heat and add the chicken quarters, cooking until browned on both sides, about six to eight minutes. Transfer the chicken pieces to an open ovenproof dish or pan, skin side up. Pour over the chicken stock, and place in the oven for thirty to forty minutes to cook. If the chicken is browning too quickly, place some aluminium foil loosely across the top of the pan. The chicken should be tender and pulling from the bone when done. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the chicken pieces to a plate to keep warm and cover with aluminium foil. Save the pan drippings in a separate small bowl. 

Add the remaining oil to the frypan and place over a medium heat. Add the remaining onions and cook until golden brown, this should take about twenty minutes. Stir in the remaining sumac, allspice and cinnamon, also adding the chopped chilli, honey, salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat slightly and continue to cook for another few minutes, until the mixture is dark and pasty. Transfer the onion paste to a dish.

Wipe the frypan clean with paper towel and melt the butter over medium to high heat. Add the almonds and cook until golden, about three minutes.

Increase the oven temperature to 220C. Working with one dough ball at a time, on a floured benchtop, roll the dough into a thin disk, about twenty-four centimetres across. Perfect circles aren’t required, rustic shapes are the order of the day here. Transfer to an oven tray lined with baking paper. Brush the dough with the reserved pan drippings and spread half the onion paste over the dough, leaving a thin border around the edge. Repeat the process with the second ball of dough. Bake until the bread is puffed and golden, about ten minutes. To serve, cut the flatbread into wedges and place on four plates. Arrange the chicken over the flatbread, sprinkle with the almonds and drizzle with any remaining pan juices.

Serve with a parsley, tomato and onion salad adding a touch of mint and figs if in season. 

Crunchy French toast, yoghurt and rhubarb

 Photo by  Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 8 May 2013

If you’re a Mothers day breakfast-in-bed kind of family, then you could be on a winner with Mum with this easy recipe for French Toast. With some clever backstage supervision, the kids should be able to whip this one up with collateral damage such as crumbs in the sheets kept to a minimum.

While writing this, my thoughts turn to my poor Mum who, with admirable stoicism, endured a number of well meant, but horrendous breakfasts on Mothers Day.  My sisters and I, after preparing that special breakfast without Dad’s help, delivered the teetering tray to a smiling Mum, who was sitting up in bed ready and waiting. The breakfast consisted of a large bowl of cold milk, a sparse layer of rice bubbles floating indolently on the top, and lots of sugar laying in wait for the unsuspecting at the bottom. As my older sister handed the tray over, she tripped and Mum ended up with rice bubbles stuck to her eyelashes and swimming in sweet sticky milk.   

Forever scarred, I can no longer look at rice bubbles in the same way, nor any other liquid based breakfast in bed, with the mandatory, steaming hot, early morning cuppa being the total exception. My firmly held view is breakfast in bed should be toasty, fruity, not too sweet, crumbly or drippy. With this rule in mind, this crispy French Toast will work a treat for Mum; it’s low risk and with a little preparation and organisation you can have this cooked, on the brekky tray and on Mum’s lap (with the plate still under it), all within fifteen minutes.

The point of difference in this recipe is the addition of flour to the egg mixture. This increases the crispiness factor, which is perfect if you are using slices of a good sourdough or brioche loaf, as it allows the flavour of the bread to shine through.  Using day old bread also means the French toast is less likely to fall apart after soaking in the egg mixture.

I am partial to the topping of roasted rhubarb, as it’s still quite tart, without the sugar overload that’s best avoided at breakfast. Roast the rhubarb the day or evening before and leave in the fridge overnight to use the following morning. 

The leftover rhubarb can be kept in the fridge for a week and used to top porridge, muesli, ice cream or just about anything really. Top the whole dish off with a big dollop of creamy Greek yoghurt, and even some good honey to taste if you wish.

Finally, a Mums Day tip for kids and Dads; the breakfast in bed experience doesn’t finish with the breakfast on the tray. Think ahead and clean up the dirty dishes as you go. Mum will be pleasantly surprised to see that not only have you served up a delicious, gourmet brekky, but you’ve managed to leave a tidy kitchen as well.

Mum, after all that, if you still aren’t a fan of brekky in bed, well, you could always drop some heavy hints for next year. A beauty treatment or massage voucher sans crumbs, sounds awfully good to me.

Crunchy French toast

¼ cup plain flour

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

 3 eggs

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 tbsp sugar

6 thick slices of good quality day old bread such as sourdough or brioche

Measure the flour into a wide topped and shallow mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk. Whisk in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla paste and sugar until smooth.

Heat a lightly buttered frying pan over medium heat.

Soak bread slices one by one in the egg mixture until saturated. Cook bread on each side until nicely golden brown.

If you want to keep the French toast warm while you are cooking the remainder of the slices, heat the oven on very low, and place the cooked French toast in the oven on an oven tray to keep warm.

When all the slices have been cooked, serve each slice with a large spoon of roasted rhubarb and a big dollop of creamy yoghurt.

If you wish, top with a drizzle of good quality honey.

 

Roasted rhubarb

2 cups of chopped rhubarb stalks, or 1 bunch of chopped stalks

¼ cup of honey

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

Preheat the oven to 180C and lightly grease a shallow baking dish.  Place the chopped rhubarb in the dish.

In a small jug, whisk together the honey, orange juice and orange zest. Pour the honey mixture over the rhubarb and mix until well coated.

Place the rhubarb into the preheated oven and bake until soft and tender, about fifteen to twenty minutes. When it is cooled to room temperature, place the rhubarb in the fridge until ready to use.

Fruit and vegetable pancakes

Photos by Steve Shanahan

 First published Canberra  Times 13 February 2013

With the challenging morning ritual of filling school lunch boxes fast approaching, so is the dilemma of finding something appetizing and somewhat healthy to put in them.

There aren’t too many kids I know who will refuse a pancake, and with fruit and vegetables hidden within, these are a tasty and satisfying way of ensuring vegetables are on the school menu. If your kids are old enough, they might even like to help prepare or cook the pancakes themselves.

The idea of combining fruit and vegetables in pancakes was initially brought to me by our daughter who decided she wanted to put everything in hers. The combination of flavours lends a slight sweetness, which she loved. Just remember to squeeze out the juices from both the apple and vegetables and you will have dry, crispy pancakes that should keep fresh in a lunch box without going soggy.

The combinations are endless, and depending on the palate of your little diners, you can add spices, different cheeses or herbs to these pancakes to vary the flavours.

Regardless of the combinations, if you are serving them hot and want to add an extra touch, a few dollops of greek yoghurt adds further body and balance to these pancakes.

These are the perfect lunch finger food and kids will find them even tastier when they are involved in the making.

1 zucchini, washed with skin left on, finely grated

1 cob of corn

1 carrot, finely grated

1 green apple, washed with skin left on, finely grated

squeeze of lemon juice

1 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

¾ cup milk

2 tbsp natural greek yoghurt

2 eggs

½ cup tasty cheese, grated

1 tbsp olive oil

Remove the husks and silk from the corn cob, and slice the end off it so it has a flat bottom. Standing the cob up on a board with the flat side down, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the corn cob. Discard the cob and set the kernels aside.

Using your hands, squeeze the grated zucchini, carrot and apple to remove the excess juice. Place the in a large bowl, add the squeeze of lemon juice, and mix until well combined. The juice squeezed from the carrot, apple and zucchini is delicious to drink. Add the corn cobs to the mixed grated fruit and vegetables.

Sift the flour and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Whisk the milk, yoghurt and eggs together in a jug and add to the flour, mixing until well combined and the batter is smooth. Add the batter and grated cheese to the zucchini, carrot, corn and apple and mix well together.

Heat a little of the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Spoon two tablespoons of the batter mixture into the pan to make one pancake. Cook pancakes in batches, for three to four minutes each side until golden through.

Using a spatula, transfer pancakes to a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat with remaining oil and batter.

Serve with extra yoghurt.