Baked Chicken with a Zahtar Lemon Rub

Zahtar is a spice that can be purchased at any Middle Eastern specialty store.
It is a blend of thyme, sumak and sesame seeds.

Ingredients

3 lbs chicken parts (breast/thighs/leg) with skin and on bone
2 Lemons squeezed
2 cloves garlic chopped finely
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup zahtar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Wash the chicken
In a bowl, mix the juice from two lemons, 2 cloves garlic chopped finely and 3 tablespoons olive oil with 1/2 cup zahtar.
Pat the chicken dry, rub with a teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Rub the zahtar mixture all over the chicken parts and let sit in the fridge to marinate for at least one hour. Can be left overnight.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spray the bottom of a roasting pan with Pam spray and lay the chickens out evenly in the pan. Pour any remaining marinade over the chicken.
Bake for 45 minutes.

Jamaican Goat Curry

My son wanted to do a dinner with a Jamaican theme, and we talked about making something with goat. We had previously tried cooking with goat meat but it was frozen and quite tough. So I felt a bit hesitant to try it again nor was I exactly sure where to find goat meat in Syracuse. However, incredibly there was an article in the local newspaper about the wave of new stores that have appeared on the North Side, reflecting the needs of the many diverse international refugees who have settled in Syracuse. There it was! Pyramid Halal on Lodi Street, specializing in goat, camel, lamb and house smoked chicken. The goat meat is fresh and the owner, Hani Mahmoud, will cut the meat for you on the premises. My son in law is Dominican and we asked his mother whether she marinated the meat in lemon juice first...... I had read on line that using a mixture of lemon juice and white vinegar takes away the gamey taste and makes it more tender. After washing the meat in water, she rubs it with either a lemon or a lime.
The Jamaican curry is similar to regular curry but also has allspice in it, so it is suggested to mix curry powder with some allspice.
I found this recipe in Simply Recipes.com, but have made some additions and changes as I went along.

Ingredients

2 lemons
1/2 cup white vinegar
5 lbs goat meat cut into two inch chunks with bone still on.
1/2 cup vegetable oil
12 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons allspice
Salt
3 onions chopped
3 habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded and chopped
4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 whole head of garlic peeled and minced
1 jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped
(wear gloves to seed and chop peppers)
2 25oz cans coconut milk
1 35oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried thyme
4 cups water
10 Yukon yellow potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks.
10 carrots peeled and chopped into half inch rounds

Directions

In a large bowl, wash the meat first in cold water, drain in a colander.
Place the meat in a dry bowl and squeeze two lemons and add 1/2 cup white vinegar. Let the meat stand in this mixture for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime, mix 12 tablespoons curry powder and 2 tablespoons allspice together and leave in a small bowl.
Next  chop 3 onions, seed and chop 3 habanero peppers (I couldn’t find Scotch bonnet peppers) and 1 jalapeno pepper. WEAR GLOVES! Put the onions and peppers in a bowl.
Now take a whole garlic, separate the cloves, skin them and mince very finely.
Put in a small bowl.
Peel and chop finely a 4 inch piece of fresh ginger, add to the minced garlic,
Pat dry the meat which you have cut into 2 -3 inch chunks, leaving the bones on. Sprinkle meat with salt.
Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a sauce pan, adding and mixing in 2 tablespoons of the curry powder. Heat until fragrant. Saute the meat until brown. Saute the meat in small batches. Be careful to watch that the curry powder mix doesn’t burn, add more oil as it tends to dry out in the pan. Put the meat in a very large pot.
Next add the chopped onions and peppers, there is a large amount of onions, so do two batches. Saute until the onions begin to brown. Add to the pot. Add the garlic and ginger to the second batch of onions once they have started to brown and saute for a couple of minutes. Add to the big pot.
Pour in the coconut milk, the crushed tomatoes and 4 cups of water.
Add 2 tablespoons dried thyme.
Stir.
Cook very slowly over low heat, could take 3 - 4 hours, the meat needs to be very tender and  almost falling off the bone.
Peel the potatoes and carrots and chop into bite size pieces, I actually cooked the potatoes and carrots in two separate pots until just beginning to be tender, then added to the stew. I made the stew a week ahead and froze the stew without potatoes and carrots. Then on the day, slowly heated the stew and added the cooked potatoes and carrots to the simmering stew.
Or, once the meat is tender, add the Yukon potatoes and carrots and continue simmering until the vegetables are tender.
There may be fat on the top, you can skim this off.
The stew can be made several days ahead, it gets better the longer it sits.
 

Grilled Whole Striped Bass

Even though it’s winter in Syracuse, there are still treasures to be found at the Farmers’ Market. David bought a beautiful whole striped bass that had been gutted and scaled. It weighed about 1 1/2 pounds which was plenty for the two of us. The gentleman he purchased it from farms his own bass buying them when they are very young. This recipe doesn’t take long, broiling the fish fast and the sauce gives it a robust taste.

Ingredients

1 whole striped bass head on, gutted and scaled
2 lemons
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoon chopped mint plus 4 sprigs
2 teaspoons oregano
1 large clove garlic chopped finely
1 tablespoon chopped fennel

Directions

Preheat the broiler with the oven rack 6 inches down from broiler.
Wash the fish inside and out and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut 4 slashes down to the bone on one side of the fish.
Sprinkle salt and pepper in cavity of fish.
Combine 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup chopped green onions, 3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves, 2 teaspoons oregano, 1 large clove garlic chopped finely and 1 tablespoon chopped fennel. At this point you can blend it all in a processor, but when I made it I forgot this step and it was delicious without blending! Reserve 3 tablespoons of the sauce in a small bowl to serve with the fish. Spread sauce in cavity and over both sides of the fish, rubbing into cuts in flesh. Slice the other lemon in half, make 3 large circular slices and place the lemons inside the cavity and 2 of the mint sprigs.
Line a baking sheet with silver foil, place the fish on the silver foil.
Have the oven rack 6 inches away from the broiler, broil for approximately 6-8 minutes each side, or until crispy brown and the fish is flaky, the length of time depends on the heat of the broiler. Test to make sure the fish is flaky. The recipe I was following said 5 minutes on each side but it wasn’t done at all, the flesh still clinging to the bones, so I had to put it back in the oven.
Serve with lemon wedges and mint sprigs.

Cabbage Sauteed with Onion and Garlic

When I make stuffed cabbage rolls, I always have left over bits that I can’t use. This is a terrific dish for those leftover bits. We ate it with grilled Giannelli Sweet Italian Sausage.

Ingredients

1/2 cabbage chopped
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
olive oil
salt, pepper

Directions
Chop half a cabbage, parboil in boiling water for 5 - 7 minutes. Remove and drain.
Chop a Spanish onion, heat 2 tablespoon oil in a saucepan and saute until the onion is just beginning to brown, add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.
Add the drained cabbage to the onion and garlic and continue to saute for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stir a little and serve.
This is very nice with grilled sausage, or bacon sprinkled over the top.

Red Snapper Baked Whole

Ingredients

1 whole red snapper, cleaned and scales removed
1 clove garlic chopped
2 mandarines sliced
1 lemon sliced
6 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs parsley
2 tablespoons butter
salt, pepper
rosemary leaves
olive oil

Directions

Reheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
 Line a baking dish with a large piece of silver foil, so that it will be big enough to make a package sealing the fish.
Wash the red snapper, pat snapper dry with a paper towel.
Slice 2 mandarines crosswise so that they are thin circles, do likewise with the lemon.
Place some of the mandarines and lemons on the silver foil and let the fish rest on top of the slices.
Inside the cavity of the fish, put a few knobs of butter, a sprig of thyme and parsley, a mandarine and a lemon slice, also one clove garlic chopped.
Rub the outside of the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Wrap the fish with the silver foil so that it is completely sealed, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Be careful of the bones, the fish is very moist and tender and slides off the backbone easily. Serve with lemon wedges and a salad.

Baked Cauliflower Florets

Quick and easy way to eat cauliflower as an appetizer.
Wash and cut off the florets of the cauliflower, place florets in a bowl.
Add a shake of pepper and 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil. Mix well together.
Preheat oven to 405 degrees Fahrenheit, spray a pyrex dish with Pam, and place the cauliflower florets in dish.
Bake in oven for 20 minutes.

Sunrise by Mirabel