Tequila Chicken

There's just one more night before I head off to sunny, inviting, satiating and glorious Greece. Like anyone about to go on vacation, my days are filled with tying up loose ends at work, tidying up around the house and eating what I have left in the fridge.

To those that can look into your fridge and whip up an almost gourmet meal, I tip my hat to you! I'm faced with this challenge this week but I had all the ingredients needed for this simple marinated and grilled chicken dish.

If you take a look around the plate.....we have three flavours everyone should consider when prepping a dish.

The chicken represents heat. I don't mean by blow your head off heat but heat as in some spice. Next up is what I call an accordion potato, which represents the savoury part of the plate.

I throughly washed a whole potato and then cut the spud downwards but entirely to the bottom, thus keeping the potato in tact. I melted some butter, poured it over the potato (ensuring butter got into each crevice) and then seasoned it well with a Montreal Steak Spice mixture. Wrap her in a foil blanket at 425F for 30-40 minutes and you have a delish spud with a neat presentation.

Finally, there's a corn on the cob. If you've had corn here in the Americas, you know how naturally sweet the corn is here. This corn represents the sweet side of the plate.

I simply soaked the corn (with it's husk on) in water for a few hours and then I grill for a few minutes side, rotating the corn to grill evenly. No butter, seasonings or spices...just the natural sweetness of the corn.

Don't worry, here's the chicken recipe...it's quick marinade, it's easy and it's delicious.

The marinade makes use of some Mexican ingredients and I think my blogging amigo Ben of What's Cooking would very much approve.

Tequila....Jalapeno, citrus, cilantro. Break out the Mariachi band...we're having Mexican tonight!

Tequila Chicken

1 1/2 lbs. of chicken drums
2 good shots of Tequila
2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded & minced
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
juice of 1 lemon (or lime)
1/4 cup of honey
a few good splashes of hot sauce
1 heaping tsp. of ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup vegetable oil
sea salt

1. Rinse the chicken thoroughly and pat-dry.
2. Add all your marinade ingredients into a zip-lock bag and before you add the chicken, taste to make any adjustments to your marinade and reserve about 1/3 of it for basting later.
   
3. Add your chicken, seal and squish the contents so that the marinade coats all the chicken drums. Place in your fridge for at least 4 hours.
4. Bring your chicken back to room temperature and pre-heat your grill to a medium heat. Season your chicken with salt & place your drumsticks on the grill for about 10 minutes a side or until crispy. Don't forget to brush some reserved marinade on the chicken while grilling.
5. Serve immediately with your favourite summer side dishes.
   

Frying Oysters

I do enjoy eating raw oysters on the half-shell but I admit, I'll pay someone else to shuck them. However, one can enjoy oysters in other ways and frying them up has to be one of the tastier alternatives.

The neighborhood Asian market always sells tubs of shucked oyster meat and from reading the label, this batch came from Washington state and I was pleased to see a "best before" stamp on the tub.

What ya get here today are fried oysters as an appetizer and then in the form of a sandwich. My craving for fried oysters was ignited by a "caesar salad with spicy fried oysters" dish.

The origins of the dish are bounced around between Kincaid's in Washington, DC, Louis's in South Carolina or Magnolia in Durham, NC. All three eateries are owned/operated by James Beard Award winners so it appears even the top dogs in food-dom seem to borrow ideas from each other!

The recipe calls for some Casear salad dressing but my gut was telling me "tartar sauce...yeah-yeah, go make some tartar sauce". I have a wonderful homemade tartar sauce from last year. It's easy, contains usual pantry items and tastes great.

Both dishes are simple...you'll need some hearts of Romaine lettuce, oyster meat, your favourite tartar sauce, a good toasted bun and some flour and spices.

My frying method uses the Greek taverna method of frying seafood by using a simple seasoned flour mix, then dunking in ice cold water and finally into the hot oil. The result is a thin breading where you actually see what you're eating and the crispyness is akin to a tempura.

Fried Oysters

1lb. oyster meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup corn flour
1 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. smoked hot paprika
bowl of ice-cold water
sunflower oil for frying

1. Rinse and pat dry your oyster meat and then cut them up into bite sized pieces (my oyster was huge).
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour and seasonings with a fork and taste and adjust seasoning.
3. Pre-heat your oil until you get an approx temp. of 360F or drop a small piece of oyster (when it floats and starts frying, you're ready).
4. Set up your frying station from left to right, starting from your oysters, flour mixture, ice water and frying oil.
5. Dredge your oysters in the flour, then quickly dunk in the ice water and then carefully drop into the fryer.
6. Fry in batches for 2-3 minutes and reserve on a paper-towel covered plate.
7. Serve as an appetizer with some Romaine hearts of lettuce or in a toasted bun with some lettuce. Both dishes contain tartar sauce.

Shrimp Saganaki

Today (July 27th) is my nameday. I was named after the patron saint Agios (Saint) Panteleimon.

I was given the name of my father's uncle who took over as the family's "father figure" as my dad's family was left orphaned when his father died at an early age.

My dad's uncle also took on the title of "Papou" (grandfather) Panteli, as he and his wife Paschalina did not have any children and therefore I was given his name in his honour.

For Greeks, the celebration of one's nameday is much more significant and feted to a larger extent than one's birthday. It's my nameday and I get to eat what I want!

On one's nameday, it's tradition that the celebrant treat friends, relatives, guests and today I'm sharing with you one of my favourite Greek mezedes.

So, I feel like Garides (Shrimp) Saganaki. Saganaki is a cooking term that's used to described many a Greek dish. It goes well beyond just the flaming the cheese dish you see served at Greek restaurants with the usual "OPA" being shouted by the well-scripted waiter.

A "saganaki" is the cooking vessel with two handles, like the one you see my photos. So, there are many saganakis out there with different ingredients and many regional twists on flavours and preferences.

You might also see this dish described as Garides (shrimp) Giouvetsi, where a similar dish of shrimp, tomato base and feta are baked in earthenware vessels. Similar dishes with subtle differences.

Today, you get shrimp saganaki....one of the most beloved of the Greek appetizers (mezedes). Being from northern Greece, we like to some some heat and in Macedonia this dish is usually spicy.

I've added mushrooms into the mix. I've had Shrimp Saganaki at Toronto's Pantheon and I really like how well mushrooms and seafood complement each other.

When you take a bite of this meze, you get the sweetness of the shrimp and tomatoes, some heat from the hot peppers, a slight tartness from the Feta.

What you have hear is a shrimp bake with a sweet and chunky tomato sauce, some peppers, oregano, Greek feta and the result is an aromatic, eye pleasing appetizer that was made for bread-dunking, Ouzo sipping and a total disregard for time.

Invite some friends over, prepare an array of small mezedes, break out the Ouzo, the crusty bread and catch up with old friends or make some new ones.

Shrimp Saganaki
(for one appetizer portion)

6 large whole shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1/4 green bell pepper, sliced
1/4 yellow bell pepper, sliced
some diced hot banana pepper
(depending how spicy you like your dish)
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
1/2 cup button mushrooms, sliced
half cup Greek feta, coarsely crumbled
1 tsp. dried Greek oregano
splash of Ouzo
Grated Mozzarella (or other white cheese)
salt to taste

1. In a saucepan, add your olive oil over medium-high heat and add your mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes or until they have browned. Now add your onions, peppers and tomatoes and simmer for another 5-7 minutes or until you end up with a nice thick sauce.
2. Take off the heat and add your crumbled feta, oregano and Ouzo and stir in. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt (if any required) and additional heat (if desired).
3. Pour the mixture into an oven-safe baking vessel (like the saganaki) and arrange the shrimp on top. Grate some Mozzarella on top and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the shrimp have turned pink and the cheese becomes a golden brown.
4. Serve with crusty bread, Greek ouzo and with good company.
   

Herbed Sea Salt

First off, I want to thank everyone who responded and replied to my Blogging Rant (see two posts down in my blog) and also for joining the chorus of pissed off bloggers on the topic of ATK.

If you haven't heard what went on, then you were perhaps on a space shuttle mission or you live in a hippie commune, cut off from the rest of the world.

I recently caught an episode of Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill and I was pleasantly surprised to see him blend sea salt and herbs to dress some lamb chops.

Although I've seen sea salt and dried oregano used as a finishing seasoning in Greece for many grilled meats, Bobby's approach is to put the mixture on the meat just before grilling. Simple, but brilliant.

I've tried this "method", if you will on three instances...once with a grilled fish, another time with chicken on the barbecue and most recently grilling lamb chops.

Each time I was left with a deeply flavourful dish that's been simply seasoned with sea salt and your choice of fresh herb(s).

All one has to do is add some coarse sea salt and the herb of your choice in to a food processor and then pulse the mixture until it's well blended.

The other day I tried Bobby Flay's flavouring of sea salt with fresh rosemary and I simply brushed some olive oil on the lamb chops, sprinkle the rosemary salt on the meat and grilled the chops for 2 minutes a side for a nice, pink finish to my meat.

People, this is my summer grilling method of the year. Take your sea salt, food processor and pulse away with your favourite herbs. You'll find the herbs really flavour whatever you're grilling and this another one of those instances where you smack yourself on your forehead (okay, I did it twice) and say DUH!!!