Monthly Archives: April 2020

Hot Tomato Feta Salad & Crispy Flatbread

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Tomato Feta Salad 2
This could just as easily be an appetizer as a side dish ….tonight it was a side dish for our roasted chicken and it was delicious!  Super quick and easy, along with ingredients I love and that made it a total win.

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup chopped, pitted Kalmata olives
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 8- to 10-ounce block feta
Crackers, flatbread*, pita chips, or crostini, for dipping

In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, olives, onion, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the parsley, oregano, olive oil and a few grinds of pepper.

Feel free to substitute the feta with haloumi, or goat cheese, either would be great.

On a grill: Heat your grill to medium-high. Set the feta block in the middle of a piece of foil. Pile the tomato mixture on top of the feta. Fold up the edges of the foil so that it will hold in any liquid as it cooks. Place the packet straight on a grill for 15 minutes to warm it through. Remove from grill and transfer to plate or serving dish.

In the oven: Heat oven to 400°F. Check to see that your dish is oven-proof. Place the block of feta in the middle of your dish. Pile the tomato mixture on top of the feta. Bake for 15 minutes.

Both methods: The feta will not melt, just warm and soften. Garnish with parsley and serve with crackers; eat immediately. As it cools, the feta will firm up again.

Flatbread 1

I’m guilty of poaching this recipe right off the Smitten Kitchen website, and if you haven’t visited that site, hop on over.  Deb Perelman has fantastic recipes, but even just her writing style is worth a read.

Flatbread 4

Can’t believe how good these are!  I had to use the herb I had on hand, so these are made with thyme, not rosemary.  Can’t wait to try with fresh rosemary out of my garden.

*Flatbread.  also from http://www.smittenkitchen.com

  • 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus 2 (6-inch) sprigs (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil plus more for brushing
  • Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

Heat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle. Lightly coat a large baking sheet with olive oil.

Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a large, wide bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Use your hands to gently knead dough inside the bowl 4 or 5 times, until it comes together in a semi-smooth ball.

Divide dough into 3 large or 6 smaller pieces and roll out one piece at a time on an unfloured counter, to about 10-inch (for larger pieces of dough) or 7-inch rounds (smaller pieces) — shape can be rustic; dough should be thin. Lift flatbread onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. I can sometimes squeeze 6 small flatbreads on a half-sheet pan; sometimes I need to bake 1 to 2 in a second batch.

Lightly brush tops with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top (if using), pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating flatbreads if needed on the pan for even color. Let cool then break into pieces.

I cut mine into triangles before baking, and they came out perfectly.  Read the full Smitten Kitchen recipe for more ideas, you will be happy you did.

Buttermilk Brined Roast Chicken

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Chicken 2

Ohhhh – the skin ….. for those crispy skin lovers this chicken is a dream!  Best part of all, is that it protects the most deliciously moist chicken underneath.

I’ve been roasting chickens for a LONG time …… I rarely use a recipe, but with the isolation going on around Covid 19 I thought it was time to branch out and try something new.  This appeared in one of my Food & Wine magazines and I was pretty excited to give it a try.  Naturally with the isolation and reduced shopping I had to improvise.  I had a few dried morels, so used those in place of the porcini, and only had fresh thyme, so used that in place of the rosemary.  I also didn’t have quite that much buttermilk left, but just topped up the container with water to cover the chicken.  I followed the recipe method exactly though, and even though it took longer to cook in my oven …. more like an hour and a half, the result was worth the wait.

  • Kosher salt
  • 11 garlic cloves—9 smashed, 
2 thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary or 
5 Douglas fir sprigs
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
  • 1 quart buttermilk
  • One 3 1/2-pound whole chicken
  • 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Step 1

In a medium saucepan, combine 
1/4 cup of salt with the smashed garlic, the sugar, rosemary, bay leaf and 
2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. 
Transfer the mixture to a very large bowl and stir in 2 cups of cold water.

Step 2

In a spice grinder, grind the mushrooms to a powder. (You should have about 
3 tablespoons.) Whisk the porcini powder and buttermilk into the salt mixture. Place the chicken in the buttermilk 
brine, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 12 hours.

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 425°. Remove 
the chicken from the brine and pat dry; 
discard the brine. Tuck the wing 
tips behind the breasts, tie the legs with kitchen twine and set the chicken, 
breast side up, in a rack over a roasting pan. Season all over with salt.

Step 4

Roast the chicken for 15 minutes. Brush the butter all over the chicken, then return it to the oven and roast 
for about 45 minutes longer, until an instant-read thermometer inserted 
in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes.

Step 5

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, simmer the olive oil with the sliced garlic over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic just starts to brown and the oil is hot and fragrant, about 
3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and let cool.

Step 6

Carve the chicken and arrange the pieces on a platter. Brush with some of the garlic oil and serve right away, 
passing the remaining oil at the table.

Chicken 1

No fancy presentation here, just the most delectable chicken drizzled with the garlic oil.

I copied this right out of my Food & Wine magazine, so it’s only fair to also let you know where it comes from!

Chefs Evan and Sarah Rich of RT Rotisserie in San Francisco make the very best chicken. They use a buttermilk brine that includes umami powder, garlic and Douglas fir—a signature ingredient from their flagship restaurant, Rich Table, that they forage themselves. In this adaptation, the chicken is roasted in the oven, and the brine is made with buttermilk, dried porcini, garlic and rosemary, though if you have access to Douglas fir sprigs, feel free to use them.

chicken 3

Resting the chicken is so important.  Tent it loosely with foil and allow it to sit for at least 15 minutes, this allows the juices to remain in the chicken – it’s worth it, I promise.

The ingredients and method are entirely out of Food & Wine, but the photos are my own!