Grilled Greek Chicken – Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Grilled Greek Chicken – Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Chicken Grill Recipes Mediterranean Cuisine

Erin go what? On the surface, this may seem like an inappropriate St. Patrick’s Day recipe post, but I’ve always considered this holiday one of the official signs of spring, and since that means it’s grilling season, then maybe this is appropriate after all? Yes, I went a long way for that.

As I mentioned in the video, the secret to this simple chicken is a very powerful marinade. This is one of those rare recipes where, when in doubt, we add a little more. Above and beyond that, the only way to ruin this would be to singe the skin/marinade with too high, direct heat.

We really want to sort of roast these pieces on the grill. So, don’t build a huge fire, and wait for it to turn ashy, before using semi-indirect heat to slowly cook the meat through. This way we get a tender inside, as well as and a gorgeous, caramelized exterior.

This is so flavorful that you really don’t need a sauce, but some fresh lemon is nice, as is a spicy yogurt. Just squeeze a little lemon into some nice thick, Greek yogurt, spike it with hot sauce, and you have a perfect condiment. And speaking of St. Patrick’s Day, this stuff pairs wonderfully with beer. I really hope you give this grilled Greek chicken recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

For enough marinade for 6 chicken thigh/leg sections:

6 to 8 cloves garlic, totally crushed or very finely minced

2 tablespoons dried oregano and/or marjoram

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 generous teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar

1/4 olive oil

about 1 tablespoon kosher salt to season chicken

Real Aioli for Real

Real Aioli for Real

Appetizer Dips Mediterranean Cuisine Sauces Tips and Techniques

I don’t usually like to put words like “real” or “classic” in front of recipe names, since who the hell really knows, but in the case this aioli, I’m feeling pretty confident. In its purest form, this amazing sauce is nothing more than olive oil emulsified into freshly crushed garlic, seasoned simply with salt and lemon.

It arguably the greatest cold sauce of all time. Speaking of cold, the health benefits of regular aioli consumption are legendary. There’s not much not to like here, unless you don’t like garlic, then there’s plenty. This is pure, fiery, intense garlic flavor like you may have never tasted. It’s also a clever trick to get you to buy a wooden, or marble mortar and pestle.

Sure, if you don’t have one you can smash the garlic against the cutting board, with the flat of a large knife, and sort of do the same thing, but you don’t get the extra pulverization when emulsifying the oil.  And it’s all about the pulverization.  That’s what releases all those volatile compounds in the garlic, producing aioli’s signature flavor. I really hope you give this a try soon.  Enjoy!

Ingredients for about  2/3 cup Real Aioli:

4 large FRESH garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or other course grain salt

1 to 2 teaspoons freshly sqeezed lemon juice or vinegar, or to taste

1/2 cup *light flavored extra virgin olive oil
1 or 2 teaspoons of water to adjust texture 

- Note: This is best eaten fresh, but should be okay for about 24 hours. 

* Since this sauce has such a sharp, hot flavor from the garlic, you don’t want to use a really strongly flavored olive oil. We don’t want anything too peppery and bitter, which will clash with the garlic. Use something on the mild side, or cut with a neutral vegetable oil.

Farinata – Why Didn’t You Wish for This Sooner!

Farinata – Why Didn’t You Wish for This Sooner!

Appetizer Breads Legumes Mediterranean Cuisine

The third best part of this job, after the fame and fortune, is learning about unique, new foods; and this farinata video is a perfect example! Until it was requested by a Vlad Kiperman (if that is his real name), I had no idea this tasty, and dead simple recipe even existed. It’s so good, I’m kind of sad the discovery came so late in life.

Farinata is nothing more than a simple garbanzo bean flour batter, which is spiked with olive oil and salt, and baked in a very hot oven. The surface gets crusty, the edges get crispy, and yet the inside stays moist and sort of creamy. The texture is easy to explain, but the taste, not so much.

This is so simple and subtly flavored that it’s a kind of hard to describe. You may be familiar with the taste of garbanzo (aka chickpeas) in things like hummus and falafel, but here it’s not combined with other strongly flavored ingredients, and so you’re getting pure, un-cut bean. It’s going to be easier for me if you just make it and taste for yourself.

Like I said in the video, if you’ve never made this before, you should probably try a plain version to get an idea of what this stuff is all about, but after that, the sky's the limit. The options for add-ons to the batter, as well as potential toppings are virtually limitless. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Pan Note: I know many will ask, so I’ll just say it now; yes, you can use any oven-safe 10-inch pan to make this, but I have a tough time believing it will come out as wonderfully textured as it would if you use a cast-iron skillet. Putting the batter into a smoking hot pan seems to be one of the big keys here.

Ingredients for 6 portions (one 10-inch cast iron pan):

2 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour (aka chickpea flour)

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (about 1 tsp fine table salt)

1/2 tsp finely minced rosemary leaves, optional

5 tbsp olive oil, divided (use 3 tablespoons for the batter, and 2 tablespoons for the pan)

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Gluten-Free and Loving It

By the way, since this is made from a legume-based flour, farinata is 100% gluten-free, which should make a small, but very passionate group of foodwishers happy. My usually modus operandi when it comes to such requests and questions is a referral to Allrecipe.com’s impressive, and extensive gluten-free recipe collection, or one of my many talented GF food blogger friends. 

Speaking of which, Shauna and Danny from Gluten-Free Girl (the Beyonce and Jay-Z of GF bloggers), have a new cookbook out called, Gluten-Free Girl Every Day. If you happen to swing that way, check it out. The recipes sound wonderful, the photos are gorgeous, and the book’s getting rave reviews.