Sunday, March 15, 2015

Honey Grilled Chicken with Citrus Salad

This recipe appears just a little pretentious at first - 3 specific types of oranges. Do they really taste that much different? Especially when mixed all together? I have never heard of Cara Cara. I am still not sure, but I will say that I liked the overall result. The slightly sour citrus mix was a nice counterpoint to the honey.

SERVES 4–6

INGREDIENTS

1 cup fresh orange juice
½ cup honey
3 tbsp. rosemary, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 lbs. skin on chicken, legs and thighs
1½ cups cilantro leaves and tender stems
3 tbsp. pistachios, roughly chopped
15 pitted dates, halved lengthwise
1 blood orange, peeled and sliced ¼" thick crosswise
1 navel orange, peeled and sliced ¼" thick crosswise
1 Cara Cara, peeled and sliced ¼" thick crosswise
1 red grapefruit, peeled and sliced ¼" thick crosswise
1 lime, peeled and sliced ¼" thick crosswise

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix orange juice, honey, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a bowl; add chicken and toss to combine. Marinate 30 minutes, or until ready to use. Heat a gas grill to medium. (Alternatively, heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat.) Remove chicken from marinade, and transfer to grill; cook skin-side down, flipping once, and basting occasionally with remaining sauce, until charred and cooked through, 12–15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board, and let rest for 15 minutes before serving. Meanwhile, toss cilantro, pistachios, dates, and citrus pieces; serve with chicken.

Brazilian Cheese Bread

I found this recipe at Simply Recipes. I love recipes that are naturally gluten free. This bread is great! The bread is fluffy and light and still has a very pleasant chewiness to it. They are definitely best when warm straight from the oven in my opinion. 

Ingredients

1 egg*
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup milk
Scant 1 1/2 cups (170 grams) tapioca flour
1 cup scant grated cheese, your preference, though we got the best results from Mexican farmer's cheese - queso fresco
1 teaspoon of salt

Special equipment recommended

One or two mini muffin tins. Mini muffin tins are about half the size of a regular muffin pan. The muffin openings are about 1-inch deep, and 1 3/4 inch wide at the top.

If not using mini muffin tins, makes 6-9 regular size muffin cups.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a mini-muffin tin. Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender so that everything gets blended well. At this point you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until all puffy and just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.

Eat while warm or save to reheat later.

*It helps when baking with eggs to start with eggs at room temperature. If you don't plan ahead (that would be me, usually) you can put the egg in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to gently take off the chill of the fridge.

Rose Water Cookies

This recipe was published in BonAppétit. They are subtle cookies and I was surprised that they didn't taste great while hot out of the oven. They needed to cool and then they were really good. The cardamom smells incredibly wonderful. It makes the whole kitchen smell sweet and like you're on vacation.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups white rice flour plus more for rolling
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon rose water
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

PREPARATION

Whisk cardamom and 1 1/2 cups flour in a medium bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a medium bowl until smooth. Add egg and rose water and beat to blend.

Reduce mixer to low speed; gradually mix in dry ingredients (dough will be stiff). Cover and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 300°. Scoop level tablespoonfuls of dough and, using lightly floured hands, roll into balls. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 1/2-inch apart. Using a fork or another utensil that can make a decorative pattern in dough, flatten balls to a 1/4-inch thickness. (Alternatively, flatten balls and make an indentation in the centers with your thumb.) Sprinkle cookies with poppy seeds.

Bake cookies until firm but still pale, 20–25 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool.

DO AHEAD: Cookies can be baked 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.