India-style Shakshuka

We always have sleepover guests — my cousins — for New Year’s Eve. The next morning it’s always the same brunch: smoked fish, herrings, whitefish salad, bagels and coffee.

Perfect.

Except this year, for a variety of reasons, we have to consider less-salty meals.

I decided on a complete change. Something delicious, different and needs no extra salt because the seasonings are so bountiful and flavorful (the recipe says salt to taste, which can be zero).

I’ve made this for dinner and brunch. Works either way. Add a hunk of bread (naan if possible).

May become a new tradition.

Happy New Year 2020.

India-style Shakshuka

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 1 small habanero, serrano or other chili pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 1 large garlic clove, chopped

• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger

• 8 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

• 2 teaspoons curry powder

• Salt to taste

• 4-6 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and habanero peppers. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened slightly. Add the garlic and ginger and cook briefly. Add the tomatoes, curry powder and salt to taste. Stir, cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until vegetables are very soft and sauce-like. Crack the eggs into a small bowl one at a time then transfer each one next to the other over the vegetables. Cover the pan and cook for 4–5 minutes or until the eggs are set but yolks are still slightly runny. Sprinkle with mint and parsley. Serve each person an egg with some of the vegetables.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Dukkah Crusted Chicken

Dukkah is the new goat cheese. Or maybe the new kale chips or sun-dried tomatoes.

What I mean is, dukkah is the “new” culinary discovery, the rage. It’s hot!

I’ve been reading about dukkah in lots of places recently, like the Huffington Post and New York Times. I’ve even written about it myself — for the Connecticut Post and as a guest blogger for my Kosher Connection colleague Yosef Silver’s blog, This American Bite.

I’m always amused and amazed at trends, culinary or otherwise. Like the 1980’s cabbage patch doll craze. And I mean craze. When the dolls were in short supply, parents and grandparents scrambled in a frenzy to buy them and paid all sorts of scalper prices for them. 

My Dad waited on line outside Macy’s for over four hours so he could get these dolls for my daughters.

Four hours.

But he got them.

Today would have been his birthday, so, good for you Dad, such a good father and grandfather, and Happy Birthday.

But back to trends …

Culinary trends can be just as energizing and quick to catch on. Suddenly everyone wants a taste of whatever it is that’s “new.” Like goat cheese, first imported from France in the 1980s. It caught on like a California wildfire. The French had always eaten goat cheese, so it really wasn’t new. But it was for us Americans, who take it for granted now.

Same with sun-dried tomatoes, another biggie from the late 1970s, long known in Italy, but a “new” trend here.

And now there’s dukkah. It isn’t “new” either. It’s a traditional, well-loved spice blend popular in Egypt and in other parts of the Middle East. But it’s fairly new for us. 

Dukkah is a blend of nuts, seeds and spices. The recipe is incredibly flexible, like any spice blend. It’s typically used as a dipping mixture for pita bread (or other flatbread that you dip in olive oil first). But I use dukkah to season fish, meat, poultry and vegetables.

Because dukkah is so flavorful, you need just a small amount for seasoning, (I sprinkle about one tablespoon’s worth over a cut up chicken). It’s much too bold for use as a coating (like for fried fish or boneless chicken breasts). But you can mix in a couple of tablespoons to perk up plain bread crumbs.

I don’t know if dukkah is one of those hot food trends that’s here to stay (like hoisin sauce) or not (think blackened fish).

Whether or not, it is good, interesting and worth a taste. Here’s my recipe. Store unused portions in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. Nuts get rancid quickly, especially in the warm weather.

Dukkah Crusted Chicken

Dukkah

1/4 cup shelled pistachios

1/4 cup whole hazelnuts

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Place the pistachios and hazelnuts in an unoiled pan and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add the sesame seeds and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the ingredients are lightly toasted. Remove the pan from the heat and place the pas aside to cool. Place the mixture in a food processor or spice grinder and process until finely chopped. Mix in the coriander, cumin, salt, pepper and paprika. Makes just under one cup

Baharat

My Dad used to go into the hardware store and gaze upon the nuts, bolts and screws. It’s not that he actually knew how to fix things, and he never bought anything. He just liked looking. Maybe he thought it would help him be more of a fix-it type, but alas, although he was a terrific Dad, he wasn’t so handy around the house.

I am just like him. Except that I don’t go to hardware stores (the first time I ventured into a Home Depot I was so shocked at its sheer size and the quantity of things it sells that I started hyperventilating).

Nope, I go to specialty food stores and gaze upon the spices and spice blends. I like cooking with spices and using different ones to give flavor and add interest to the foods I cook.

But, like my Dad, I never buy the spice blends.

I make my own. Because I like the idea of creating my own versions, even my own versions of familiar spice blends such as Jerk, Herbs de Provence and Cajun seasoning. And that’s because I know my tastes and my family’s tastes and know to add more or less of this or that or leave some ingredient out completely instead of relying on what someone else thinks the blend should taste like.

So, I was intrigued recently to read about a spice blend I hadn’t cooked with: Baharat.

Baharat is an Arabic spice blend, used in dishes throughout the Middle East. The name just means “spices” so you can imagine that anything goes.

Well, almost anything. Recipes for this particular blend are similar, and usually include cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and coriander. Some have heat thanks to cayenne or black pepper. Some contain sweet dried mint. And so on. Baharat is also similar to ras el hanout, another Middle Eastern blend. 

I tinkered with the recipe a few times until I got it right, using chicken as my foil. But this is a blend that you could sprinkle on lamb or fish and certain vegetables (such as eggplant and roasted tomatoes). Or mix into cooked rice or couscous or vegetable soup. Go easy at first and discover the depth of flavor this blend can give to food.

Here’s my version of Baharat. Some people make it by grinding their own spices, but I just mixed the pre-ground ones.

There’s also a recipe for a very simple baked chicken that is an easy dish to cook for daily dinner — but it is also intriguing enough for a company meal.

Baharat

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice or cloves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix the ingredients completely. Makes about 1/4 cup

Baked Chicken with Baharat, Garlic and Mint

One broiler-fryer chicken, cut up

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon Baharat

salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse and dry the chicken pieces and place them in a baking pan. Brush the skin with the olive oil. Sprinkle with the mint, garlic, Baharat and salt to taste. Turn the breast pieces skin side down in the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Turn the chicken pieces. Continue to bake for about 30 minutes basting occasionally with any pan juices, or until cooked through. Makes 4 servings.