Enjoying Za'atar

One of the joys of cooking is trying different things...different cooking techniques, different ingredients, different combinations and more.

Last night I was having trouble getting to sleep so I rummaged through a box of old magazines and found the April 2019 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. In it I found a recipe using chicken, greek yogurt, red onions, garlic, and a spice mix called za'atar. Za'atar is a blend of sumac, dried herbs and sesame seeds and is used in Middle Eastern cooking. I have a jar from Penzey's spices which I've used once or twice before, but this recipe sounded like it really showcased the za'atar. Something different! Of course I may have made this before and forgotten all about it...my memory sometimes more closely resembles my years and not my appearance.

It's a fairly easy recipe and most of the work is done by the oven over a period of 1 hour, 15 minutes or so. The recipe as written serves four. I changed it slightly by using three boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of the four whole chicken legs, so we got three servings. I also served directly to plates, so that made it harder to estimate the amount of the yogurt sauce to put on the plate. It also meant that I only needed to roast the chicken for the original 50-60 minutes...with no bones it cooks faster and with no skin it doesn't need to brown up.

Be sure to choose a nice fat head of garlic or two...you will be cutting two in half and cooking it with the chicken. If you love roasted garlic cloves as much as Sweetie and I do you will be making this recipe again! There are some lovely pan juices, too, plus garlic-infused plain Greek yogurt, so naan or a baguette or similar bread to wipe up juices and yogurt adds to the fun and delight.

I don't think that the roasted lemon quarters added much, but the citrus zest in the za'atar sauce was essential to the success of the dish, so don't skip putting in both kinds of zest.

This is a lovely dish to serve for company who love garlic since you spread the yogurt on a platter, top with the chicken, scatter the cooked onions and garlic cloves around and top with the zesty za'atar oil...it looks so appealing and tastes wonderful!

Za'atar Chicken with Garlicky Yogurt 

Serves 4
From April 2019 Bon Appetit magazine

4 chicken legs (thighs and drumstick; about 2 1/2 lbs. total)
2 medium red onions, cut into 1-inch thick wedges
2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise, plus 2 cloves
1 lemon, quartered, seeds removed
Kosher salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons za'atar
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

Preheat oven to 325 degree F. Pat chicken legs dry with paper towels.  (If desired, cut into drumstick and thigh pieces for each leg.) Season chicken with salt. Lightly oil bottom of pan. Arrange chicken, onions, halved garlic heads, and lemon in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Pour in rest of oil over ingredients and toss as necessary to coat. urn garlic cut side down and nestle it in so it is in contact with the baking dish.

Roast, rotating pan halfway through, until meat is almost falling off the bone, 50-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely grate 1 garlic clove into a small bowl. Add yogurt, a big pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon water and mix well. Set aside yogurt sauce.

Remove baking dish from oven and transfer onions, garlic, and lemon to a plate. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F and continue to roast chicken until skin is golden brown, 10-15 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Set aside pan with juices.

Finely grate remaining 1 clove garlic into another small bowl. Add za'atar, coriander, lemon zest, lime zest. Pour reserved pan juices into za'atar mixture until you've reached an oily consistency (about 1/3 cup). Mix in a pinch of salt.

Spread reserved yogurt sauce over a platter and arrange chicken legs on top. Scatter onions, garlic, and lemon around; drizzle with za'atar oil and serve.

Fall Is Here So Try This Savory Gallette

It's not as easy as it once was to celebrate the coming of autumn. For the last four years each fall we have had wildland fires, smoke, evacuations, power outages, heat, and a general sense of dread. This year you can add the pandemic to that!

Still, one thing that doesn't change is my desire to bake delicious things. I grew butternut squash this year. I also actually harvested and shelled some walnuts from our trees. They are both elements of this yummy galette. The other elements include roasted garlic, caramelized onion, fresh thyme, and (non-dairy) ricotta cheese, as well as a store-bought pie crust dough. Together they create the perfect fall dish for sharing with friends and neighbors as we did yesterday evening once the air had cooled and the smoke had mostly disappeared. We had good air quality for the first time in days! That meant we could sit outside on our neighbor's deck, socially distanced, of course, and enjoy this savory galette, plus AM's delicious guacamole and G's fresh strawberry margaritas. AM had watermelon wheat beer with hers. We were able to really see their two new kittens Remy and Emil, catch up on things and generally enjoy the lovely evening.

The way I approached this recipe, which is a variation of one I found in the Press Democrat, our regional newspaper, was to split up the prep of the filling ingredients. First I prepared the squash, peeling it, cutting it up, removing the seeds, then dicing it fairly small so that it would roast to a nice soft consistency before getting too brown or hard on the outside. The whole head of garlic that flavors the cheese was roasted at the same time, then later when the head had cooled, the inside roasted cloves were removed and mashed up. I folded them into the cheese to mellow and then stopped for lunch.

Later in the day I made the caramelized onions since they require a lot of attention and stirring. It's worth it because you really taste the onions in this tart. Don't try to hurry them...they need long, slow cooking. While they were cooking I chopped the walnuts. Now all the elements were ready.

The easiest part if putting it all together. While the oven (and a baking stone!) preheated, I rolled out the dough a bit more, then carefully transferred the dough to a piece of baking parchment placed on a baking peel. The cheese was spread over the bottom, some walnuts sprinkled over that, the onions spread over the cheese and walnuts, then the squash was spread over it all. I gently folded up the dough over the squash, pleating it as needed, then sprinkled some walnuts over the exposed squash. After brushing the dough with non-dairy creamer, I sprinkled a few more chopped walnuts over the dough, then slid the galette, still on the parchment paper, onto the preheated baking stone. This way you get a crisp, cooked bottom.

This galette can be vegan if you use a vegan pie crust and non-dairy ricotta and milk.

This is an awesome blending of flavors and textures. Do try this yourself. It's the season after all.

Butternut Squash Galette with Roasted Garlic, Caramelized Onions and Walnuts
A variation of a recipe in the Press Democrat newspaper, Sept. 30, 2020

Makes 4-6 servings

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 large head garlic, whole and unpeeled, top cut off
1 large yellow onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh ricotta (I used a non-dairy Kite Hill ricotta)
1 dough for one crust pie (I used Pillsbury ReadyCrust - half the package)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, divided
1 tablespoon milk (I used soy creamer)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, placing a baking stone on the middle rack. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cut another piece of parchment paper at least 10-inches in all directions and place on a bread paddle or a rimless cookie sheet. If you don't have a baking stone, put the parchment on a pizza pan or another baking sheet.

Here are some photos of the prep on the squash.

peeled & seeds removed

diced

In a large bowl, or in a clean, large, plastic produce bag place the prepared butternut squash and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Toss in the bowl or close the bag and shake vigorously to coat the squash with the oil. Add the thyme, salt and pepper and combine with the squash. Spread the squash, in a single layer if possible, onto one of the prepared baking sheets. Add the prepared head of garlic at one corner, and place in the oven. Bake until squash and garlic are tender. (Check at 20 minutes. If squash is tender but garlic isn't, remove the squash to a bowl to cook and continue cooking the garlic.) Total cooking time is about 25 minutes. Removed pan from oven and let squash and garlic cool. Set aside.

whole garlic head, prepped

While the squash and garlic are roasting, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saute' pan over medium-high heat. Add prepared onions and a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown and soften. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook until onions are very soft and deep golden brown, about 20 minutes. Set aside. If the dough is still in the refrigerator, remove now to warm just a bit.

caramelized onions and the walnuts

When the garlic has cooled, peel the cloves and put in a small bowl. Mash with the back of a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the ricotta.

cheese and garlic layer

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until at least 10 inches in diameter. Carefully transfer the dough circle to the parchment paper on the bread paddle or pizza pan or baking sheet. Use the back of a spoon to spread the ricotta mixture over the center of the dough, leaving a 2-3-inch outer edge uncovered. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts over the ricotta. Put the cooled caramelized onions on top and spread over the cheese and walnuts. Top with the cooled butternut squash, spreading the squash out to completely cover the onions and cheese.

walnut layer

onion layer

   squash layer

Fold the edges of the dough toward the center of the galette, pleating as you go. Sprinkle most of the walnuts in the center where there is no dough, then brush the dough with the milk using a pastry brush, and sprinkle the dough with the rest of the walnuts.

baking on stone

Bake in the preheated oven. If using the bread paddle or rimless cookie sheet and baking stone, slide the parchment and galette onto the baking stone. If not using the baking stone, place the sheet pan with the galette into the oven. Bake until crust is golden brown. Check at 20 minutes, but this usually takes about 25-30 minutes. Cool on a rack. Carefully transfer to a serving platter and garnish, if desired, with more fresh thyme. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Babes Bake Italian

The colors of the Italian flag...red, green and white...are all on display in this month's delicious bread, Pane Bianco with Garlic, Basil and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, brought to us by Kitchen of the Month Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. The fragrance that fills your kitchen when you bake this seems very Italian, too. The best part about this bread isn't the colors or the fragrance, but the taste. It is savory and you can really taste the sun-dried tomatoes, followed by the herby basil, warm garlic and wonderful melty cheese. I used some roasted garlic, as suggested by fellow Babe, Elizabeth, and it brought a depth of flavor that was delightful. Otherwise I pretty much followed the recipe as written (shocking!) until it came time to shape the second half of the dough. (Well, my dough did take longer to rise, but it was a chilly day.)


For the first half I made the lovely 'S' shape that the recipe gave directions for. I really enjoyed working with this dough. It was easy to shape.

For the second half I decided to make mini-buns to take to a morning meeting the following morning. I baked them a little less than golden (see photo), then reheated them in the morning until they were warm and golden. They were a hit!

The key to the mini buns is to roll the dough very thin and about twice as wide as the shaped loaf. Since you are spreading the same amount of filling ingredients over twice the amount of rolled dough, the buns don't get too filled and stay small. The last 'trick' is to then divide the filled dough in half (I used my bench scraper) so that each piece is about the same width (8 1/2 inches) as the big loaf, then roll up the dough from that point, one roll to the right, one to the left, which gives you two thin snakes of rolled dough. Cut each snake in pieces about an inch thick and lay those pieces cut side down in a greased cake pan...or two. Cover and let rise as you do the big loaf, but bake them for a shorter time, about 25 - 30 minutes. You should end up with a nice tray of savory, cute mini-buns with all the flavor and cheesy goodness of the big loaf.

Thank you Natashya for choosing this great recipe, and for giving us recipes by weight, volume, etc. I used the one by grams and it worked out perfectly.
Also sending this over to Susan at Wild Yeast for the wonderful weekly Yeastpotting event. Check it out!

With a bread this delicious and fun to play with, I'm sure you want to be a Bread Baking Buddy, right? Just bake this bread, take a photo or two to share, and e-mail Natashya with a short description of your experience that that photo or two. She'll get a Buddy Badge to you and include you in the round-up. You have until April 29th, so do consider making Pane Bianco with Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic!

Tomato Basil Garlic Filled Pane Bianco
Ingredients by grams: (direct from King Arthur Flour website)

• 113g warm water
• 50g sugar
• 4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 227g warm low-fat milk
• 67g extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 723g bread flour
• 1 (241g) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 4 cloves roasted garlic (or more if you really like garlic) my change
• 170g shredded Italian blend cheese, divided
• 14g chopped fresh basil

Directions
1) Combine the water, sugar, yeast, milk, olive oil, eggs, salt, and flour, and mix and knead by hand, stand mixer, or bread machine until you've made a cohesive, soft dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 5 to 7 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. In a bread machine (or by hand), it should form a smooth ball. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and turn to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 45 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, thoroughly drain the sun-dried tomatoes; lay them on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Using kitchen shears, finely chop the tomatoes.

3) Line two baking sheets with parchment. Gently deflate the dough and divide it in half. Roll one piece into a 22" x 8 1/2" rectangle. Sprinkle on half the garlic, cheese, basil, and tomatoes.

4) Starting with one long edge, roll the dough into a log the long way.

 Pinch the edges to seal.

5) Place the log seam-side down on a baking sheet. Using kitchen shears, start 1/2" from one end and cut the log lengthwise down the center about 1" deep, to within 1/2" of the other end.

6) Keeping the cut side up, form an "S" shape. Tuck both ends under the center of the "S" to form a "figure 8"; pinch the ends together to seal.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, 45 to 60 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.

7) While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

8) Bake the first loaf for 35 to 40 minutes. Tent the loaf with foil after 15 to 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. Bake the remaining loaf.

9) Remove loaves from their pans; cook on racks. Store any leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature.
Yield: 2 loaves.

For mini-bun directions, see the post, above the recipe.

The Apricot Jam Plays Well With the Pork

Sometimes in winter the cold weather outside encourages us to be in the kitchen and play, spinning out the hours in the warmth and delicious smells as we try out new recipes or re-visit cherished ones. But what happens when it is warm out and sunny?

Here in Northern California we are praying for rain because this has been a pretty dry 'rainy season' so far. While it can be nice to be able to sit outside at lunch time in the sun, it is unsettling to know that without some rain I may have to curtail what I grow in the garden this spring and my bay area neighbors may run out of drinking water. So the answer is to hope for rain and... we end up needing a quick dinner because there have been 'better' things to do than be in the kitchen.

I found pork tenderloin on sale at the market so I was able to pull together a super quick meal because the whole cooking process takes about 35 minutes and for 20 of that you can be making a salad and/or side dish. It's the apricot jam that makes this dish sing! We were gifted anonymously on Boxing Day with the most lovely jar of home-made apricot jam. It was the perfect thing for this dish, although I would imagine that any apricot jam would be OK. I loved that this one wasn't too sweet and had a wonderful apricot fragrance. Many thanks to the donor...and I hope I find out who it was so I can thank you properly.



I also included some of the lovely roast garlic and a bit of white wine in the sauce for an added depth of flavor. If you don't have those the sauce will be fine without it.

Apricot Pork Tenderloin with Apricot-Roasted Garlic Sauce
based on a recipe in Simply Suppers by Jennifer Chandler

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 1/4 lbs, trimmed
Salt & pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup apricot preserves, divided
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 - 2 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
1 tablespoon dry white wine (optional)

Rinse the pork tenderloin and pat it dry with paper towels. Generously season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the olive oil in a large cast-iron or ovenproof skillet and heat over medium-high heat until sizzling. Sear the tenderloin until well-browned on all four sides, about 3 minutes per side. Brush 3/4 cup of the apricot preserves over the top and place the pan in the oven to finish cooking the tenderloin, about 15 - 20 minutes. Cook to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees. Mine was at 165 degrees and was still quite pink in the middle.

Transfer the cooked tenderloin to a cutting board with a well. Cover loosely with foil and let the pork rest about 5 minutes.

While the pork is resting pour the pan drippings out of the pan and discard the oil. Add the water to the pan. Over high heat bring the water to a boil. Stir with a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup apricot preserves, the thyme and the roasted garlic (and wine if using). Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper. Simmer another 2 minutes to melt the preserves into the sauce and meld the flavors.

Thinly slice the tenderloin and serve slices with the sauce spooned over the top.
Serves 4

Roasted Garlic

Perhaps you always take a recipe that interests you and you make it right away...Ha! Do you know any food blogger who does? Most of us seem to have stacks of cookbooks, often with bookmarked pages, plus magazine recipes, either still in the magazine or torn out, plus numerous digitally bookmarked recipes found on our favorite blogs and foodie websites.

I recently stumbled on a recipe that I knew I wanted to make once I saw it in Clean Eating magazine. That was in October 2009, so that seems about the 'normal' lag time for me...now I'm actually making it.

One of the things I liked about this recipe was that you bake a number of garlic heads at once...more roasted garlic that way. I also liked that you put one head in each section of a muffin tin. That way each head gets a full complement of heat, unlike when they are all wrapped up together in foil. I wasn't too thrilled about the concept of a garlic infused muffin tin but I solved that by buying disposable muffin tins. Best of all, this is an easy recipe to do (with only 30 minutes of hands free cooking time) and there are lots and lots of ways to use roasted garlic. I put some in a pork tenderloin sauce...but that's a story for another post.

Roasted Garlic
Clean Eating Magazine, September-October 2009

6 full heads garlic
olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the outer skin but leave enough inner skin to keep the cloves bound together.


Cut 1/4 to 1/2 inch (enough to expose the cloves) off of the top of the head using a sharp knife. Discard the part you cut off.

Put the prepared head into a baking dish or muffin tin...the muffin tin works really well and keeps the cloves of the head together. Using your fingers, spread olive oil thoroughly over each head of garlic. Make sure to coat the head all over so the edges don't burn. Any oil in the bottom of the pan or muffin tin makes great dipping oil after the garlic is roasted.


Cover the pan or muffin tin with foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into a clove in the middle of the head goes through with only a slight resistance. You want it soft but not mushy.


That's it...see how easy and quick? You can serve the roasted garlic in the skins, letting people slide the roasted garlic out of the skin, or you can remove the cloves from the skins and serve or store that way. Because of the strong smell that garlic gives off, I recommend storing them in a glass jar. You can use the oil at the bottom of the muffin cups to pour over the cloves and keep it all in the fridge. Now think roasted garlic mashed potatoes or white pizza with roasted garlic and your favorite topping...