Roast Chicken with Sumac and Lemon

My good friend, Luis Calvo Alonso brought me a packet of the exotic sumac spice from Istanbul. I decided to adapt a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi. I do not have za'atar, which is a blend of spices usually consisting of thyme, sumac, oregano and toasted sesame seed.  I made my own blend with ajwain (a thyme flavored seed), sumac and white sesame seeds instead. The chicken is quartered and seasoned overnight, before it is roasted together with the marinate in a casserole at 200 deg C.  Before serving, it is garnished with roasted pine nuts, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

Ingredients
1 large free-range chicken, divied into quarters
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon sumac
1 lemon, thinly sliced
200ml chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons za’atar
20g butter
50g pine nuts
4 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

Chilled Black Garlic Noodles with Lumpfish Caviar

An invitation to a degustation lunch at Gordon's Grill, Goodwood Park Hotel, gave me the opportunity to taste the much hyped Cold Japanese Noodles with caviar.  I decided to creat my own version with home made black garlic noodles. The noodles takes less than a minute in boiling water to reach the right texture. For the sauce, I used ponzu, tare sauce, mirin, olive oil and truffle oil. The noodle is mixed in the sauce and chilled. For garnish, finely chopped chives, seaweed and half a teaspoon of red Lumpfish caviar. The slighty salty flavour of caviar with a nice crunchy pop combines well with the aroma of truffles to give this chilled black garlic noodle a surprising delicious taste.

You can buy black garlic here.

Mussel Escabeche

This is a rustic Spanish tapas dish that can be prepared in advance. It is served chilled and perfect with a glass of beer or wine and crusty bread. I used the pacific black mussels for its meatiness. In a medium pot, add 60 ml of white wine, bay leaves and mussels. Cover and cook over medium heat.  As soon as mussels open, remove them. When cool, remove mussels from shells.  Strain and reserve the cooking liquid.

To make escabeche, heat olive oil, shallot, garlic, pinch of salt and saute until shallot is soft. Add vinegar, peppercorns, paprika, and remaining wine and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the escabeche is cool, stir in the mussels. Pour into a shallow dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.

NB: For a more spicy escabeche, add 1 dried chilli when making the escabeche.

Serves 4 Tapas Rations
750 g mussels
100 ml white wine
40 ml white wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
20 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
5 black peppercorns
Pinch of salt
Optional: 1 dried red chilli

I created a  mussel escabeche bruschetta with baked bell peppers (marinated in herbs infused olive oil) and black garlic over a slice of home made foccacia.