Roasted Chicken with Sumac, Za'atar and Lemon

Every once in awhile I come across a recipe I am unable to conceptualize how it might taste as it contains ingredients I have never experienced before. When this happens I find all sorts of reasons why not to make the dish. Sometimes I am a little intimidated by the recipe, sometimes it is challenging to find the ingredients, and sometimes, well sometimes, I am not certain I want to take the risk of investing in all of the ingredients (once I find them) and the time without having just an inkling of the potential outcome (A pretty limiting way to approach cooking and life, don't you think?). But what almost always what overrides all of these fears and trepidations is the source of the recipe. And Yotam Ottolenghi is one such chef whose recipes always seem to get rave reviews. The Mediterranean Tart shared on the blog in June was a home run (yes, I was caught up in the World Series frenzy, thus the baseball metaphor).

While perusing through the recently purchased 'Ottolenghi: The Cookbook', the recipe immediately capturing my attention was the Roasted Chicken with Sumac, Za'Atar and Lemon. By all definitions, this would have been a recipe I would have normally avoided as it contained ingredients completely unfamiliar to me: sumac and za'atar. I actually had to do an internet search to learn what they even were! But for once I decided my culinary rigidity and spice exposure deficit wasn't going to be a deterrent. Having the courage to go forward I then discovered I had another hurdle to overcome. That would be my ability to find these two ingredients: sumac and za'atar. Three grocery stores later, I discovered that Williams-Sonoma carried them (the store I should have started at in the first place). With the recipe and the ingredients now in hand, I decided I was finally game (it can be so liberating to let go of one's fears).

Ottolenghi and Tamimi describe this dish as 'the simplified version of the traditional Palestinian dish m'sakhari where chicken is spiced with sumac then roasted in the oven over bread'. Only in this recipe the chicken was not roasted over bread, but served with bread. Naan along with a garlicky yogurt sauce sounded like the perfect accompaniment to the chicken.

If I learned one thing while making this dish, it was that I have been holding myself back from experiencing some amazing recipes. Because the  Roasted Chicken with Sumac, Za'Atar and Lemon was in a word phenomenal. Or in keeping with the sports metaphors here, it was a grand slam, a gold medal, an Olympic record. Yes, it was absolutely insanely delicious!

Maybe because I am a baker at heart, I like specificity in the ingredients when I am making something for the first time. The Ottolenghi recipe called for one large organic or free-range chicken cut into quarters. So I thought 'what's considered large?' Was there some chicken reference chart that defined small, medium, large or extra-large that I wasn't aware of? This time I didn't do an internet search and just took a guess. I guessed large was six pounds.

Whether or not my guess was right, cutting a six pound chicken into quarters would have rendered the pieces too large. So I cut the chicken into eight pieces and I am so glad I did. However the next time I make this dish (and there were be more than one next time), I will buy two smaller free-range chickens and cut it into quarters. Oh so what is 'small'? In my world small will be somewhere in the 4 to 4 1/2 pound range.

There wasn't any confusion about what thinly slicing onions and onions meant. I used three small red onions instead of two medium sized onions as that was what I had in the pantry. 

In a large bowl, the chicken is mixed with the onions, lemons, olive oil, allspice, cinnamon, sumac, chicken stock, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. The za'atar isn't used until it comes time to bake the chicken. The recipe recommended the mixture be refrigerated for a few hours or overnight. I went with the overnight timeframe as I wanted the chicken to fully absorb all of the flavors of the marinade. Going forward I would continue to recommend the overnight marinading.

The chicken, onions, lemon and remaining marinade are placed on a large baking sheet, one large enough that the chicken pieces have some breathing room. Once everything is placed on the baking sheet you sprinkle the chicken with the za'atar. In a preheated 400 degree oven, the chicken is roasted for 30 to 40 minutes or until it is colored and fully cooked through (the pieces should have an internal temperature of 165 degrees). In my oven or maybe because the size of the pieces, the chicken baked for  almost 45 minutes.

While the chicken is roasting, the pine nuts are sautéed in butter until they turn golden in color. The golden pine nuts are transferred to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside until the chicken is placed on a platter.

The combination of the roasted chicken with warm Naan and a garlicky yogurt sauce on one's palate is just plain wicked. I decided to make a sauce of Greek yogurt, garlic, cucumber, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The only thing I would do differently next time is double the amount of sauce.

I wish I could describe how wonderful the kitchen smelled while the chicken was roasting but I don't have the words. I could say it smelled of sumac and za'atar (which it did), but if you have never tasted those spices that description wouldn't mean much. I might say the smell was one that made you want to taste what was in the oven. The roasted chicken is placed on a large platter, sprinkled with the sautéed pine nuts and drizzled with additional olive oil. If you want additional color on the plate, you can add some chopped parsley.

Recipe
Roasted Chicken with Sumac, Za'Atar and Lemon (an oh so slight modification to the recipe created by Yotam Ottolengthi and Sami Tamimi and printed in their cookbook 'Ottolenghi: The Cookbook')

Ingredients 
1 large organic or free-range chicken cut into quarters (if using a 6 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces or cut two 4 pound chickens into eight pieces)
3 small or 2 medium red onions thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon sumac
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons za'atar
6 Tablespoons pine nuts
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Chopped parsley
Naan or pita bread (recommend Naan)

Ingredients for Garlickly Yogurt Sauce (can and should be doubled)
1/2 regular sized cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (recommend Fage Total)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

Directions
Chicken
1. In a large bowl, combine the cut chicken, sliced onions, sliced lemon, minced garlic, olive oil, allspice, cinnamon, suman, salt, pepper and chicken stock. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Place the chicken, onions, lemon and remaining marinade on a large baking sheet leaving enough breathing room between the pieces of chicken. Sprinkle the 2 Tablespoons of za'atar over the chicken. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until chicken is done. 
4. While the chicken is roasting, melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a small sauté pan. Add 6 tablespoons of pine nuts. Stirring constantly cook over medium heat until the pine nuts are golden. Place golden pine nuts on a plate lined with paper towels in order to allow the nuts to drain Set aside.
5. Place the chicken and onions on a large platter. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and if desired, chopped parsley. 
6. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the chicken.
7. Serve with warmed Naan and a garlicky yogurt sauce.

Garlicky Yogurt Sauce (make several hours or a day ahead to allow flavors to blend)
1. Peel cucumber and remove seeds. Using a paper towel squeeze some of the liquid from the cucumber. Cut cucumber into small pieces and place in bowl.
2. Add yogurt, minced garlic and freshly squeezed lemon juice along with salt and pepper to taste (recommended 1/4 teaspoon of each).
3. Mix together until blended. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight. 
4. Serve with warmed Naan.

In the past couple of years I have not been watching much television and for awhile even lived without one. Instead I spent the discretionary time I had available reading, exploring the east coast, spending time at the beach (either soaking in the sun or just going for an early morning walk), and of course, creating the blog. So I came into a certain television series late in the game, so late in fact that its' sixth and final season occurred a couple of months ago. The social media buzz around the final season and the final episode caught my attention. So I thought maybe I should see why it was a show that had such a large following. For those of you more television current, you probably know the show I am talking about is "Breaking Bad". But thanks to the creation and release of DVDs those of us slow to stay television current can watch what everyone has (or had) been talking about (without all of the commercials).

In just one episode I was hooked (in the best of ways) on a show that essentially deals with drugs. Well actually it's really so much more than that. I found myself completely engrossed in the lives of people who have made some interesting, illegal and unethical choices and whose bad behavior is at times almost too intense to watch. Yet, in spite of such dark themes in this show, I have come to be so involved in the lives of these fictional people, I am now talking, caring, worrying, and thinking about them as if they were real. Yes, I know this sounds a little crazy. (Maybe this is why I don't watch much television as the lines between fantasy and reality can so easily be blurred.)

As I watch each of the episodes, I wondered how I could have been so clueless about this Emmy Award winning television series. Was I that out of touch? Or maybe I wasn't completely clueless or out of touch, maybe I didn't think any television series dealing with the making and distributing of meth-amphetamines would be something of interest to me. Well, in retrospect that was pretty narrow thinking on my part. And just like my dismissiveness over recipes with ingredients I am unfamiliar with, all I can say is that old adage 'better late than never' couldn't be more true.