food and wine – Mel's Mosaic

The May 2018 issue of Food & Wine featured Restaurants of the Year and provided some of their recipes. One of them that I recently checked out/made was Maydan’s Turmeric and Coriander Roast Chicken.

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I just used 1 cup of olive, didn’t feel like buying the grapeseed)
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup garlic cloves (about 10 cloves)
1/4 cup coriander seeds (used already ground)
2 tablespoons ground turmeric
1 (3- to 4-pound) whole chicken
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

Directions

Step 1

Place extra-virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil, garlic, coriander seeds, and turmeric in a blender. Process on high speed until smooth, about 35 seconds. — hello orange turmeric!

Step 2

Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Using poultry shears, cut along both sides of backbone; discard backbone. Turn chicken breast side up, and press down on breastbone to flatten chicken. Season both sides with salt. Place chicken in a large roasting pan, and rub all over with marinade. Cover and chill at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours or overnight. — I ended up doing mine overnight.

Step 3

Preheat a gas grill to medium-high (about 450°F) on one side, or push hot coals to one side of a charcoal grill. Gently blot chicken with paper towels to remove excess marinade. Place chicken, breast side up, on oiled grates over unlit side of grill. Grill, covered, over indirect heat until chicken is well browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest portion of chicken registers 160°F, about 20 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a carving board, and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

While cooking I ended up putting this closer to direct vs indirect heat because it was taking quite awhile to cook. The meat was nice and tender and the flavor was great. The overnight marinating definitely helped with that. When ‘carving’ I sort of tore it apart, make it into chunks, pulled chicken-like pieces, and more. I prefer using my hands when possible. It was so tender that it was simple to do it that way. So a nice easy dish with lots of flavor. Great for the summer!

I was flipping through my recipe binders last night searching for something to make for a gathering this weekend and what do I come across? Notes from a wine class I took in 2004. Hmmm…I knew nothing about wine back then. I remember drinking that bright blue bottle of super sweet Riesling and other quality stuff. I never sank so low as White Zin, though, fear not. I loved reading over some of this info. Lots of good notes to keep in mind.

Basic Rules (per the instructor):

-Drink what the locals drink — ‘when in Rome, …’

-Drink what you want to drink, not what somebody else tell you is the ‘right wine’

-Beware that some pairings will clash (like spicy Shiraz with angelfood cake)

-Main ingredient is important but…

-Accents in the sauce and seasonings are the focus of the flavors

-Time of day is important:
-afternoons – maybe whites or roses work best
-evenings – fuller-bodied whites and reds are more satisfying

-Season:
-hot summer afternoons
-cool to cold winter evenings
-instructor deep thought — air conditioning was probably invented so that red wine would taste better in the summer. Nice!!

-Temperature:
-cold dishes need cold wines, usually lighter wines
-warm/hot dishes need bolder flavors and bigger wines

-Length of time cooking:
-short cooking (stir fries, seared, etc) suggests lighter wines
-longer cooking suggest heartier wines

-What else is on the plate?:
-one bottle for an entire meal presents problems
-some meals, think Thanksgiving, offer a wide range of flavors that are tough to match

-Pick wine that matches the weight and ‘size’ (bigness of flavor):
-simple, fragile wines with simple, fragile flavors
-robust wines with hearty dishes

-Texture:
-best example of texture in wine is sparkling wine (or beer) with spicy Asian food
-consider this range of texture: filet of flounder, lobster tail, steak

-Cooking with wine:
-easiest rule: serve the same wine
-therefore: never cook with cheap wine

-Sweet wines are tough to match with main dishes, but not impossible:
-Americans are used to drinking sweet drinks (soda, iced tea) — why not sweet wine?
-the secret is in balancing sweetness and acidity

Great wine (vs food) for thought when hitting the stores this weekend and deciding what to pick up.