Roast Za’atar Chicken and Eggplant Salad

Not your typical salad, this lovely roast za’atar chicken and eggplant salad combines fresh herbs with succulent chicken thighs and golden fried eggplant, drizzled with a tangy pomegranate molasses dressing.

The day I made this, I came home from the store with the chicken thighs, with a salad in mind. I had some fresh Turkish figs in the refrigerator, a seriously creamy blue cheese, and lots of salad greens. Then I ended up back at the shopping center because I needed to get new visa photos taken. The photographer said they’d be ready in 15 minutes, so I wandered through the supermarket once more.

The bulk spices caught my eye – and my nose – and there on the spot, my whole plan changed. Oh, I’d still do a salad, but it would be a warm one, with za’atar spiced chicken and herbs. Maybe some eggplant? Yes, definitely eggplant. But what sort of dressing then? Pomegranate molasses! Ooooh, I couldn’t wait to get home to make it.

I collected my visa photos – As I told the lady, I looked like a criminal; I hope they renew my resident visa! – and I hurried home.

Roast Za’atar Chicken and Eggplant Salad

This recipe was very much a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants affair. But fortunately, I wrote it all down and took photos, so I can share with you. It is sooooo delectable. I sent the recipe to my friend, Carolyne, in England so she could make it this weekend. She and her husband enjoyed it as well. I hope you all love it as much as we did.

Ingredients
For the warm salad:
2.2 lbs or 1kg chicken thighs*
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt
3 tablespoons Lebanese za’atar
4-6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 medium eggplant (400g)
small bunch flat leaf parsley, hard stems removed
small bunch cilantro (fresh coriander)

For the dressing:
1/4 cup or 60ml pomegranate molasses (buy the best quality you can find, preferably, no sugar added - or make your own!)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon za’atar

Optional: fresh red chili pepper, minced, for garnish - or sprinkle on a few pomegranate arils - those would be lovely too.

*Note: our chicken thighs are small compared to the ones I can buy back in the US so I count on at least 2 thighs per person.

Method
Warm the molasses in the microwave in a clean jar. Add the other ingredients and shake well. Leave to cool before pouring over salad.

Tip: If you don’t use your pomegranate molasses very often it’s a good idea to keep it in the refrigerator. Sometimes the natural sugars crystalize. If this happens to yours, measure the molasses into a microwave proof bowl or jar and give it a few zaps until it is warm enough to melt the sugar crystals. Allow to cool slightly before adding the garlic, oil and za'atar to make the dressing.

Set the oven to preheat at 400°F or 200°C.

Trim the excess fat off of your chicken thighs and discard. Season the bottom (non-skin side) with a good sprinkle of black pepper, salt and almost half of the za’atar.

Drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil in your baking pan – use an iron skillet if you have one.

Arrange the chicken thighs skin side up in the pan. Season with a good sprinkle of black pepper, salt and the balance of the za’atar. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil on top of the seasoned thighs.

Roast for about 30 minutes in your preheated oven. (If you have larger chicken thighs, they may need an additional 10 minutes in the oven. You want to reach an internal temperature of 180°F or 83°C.) Baste with the chicken juices halfway though.

Meanwhile, trim the stem off of your eggplant and cut them in fat sticks. Sprinkle with fine sea salt and set aside in a colander to drain.

Remove the chicken from the baking pan or skillet, transfer it to a plate and cover with foil.

Dry the eggplant with a teacloth and fry the pieces in the chicken drippings in the same iron skillet on the stove. Add more olive oil if necessary. You may have to do this in two batches so as not to crowd the pan.

Turn the eggplant as needed to brown it on all sides. Remove the pieces to a small plate when done.

To assemble the warm salad, scatter your parsley and cilantro on a large serving dish. Add the chicken thighs and golden eggplant. Optional: Mince a red chili pepper and sprinkle over the top. Drizzle with the dressing to serve.

Enjoy!

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Burmese Fish Curry #FishFridayFoodies

Burmese Fish Curry begins with an aromatic cayenne spiked curry paste made onions, garlic and ginger. Lemongrass stalks are added while the sauce slowly simmers. Finally, the fish joins the pot, cooking slowly in the fragrant sauce.

Burmese curry does not use spices, just a paste made of onions, garlic and ginger, cooked until fragrant and then reddened with cayenne and paprika or annato. For chicken curry, you add cinnamon sticks when cooking. For fish curry, you can add fish sauce, tomatoes and lightly crushed lemon grass stalks.

Burmese Fish Curry 

I learned this recipe from my Burmese friend and excellent cook, Ma Toe. I was blessed to get to know her when we lived across the street from each other in Brazil. I never wrote it down way back then but have cooked it from memory for years. This is the first time I've put the recipe down.

Ingredients
For the paste (enough for 3 pots of curry -makes 3 1/2 cups or 825g- freeze the balance):
4 large onions
2-3 normal heads of garlic or 4-5 small ones
About 5-6 inches of fresh ginger
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light cooking oil plus a little for the pot
1-2 teaspoons cayenne
2-3 teaspoons paprika or ground annato

Find instructions for the paste here: https://www.foodlustpeoplelove.com/2018/09/burmese-curry-paste.html

For the fish curry:
2 lbs or 900g fish (or substitute shelled shrimp or prawns)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Black pepper
2 good serving spoons Burmese curry paste (1/3 of recipe above or about 275g)
4-5 medium tomatoes (about 1 3/4 lbs or 800g)
2 stalks lemon grass
Good handful cilantro or fresh coriander

Optional for serving: steamed white rice and lime slices

Tip: You can use boneless fish, cut into chunks, if you prefer but fish with bones will add more flavor.

Method
Make your curry paste according to the instructions in this post. It makes enough for three pots of curry - chicken, seafood or vegetable - so you'll freeze the balance.

Season your fish with the fish sauce, black pepper and turmeric. (This can even be done earlier, while your paste is cooking, if you are making it fresh that day. In that case, refrigerate the fish until you are ready to add it in.)

Put one third of your Burmese curry paste into a large pan and warm it through. Chop the tomatoes and add them to the pot.

Give the bottom of the lemon grass stalks a good bash with a hammer or your pestle. You want to bruise and crush them a little so they can release their flavor but you want them all in one piece so they can be removed later.

Add the lemon grass stalks and about 2 cups or 480ml water to the pot.

Cook, covered, for about 20-30 minutes over a low fire. Stir the curry sauce occasionally. After the 20-30 minutes is up, add in the pieces of fish, working them under the sauce.

Cook, covered, until the fish is done, stirring occasionally, perhaps another 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop your cilantro.

Once the fish is cooked through, check the seasoning and add more fish sauce or a little salt, if necessary. Remove the lemongrass stalks and discard. Top the Burmese fish curry with the chopped cilantro.

 Serve with steamed white rice and slices of lime, if desired.

We also add in more pepper in the form of my homemade pepper sauce. Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodies are cooking up seafood stews at the behest of our talented host Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Check out the great recipes everyone is sharing:

An InLinkz Link-up

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Almond Wedding Cake #BundtBakers

A simple one-bowl batter is the base of this beautiful almond wedding cake, decorated with almond buttercream icing and pearl and flower flourishes.

My mother’s very favorite cake is wedding cake. She is seriously disappointed if she has to leave a reception before the cake is cut. And if it’s almond wedding cake, oh my! No way she's leaving without a piece!

When the theme "white cake" was chosen a few months back for this month’s Bundt Bakers, I planned right away to bake this cake when I was in Houston visiting my mother. She is an avid follower of my blog and often sends me notes to say how hungry she gets from looking at my photos. It would have been too cruel to bake her favorite cake and not give her some.

Almond Wedding Cake

Credit for this batter recipe is goes to Wedding Cakes for You. The ingredients list is all theirs, except for the metric conversions. A two-layer cake bakes up perfectly in a 12-cup Bundt pan. I think we can all agree that despite this not being a traditional shape for wedding cake, it works beautifully. Who doesn't love a Bundt?

Ingredients 
For the cake batter:
2 cups or 250g all-purpose flour plus extra for the Bundt pan
1 1/2 cups or 300g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 100g shortening plus extra for the Bundt pan (I use the original white Crisco.)
1 cup or 240ml milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
5 egg whites

For the frosting:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons shortening
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Optional for whiter white icing: Sugarflair food coloring paste. Follow these instructions. It's science! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBl9Gz9eTqg

Method 
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan with shortening and then coat it with flour.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to your mixing bowl. Give it a mix. Add the shortening to the flour mix along with the milk and almond extract. As soon as it’s all mixed, turn the mixer up to medium high. Beat for a couple of minutes.

Add in the egg whites and beat slowly till they are mixed in. Now beat on medium high for 2 minutes.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. Mine turned out a bit darker than usual since I chose to bake in a dark pan that I seldom use. (I have made a note to myself for next time. My Nordic Ware pans never fail me this way!)

Meanwhile, make the frosting by beating together the butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes in the Bundt pan.

Turn the Bundt out of the pan onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting and decorating.

Once cool, I spread the frosting on so that the contours of the Bundt pan still showed through, then covered it immediately with sparkling white sugar sprinkles so that they would stick.

These are the flowers, sprinkles and pearls I used for decoration.

• White sparkling sugar sprinkles 
• Large sugar pearls 
• and edible wafer roses (not very tasty, I must admit, but they are pretty)

This almond wedding cake was a hit! My sister and her girls helped themselves to wedges and my mom enjoyed the rest. And now that the blog post is public, I am just waiting for the email saying she wishes she still had some! Three, two, one ...

Enjoy!

What's your favorite white cake? Check out the list below for the wonderful cakes my Bundt Bakers are sharing today. Many thanks to our host Nichole from Cookaholic Wife!

• Almond Wedding Cake from Food Lust People Love
• White Chocolate Mud Bundt Cake from All That’s Left are the Crumbs
• Yolks Bundt Cake from Merce’s Cake
• Dream White Cake from Sneha’s Recipe
• Kentucky Bourbon Butter Cake from Cookaholic Wife
• Coconut and White Chocolate Bundt Cake from Pat y Co. Candy Bar
• White Chocolate Bundt with Apple Cider Glaze from Sweet Sensations
• White Chocolate Bundt from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

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