Kotopoulo me Kappari kai Pilafi me Fide -- Chicken Roasted with Capers and Rice-Fide Pilaf

I have a strange affinity for capers. I love their briney, tart taste and when cooking with them I often leave a handful out to just nibble on while dinner simmers. My husband, on the other hand, is not at all keen on these little green buds, so he pushes them to the side whenever he sees them in his dish.

I'm pretty sure most people have seen or eaten capers before, but just in case you were curious to know: Capers are the unripened flower buds of Capparis Spinosa, a perennial plant that is native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia. Once harvested, the buds are dried in the sun, then pickled in vinegar, brine or salt. According to sources, the caper was used in Ancient Greece as a carminative. Etymologically, the caper and different versions of the word in several European languages can be traced back to the Latin capparis, still some say that that term is in turn borrowed from the Greek κάππαρις. Another theory I read of, links κάππαρις/kápparis to the name of the island of Cyprus (Κύπρος, Kýpros), where capers grow abundantly.



Capers pair well with fish and chicken but I've also used them in a great parsley sauce over a simply roasted cut of beef ... and the results were divine. But I'll save that dish for a later date.

Today, I'm focusing on this chicken dish. I simply took some whole chicken legs (thigh and drumstick attached), dressed them with a lime and caper marinade, then roasted them to perfection. On the side I served a pilaf of rice and Greek Fide (nests of thin pasta--i.e. vermicelli) that I infused with lime.

Kotopoulo Me Kappari --
Chicken Roasted with Capers

4 whole chicken legs, skin on
Juice of one lime
2 tablespoons capers
2 garlic cloves, minced
Hefty pinch of dried Greek oregano
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Place in a roasting pan.

Whisk together the lime juice, capers, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and then slowly add the oil in a steady stream. Once well combined, pour over the chicken legs and allow the chicken to sit in the marinade for about half hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spoon the sauce over the chicken; add a little water to the roasting pan if necessary; and place in the oven for about 45 minutes or until golden.

Serve sprinkled with parsley alongside the Rice-Fide Pilaf with some extra sauce from the pan poured on top.

Lime-Infused Rice & Fide Pilaf

In a medium saucepan, heat a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat. Add a handful of Fide (breaking it up with your fingers as you add it to the pan). Saute the Fide until golden and nutty; quickly toss in about 1 1/2 cups rice and give it a good stir. Add about 3 cups of water, plenty of salt and some freshly ground pepper and bring the mixture to a boil. Before covering, add a lime half (which you've already squeezed for your chicken marinade); cover the saucepan; reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 22 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and after a couple of minutes stir the pilaf and serve.

Pasxa/Easter 2009

Christos Anesti!

Easter is my favorite holiday of all. From the start of Lent on Clean Monday to Easter Sunday, the days are rich with meaning and purpose. And each year, I can't help but feel a distinct sense of renewal as we partake in all the religious traditions, the cultural celebrations and the family gatherings associated with this beautiful holiday.

Holy Week symbolizes an important week of religious observances and preparations for the holiday; there are church services held twice daily and on some days morning, afternoon and evening. In our family, we attend church on Palm Sunday and then enjoy the traditional bakaliaro and skordalia at my parents' home. On Holy Wednesday we attend church for The Sacrament of Holy Unction. On Holy Thursday we dye our eggs the traditional shade of red symbolizing the blood of Christ and then attend church that night to hear the 12 Gospel readings and to venerate the crucifix. The afternoon of Good Friday, a day of strict fasting, we attend The Vespers services where the body of Christ is taken down from the cross, shrouded, then carried around the church and placed on the Epitaphio adorned with beautiful flowers and foliage. That evening we follow--along with hundreds of parishioners--the Epitaphio in a procession of mourning around the neighborhood of our church. Finally on Great Saturday we again attend church early in the morning to receive communion and that night (just before midnight) we all gather in the church's courtyard, the children with their decorated Lambades (Easter candles) and the adults with simple wax candles, and await to hear our priest begin singing the Hymn of Resurrection, Christos Anesti (Christ has Risen), as the clock strikes twelve and the holy light makes its way through the congregation as candle after candle is lit. From there we go home to break the fast and enjoy a feast of Patsa (tripe soup), fried liver and sweetbreads, cheeses, salad, etc. before going to bed and awakening renewed and refreshed to celebrate Easter Sunday.

The preparation of our lamb begins on Great Saturday. For many, many generations we have followed the traditional way of making lamb on this special occasion. This rich lamb dish is known as Mouri on the island of Kalymnos and it is something I began making a few years ago after I was first married, following in the footsteps of my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents before them. Mouri consists of a whole lamb stuffed with a mixture of rice, ground meat, chopped lamb liver, tomato, pine nuts, onion and plenty of cinnamon. Traditionally, the stuffed lamb is placed in an outdoor oven and sealed to cook slowly beginning early Great Saturday, through the night and onto the early morning of Easter. It is then unsealed to reveal fragrant, utterly moist lamb meat accompanied by a flavorful stuffing infused with all the flavors of the lamb itself as well. This is a rustic dish with no pretentions, just wonderful flavors that bring on a flood of emotions and memories with every bite as it has been made with such care and love for so long.

We improvise, of course, as we don't have an outdoor brick oven (yet!) and we cook our lamb in our regular oven within an enormous roasting pan sealed well with aluminum foil. The aroma of the lamb slowly cooking from Great Saturday is indescribable. You can view a short video of a lamb being stuffed on Kalymnos here.

As it was my husband's name day, we hosted Easter here at home. It turned out to be a nice Spring day here in New York and we got to enjoy some Kokoretsi (seasoned lamb or goat sweetbreads, heart, liver and/or kidney skewered, wrapped in the animal's small intestine and roasted), a simple Bacon and Onion Tart, some Herbed Goat Cheese atop Greek Rusks, an Olive and Caper Tapenade, Anchovies and Fresh Baked Bread in our backyard while the children played on the lawn.

We moved inside to enjoy the Mouri accompanied by Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms tossed in butter and parsley and an amazing Lettuce, Fennel, Parsley and Dill Salad with a Honey Vinaigrette inspired from a recipe on the Greek web site, Kathimerini.

Bacon and Onion Tart (see the recipe here)

Herbed Goat Cheese on Greek Rusks

Kokoretsi

Chicken Kabobs (for the [very] few non-lamb eaters)

Mouri (stuffed lamb)

This is a great video highlighting some of the rituals and traditions of Easter practiced on the island of Kalymnos (basically throughout Greece and by all Greeks across the globe):

Pasxa sthn Kalymno

Kali Anastasi

Kali Anastasi kai Kalo Pascha!

Happy Easter -- health, love and happiness to all!