Roast Chicken, Cranberry and Honey Mustard Pita Sandwich

I love roasting a whole chicken and then using leftovers in a variety of ways. My favorite as of late is this pita sandwich with roast chicken, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet and tangy honey mustard and fresh watercress. It's a satisfying little sandwich and it's pretty healthy. I used Greek pita bread that I placed under the broiler for a couple of minutes to get some color but you can obviously use any bread you wish. Layer some roast chicken breast over one half of the pita and top with honey mustard, cranberry sauce and a handful of watercress. Top with the remaining pita half and enjoy!

Now don't be fooled by the roast chicken being listed here first: the star of this sandwich is the fresh cranberry sauce. Sweet and tart with a hint of ginger, the cranberries take this sandwich to a whole new level. And considering shelves are stocked with tons of fresh cranberries, sauces and chutneys such as this will be creeping into our dishes pretty regularly over the next month or so.

Below, I'll just share my recipe for a simple cranberry sauce but in the coming weeks will also write up the recipe for my favorite cranberry chutney ... so stay tuned!

Cranberry Sauce

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
12-oz fresh cranberries (3 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
Juice of small orange
Splash of Mavrodaphne (or Port)
Pinch of grated ginger

As I was already using my oven to roast the chicken, I simply combined all the ingredients in a baking dish, covered with foil and baked it until reduced to a thick, chunky sauce. Alternatively, just combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the cranberries are soft and the sauce is thick.

Pikantiko Kotopoulo me Fassolakia--Spiced Chicken with Green Beans

I love making tomato-based dishes, known as kokkinista (literally meaning "reddened") and yiahni in Greek. Obviously versatile dishes, they can be made with a variety of seasonal ingredients; with any meat or vegetable available; and can easily be taken from basic to exceptional with a few herbs and spices.

In summer months, kotopoulo (chicken) kokkinisto makes for a much lighter dish than beef or lamb cooked in tomato. And more often than not, a main dish of just vegetables cooked this way graces our dinner table when the warm summer weather calls for lighter fare.

Here I combined some chicken thighs (a flavorful and, more importantly, cost-effective option) with some fresh green beans and added some Hungarian paprika and cayenne pepper for a little heat.

Pikantiko Kotopoulo me Fassolakia--Spiced Chicken with Green Beans

1/4 cup olive oil

8 chicken thighs, skin removed

1 1/2 lbs. green beans, rinsed and trimmed

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Handful of dill, finely chopped

Handful of parsley, finely chopped

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Season chicken with some salt and pepper and add to the pot. Brown well on both sides then throw in the onion and garlic. Shake the pot to combine, then add the plain paprika, Hungarian paprika and cayenne pepper. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with some salt and pepper; bring to a boil, cover then lower heat to a simmer and cook chicken about 25 minutes or so. (Add some water or a bit of chicken or vegetable stock to the pot if necessary.)

Add the green beans to the pot, shake the pot and stir green beans lightly to coat with sauce. Cover the pot and cook until the green beans are tender, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the dill and parsley, adjust seasonings and serve with plenty of bread.

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.

Kotopoulo Youvetsi--Chicken Baked with Orzo

In the last couple of weeks, I have come to realize what food blogging is really supposed to be about: Sharing good food with new-found, generous and truly sincere friends.

Personally, I find myself regularly looking forward to my peers' posts, not to criticize their cooking methods and the food that graces their tables, but to share in their insights and thoughts; to have a sneak peek at their lives in Athens, Crete, Sydney, Alaska, Canada, Malaysia, India, Italy, Spain, England, France and so many other places around the world.

I have found blogging refreshing and fulfilling--a way to combine my writing career with my passion for cooking, without the pressure of deadlines, editors’ notes, etc., etc. Even better, since I first began blogging last September, I've found myself making many a new friend whom I await to hear an encouraging comment from and whom I try hard to leave an encouraging word for as well. Incidentally, however, I have also found myself wondering why some bloggers would feel the need to criticize others' ways of approaching a dish and repeatedly assert that their way of cooking is the only way ... indeed, it is not.

Cooking is a truly personal experience. There are traditional dishes that are passed down from generation to generation and these traditional dishes, although alike in their basic ingredients and general concept, may differ slightly due to geography, due to family economics or even due to a cook's/family's personal likings. There are recipes throughout Greece for various dishes--from kokkinisto, to stifado, to fassolada, to fakes, to kakavia, to phylla (or dolmades as known to everyone other than those from Kalymnos!), to bougatsa, to ravani, to youvarlakia, or even pastitsio--that inherently vary slightly. The recipe used for four and five generations within my own family for phylla, ravani or, yes, even pastitsio will very likely vary from fellow Greek bloggers' family recipes and yet, each and every one of these recipes, may wholly and entirely be a traditional Greek recipe passed down within their family from generation to generation. It is not my place, nor anyone else’s for that matter, to claim that such a recipe is not a “traditional” recipe, or that it is a lesser dish, because it includes this herb or that spice while my family’s recipe does not. Period.

And now onto a lighter and definitely yummier subject … below you will find my family's recipe for youvetsi, a very traditional Greek dish most often made with lamb baked in a tomato sauce flavored with bay leaves and cinnamon (and some other herbs depending on where in Greece it is being made; in Kalymnos, for instance, cooks often use what is known there as "thrimbi"--or dried savory--to compliment the cinnamon and bay leaves). The meat is accompanied by kritharaki (orzo) that is baked in the same sauce.

To make this a quicker weeknight meal, and a lighter one at that, I used whole chicken legs in place of lamb. The resulting dish was really quite good--all the flavors of youvetsi in a lighter form--with meaty tender chicken complemented by the flavors of cinnamon and bay and a sauce that effortlessly steals the show.

Kotopoulo Youvetsi -- Chicken Baked with Orzo

Serves 4 to 6

1/3 cup olive oil
4 whole chicken legs
1 large onion, chopped
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups water
2 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound orzo
Grated kefalotyri, myzithra, pecorino or parmesan (for sprinkling before serving)


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken with salt and freshly ground pepper.

In a dutch oven (or other ovenproof pot with lid), heat the oil over medium-high heat and brown the chicken well on both sides. Remove to a plate and set aside. Stir in the onion and saute until soft. Stir in the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and add the chopped tomatoes.

Dilute the tomato paste with one cup of the water. Add the diluted paste and 1 cup of the chicken stock to the dutch oven and bring to a boil. Place the chicken back into the pot (the sauce should come up at least 1/2 way to 2/3 of the way up the chicken, so add a bit more water or stock as necessary). Cover the dutch oven with its lid, place it in the oven and cook the chicken for 45 minutes or so.

Uncover the pot, remove chicken to a plate and keep warm. Add the orzo to the dutch oven with the remaining liquid (and more if necessary) and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Place chicken atop the orzo and bake 15 minutes more until the orzo is tender and the chicken nicely browned.

Serve sprinkled with grated cheese.


***I'm sending this dish over to Ruth of Once Upon a Feast as she is celebrating the 100th edition of Presto Pasta Nights this week. Congrats Ruth and here's to many more yummy pasta round ups!

Chicken Stuffed with Trahanas

So, I picked up some trahanas from one of the many Greek specialty shops here in New York last week and decided that aside from the traditional soup I often make, I wanted to do something more with these tasty, tangy tidbits.

I should note that there are two types of trahanas, sour and sweet, and to be honest I have only ever had the sour type. I don't believe the sweet version is used differently and am pretty sure, although labeled as "sweet," it is just not as sour as the other variety.

In case you are wondering, which some of you probably are by now, trahanas is a pasta of sorts made of ground whole wheat grains that are cooked or soaked in sour milk or a mixture of milk and yogurt, then dried in the sun and coarsely ground until about the size of large breadcrumbs. Used primarily in soups, trahanas occasionally makes an appearance in Greek stews or even stuffings, which is the route I took here.

After bringing the trahanas home, I recalled reading--and being thoroughly intrigued by--a recipe for eggplant slices stuffed with trahanas on Food Junkie not junk food. I'd never used trahanas as such and decided my first foray into the world of stuffing with trahanas would include the thinly sliced chicken cutlets I'd purchased the day before, rather than the scrumptious in-season eggplant slices Johanna used a few months ago.

I made a pretty basic tomato sauce, much of which I had a good amount of left over and got to use in another pasta dish. Make sure your cutlets are quite thin and if necessary pound them until they are. Serve alongside some steamed asparagus, green beans, or even just with a salad, and you're good to go. Kali Orexi!

Chicken Stuffed with Trahanas

Serves 4 to 6

8 thin-sliced chicken cutlets, seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides

1/4 cup, plus 3 tablespoons, plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 large onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup divided)

1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups trahanas
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 cup crumbled feta
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried Greek oregano
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 26.5 oz. box of chopped tomatoes
Pinch of sugar

1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Toothpicks


In a large saucepan begin making the tomato sauce by heating the 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Add all but the 1/4 cup of onion set aside and saute until soft. Stir in the garlic, oregano and the red pepper flakes. Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar, reduce heat to low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add half the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate saucepan, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high-heat and stir in the reserved 1/4 cup of chopped onion. Saute until softened then add the white wine and allow to boil for a few seconds. Stir in the trahanas and begin adding the stock; stirring constantly until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Add half the crumbled feta and the parsley and remove from the heat.

Place a heaping tablespoon of trahanas filling towards the end of one chicken cutlet and roll the cutlet up, securing with a toothpick as necessary.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. In an ovenproof skillet, heat the last two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat and brown the rolled chicken on all sides. Spoon some tomato sauce over, sprinkle with the remaining feta and the grated parmesan and bake for about 10 minutes.

Latin Cravings

I've had a craving for Latin food lately. It set in when I began reading the blog Bren's FlaNboyant Eats after Brenda so kindly visited my own blog and left a few kind words.


So the other night, I decided chicken was on the menu and what better way to make it than with some Latin flair. I browsed through Bren's blog and came across her post on Pollo Asado and decided that was the recipe. It was a last minute decision so I was missing the mojo criollo and the packet of Sazon Bren's recipe called for but managed to improvise making a mixture of lemon, lime, cumin, oregano, basil, salt and pepper to compensate for the mojo criollo and a combination of turmeric, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper to fill in for the Sazon. Oh, and as the kids had already eaten peas and carrots with their lunch I just added some black beans to the rice as opposed to the vegetables Bren had included.


The dish turned out really great but I made sure to stock the pantry with those missing ingredients so I can easily bring some Latin flavors to our meals any time. If you haven't already been following this fiery foodie's tales from her vibrant kitchen, I strongly suggest you visit with Bren soon.






Pollo Asado
Serves 4

4 split chicken breasts, skin on
1 large red onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
3 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine

Combine the lemon juice, lime juice, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Toss chicken with sliced onion, minced garlic and 1/2 of the lemon/lime mixture and let marinate for at least 1 hour.

Remove chicken from marinade, reserving the liquid and onions. Heat oil in a large skillet and brown chicken. Once browned on all sides, add wine and de-glaze the skillet. Add remainder of lemon/lime mixture, the reserved onions and any liquid from the marinade. Cover and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, spooning sauce over chicken every so often during cooking.



Yellow Rice

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tomato, diced
1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups white rice
3 cups water
Black Beans



In a large saucepan heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic until onion is softened. Add the tomato and seasonings and cook for 5 minutes on medium high heat. Add rice and saute for another minute, then add water, stir until well combined and bring to a boil. Lower heat to low, cover and simmer rice for about 20 to 25 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Once cooked, let sit for five minutes then fluff with fork and stir in black beans (I used canned black beans which I rinsed under cold water and drained).