10181 Sumac Chicken with Bread Salad 4 servings Thu Jul 23 14:30:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 16:57:38 -0700 2009 Cal-Med Licensed http://www.chow.com/recipes/10181 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:57:38 GMT An amazingly delicious chicken dish An amazingly delicious chicken dish. Traditional in Middle Eastern cooking, the spice sumac brings a clean, tart flavor—think of a flowery lemon—to chicken as well as a deep rose color. As the chicken roasts, it will dye the bread underneath it, too. My friends Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh, organic farmers in Norwich, New York, introduced me to sumac and told me about this recipe.

What to buy: Armenian or Persian cucumbers, if you can find them, are delicious in this salad and, like Kirbys, don’t need to be peeled or seeded. If neither is available, your basic cucumber will be fine—just peel and seed it before slicing. Ripe summer tomatoes are ideal. If you’re making this out of season, substitute halved cherry tomatoes, which usually have some semblance of flavor in winter.

Buy a 1-pound loaf of very crusty bread, carve off the heavy bottom crust, trim edges that are particularly ragged—remember that some crust is nice—and you’ll have just what you need.

You can find ground sumac in Middle Eastern markets or by mail from Kalustyan’s.

Game plan: If you can, start the dish in the morning by seasoning the chicken.

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  • Cut the backbone out of the chicken with kitchen shears and flatten the chicken. Season it generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Make a paste with the sumac and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and rub the paste into both sides of the chicken. Refrigerate on a plate—no need to cover—for about 8 hours. Or, if you haven’t planned ahead, just leave the seasoned chicken on the counter while you prepare the onions and bread.
  • Heat the oven to 375°F.
  • Put the onions and the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Salt the onions and cook, stirring once in a while, until they are limp and turning gold at the edges, around 9 minutes. Add the garlic and parsley, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Scrape the onions into a large mixing bowl and add the cubed bread. Toss.
  • Oil a casserole dish large enough to hold the bread in a single layer (I use a 12-inch round terra-cotta dish). Scrape in the bread and onions, and spread them out. Set the chicken on top of the bread and roast for 1 hour.
  • Set the chicken on a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes.
  • Scrape the bread out into a big mixing bowl and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Add the cucumbers and tomato, squeeze in the lemon juice, and toss. Check for salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if you want.
  • Pile the salad onto a platter. Cut the chicken into quarters and arrange it around the salad. It’s ready to serve.
  • The leftover salad is great as a snack. Check to see if it needs another shot of lemon.

    • Beverage pairing: Bodegas Dos Victorias José Pariente Verdejo, Reuda, Spain. The bright, lemony flavor of sumac along with the lemon and garlic ask for a fruit-forward wine, but it needs a little weight for the chicken and bread. Verdejo from Rueda is just such a grape, with the sweetest flavors of Sauvignon Blanc but without the herbaceousness and with more body.

    ]]>     http://www.chow.com/assets/2007/07/sumacchicken_290.jpg Roy Finamore 50 Main 127 1 (3- to 3-1/2-pound) chicken

    ]]>     305 Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

    ]]>     297 2 tablespoons ground sumac

    ]]>     5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

    ]]>     54 2 large red onions (about 1 pound), sliced thinly

    ]]>     74 2 large garlic cloves, minced

    ]]>     203 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

    ]]>     3/4 pounds dense bread (such as farm bread or pane de casa), cut into 1-inch cubes

    ]]>     65 3 Kirby cucumbers, quartered lengthwise, cut into 1/4-inch slices, and tossed with a big pinch of salt

    ]]>     109 1 large ripe summer tomato, cored and cut into chunks

    ]]>     43 Juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste

    ]]>     70 chicken 739 middle east 388 healthy 461 poultry 792 roy finamore 803 tasty 745 ethnic 1021 comfort 325 roast 578 spice 8295 bread salad 644 summer 1100 cherries