The exotic side of chicken salad

Tag : Wire Strainer

Circassia, a region of the Caucasus, was renowned for the beauty ofits blue-eyed Asiatic women, the preferred trophy wives of areapotentates.
Ayla Algar, in "Classical Turkish Cooking," introduces her recipethus: "This dish conjures up by its very name images of Circassianbeauties languidly reclining in the gilded captivity of the harem."
I first read those words back in 1994, after a two-week assignmentin Turkey.
The food there was certainly seductive - fresh, complex, colorful,delectably herbed and spiced, and prepared with care. I came hometo Milwaukee determined to teach myself to cook Turkish. I hadn'ttasted Circassian Chicken in Turkey, but it seemed as good a placeas any to start.
I tried Algar's version and then Paula Wolfert's (from "The Cookingof the Eastern Mediterranean"), but I couldn't quite get a handleon what they were shooting for.
They made the dish sound so exalted, I began to think it was beyondme. So I reread and mulled over both recipes until epiphanyarrived, in two words: chicken salad. Circassian chicken is no more- and no less - than that. With that conceptual breakthrough, I wason my way to mastery of an exotic take on a familiar idea.
I've made it many times, and it has never failed to impress.
Chilled Circassian chicken is great hot-weather fare and the starof my chilled Turkish dinner, which also comprises potato salad,grape leaves stuffed with red currants and rice, and yogurt lacedwith mint and cucumbers.
This stuff is guaranteed to be the talk of any Wisconsin blockparty.
The bad news is these dishes are labor-intensive.
The good news is they all taste even better after four hours in therefrigerator.
So make them a day ahead and enjoy your party free of cookingstress.
The defining elements of the dish are a binding sauce based onground walnuts and a topping sauce of walnut oil tinted red withpaprika or some other ground red pepper. (Wolfert calls for Aleppopepper, which I've never been able to find.)
Other than that, cooks follow their muses; no two of the 10 recipesI've found are alike. I started with Algar's, but strayedsignificantly, especially by starting with boneless, skinlessbreasts instead of a whole, cut-up bird.
The best brand of chicken base I've found is Better Than Bouillon.Freshness is crucial for both the walnuts and the paprika. Stale,bitter walnuts will ruin the dish. Go to a spice house to buy thepaprika.
Tom Strini is the Journal Sentinel's classical dance and musiccritic. RECIPES Circassian Chicken Makes 6 servings
2 quarts water
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
5 whole carrots, either peeled or scrubbed with a wire brush, andcoarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
8 peppercorns
3 teaspoons salt (divided)
3 tablespoons chicken-flavor base
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried parsley
3 whole cloves
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of fat
¾ pound walnuts
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small onion, minced
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sweet paprika (divided)
2 teaspoons Hungarian half-sharp paprika
3 slices good French bread (crusts removed), soaked in milk andthen squeezed dry
4 tablespoons walnut oil (divided)
In large pot, combine all ingredients for the cooking broth: water,coarsely chopped onion, carrots, bay leaves, peppercorns, 1teaspoon of the salt, chicken base, thyme, parsley and cloves.Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add thechicken, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat, remove lidand allow chicken to cool in broth about 45 minutes.
While chicken cools, set aside a dozen or so of the prettiestwalnut halves. Pour the remaining nuts into a food processor andgrind until fine. Put ground walnuts in large mixing bowl and addgarlic, minced onion, 2 tablespoons of the sweet paprika and thesharp paprika. Break up the wrung-out bread and throw it in thebowl. Add remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Stir to mix.
Remove some of the cooking broth from the pot and strain throughmesh strainer to measure 2 cups. Stir strained broth into mixturein bowl along with 1 tablespoon of the walnut oil. Put this mixturein batches into food processor and grind it to a smooth pouringconsistency; if the walnut binding sauce is too thick, add morestrained broth.
When the chicken has cooled sufficiently, remove it from the brothand shred it by hand, pulling to separate the fibers of the meat.(I told you this dish was labor-intensive.) The resulting piecesneed not - actually, should not - be uniform. In a large bowl, foldthe sauce into the chicken until mixture is uniform. Place chickensalad into a serving bowl or onto a platter and form into a mound.Decorate with the walnut halves you set aside earlier. Cover withplastic wrap and refrigerate.
Just before serving, warm remaining 3 tablespoons walnut oil in themicrowave or in a small saucepan over low heat. Off the heat, addremaining 2 teaspoons sweet paprika and stir to blend with the oil.Decorate the salad with the reddened oil. Serve on crackers, onpita wedges, on baguette slices or simply on a plate.
This recipe is adapted from www.yemek-tarifi.info/english/ , an online treasure trove of Turkish recipes. Turkish Potato Salad Makes 6 servings
3 pounds small red potatoes, boiled in their skins until tender, 20to 25 minutes
1/3 cup slivered mint leaves
¼ cup slivered basil leaves (see note)
1/3 cup chopped chives
3 ½ teaspoons salt (divided)
6 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon Hungarian half-sharp paprika (or ¼ teaspoon cayenne)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
12 or more pitted Kalamata olives, for garnish
Peel the cooled potatoes and dice them. Add herbs and 1 ½teaspoons of the salt and and toss lightly.
Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, black pepper andremaining 2 teaspoons salt. Pour over potatoes and herbs; tosslightly. Garnish with olives. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Note: Lemon basil or the cinnamon-tinged African blue basil isespecially good in this.
The following recipe is adapted from Ozcan Ozan's "The Sultan'sKitchen" (Periplus, 2001, $21.95). (See story on 3N .) Stuffed Grape Leaves Makes 6 servings
1 jar (about 36) grape leaves, drained
3 ½ cups water (divided)
2 tablespoons plus ¼ cup olive oil (divided)
3 tablespoons pine nuts
3 tablespoons red currants
1 small onion, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
1 cup short-grain rice, such as arborio
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons dried dill
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
2 tablespoons capers
3 lemons, cut into wedges
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Additional olive oil and lemon juice
In large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a full boil. Unroll 20 ofthe best-formed leaves. Place 2 or 3 at a time in the water andboil them 2 minutes. Gently remove leaves with tongs or a slottedspoon and drape them over a colander to dry. Snip away the toughstem of each leaf with scissors, to create a small v-notch.
Set 2 cups of fresh water in a saucepan over medium heat.
In another saucepan, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil overmedium heat. Add pine nuts; after 1 minute, stir to turn; after 30seconds more, stir them continuously until they are brown but notburned. Add currants, onion, rice, sugar, dried parsley, cinnamonand dill. Stir 2 minutes.
By now, the 2 cups of water should be coming to a boil; stir itinto rice mixture. Reduce heat, cover tightly and simmer about 20minutes, until rice is cooked and water absorbed. Remove from heatand let cool.
Arrange the 20 softened grape leaves on a sheet of wax paper, withbases of leaves facing you. When rice stuffing has cooled, put 1tablespoon (heaping for large leaves, level for smaller leaves) oneach leaf, just above the v-notch cut into the base. Fold thebottom (that is, the lower flanges) of the leaves over thestuffing, fold in the sides of the leaves, and roll them up - nottoo tightly, lest they burst in the next phase of cooking.
Set an additional 1½ cups of water on the stove to boil andpreheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line bottom of a flame-proof 9-inch-square baking dish with some ofthe unused leaves. Place the stuffed leaves over them, seam sidedown. Add remaining ¼ cup olive oil and the lemon juice to the hotwater, and pour the mixture over the stuffed grape leaves. Coverthem with the remaining grape leaves. Moisten, crumple and reopen apiece of parchment cut to fit over the grape leaves and meet theedges of the baking dish. Place it so. Weight down all of this withan inverted, oven-proof plate that fits within the walls of thebaking dish.
Place baking dish on the stovetop and bring the liquid to a boil.(Use a flame tamer or iron heat disburser if you're concerned aboutthe flame cracking your dish.) At the first sign of boiling, placethe dish in the oven and bake 45 minutes.
When the stuffed grape leaves are cooked and cooled, arrange themon a serving dish, along with the tomatoes, capers and lemonwedges. Chill until ready to serve. Just before serving, season thetomatoes with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the fresh parsley,then drizzle the whole plate with olive oil and lemon juice.
This recipe is based on Ayla Algar's recipe in "Classical TurkishCooking" (Harper Perennial, 1999, $17). This yogurt is good byitself, but it also makes a wonderful dipping sauce for kofte , the lamb or beef meatballs that are a staple of Turkish cooking.Several kofte recipes are at www.yemek-tarifi.info/ english . Yogurt with Cucumber and Mint
Makes 6 servings
1 English cucumber (see note)
2 cups plain yogurt, drained (see note)
2 cloves pressed garlic
2 tablespoons dried mint leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Fresh mint for garnish
Grate cucumber into a colander, sprinkle it with salt and let itstand while you complete the next step.
Beat the drained yogurt with the garlic, mint, oil and salt. Ifit's too thick, beat in 2 to 4 tablespoons of water. Dry thecucumber in a clean towel, then mix with the yogurt and chill.Garnish with mint.
Notes: I prefer these longer, slender cukes because their small, softseeds need not be removed. Also, their thin skins are easilydigested and can be grated into the salad, to add a splash ofgreen. If you use a common cucumber, peel it, split it and use ateaspoon to scrape the seeds from the center.
To drain yogurt: Line a strainer with cheesecloth and place thestrainer over a bowl. Pour the yogurt onto the cheesecloth. Placethe assembly in the refrigerator overnight. The idea is to make theyogurt drier and creamier. I've read that this step can beeliminated if one uses sheep's milk yogurt, the choice oftraditional Turkish cooks.