| Happy Saturday, friends. What's on your weekend agenda? I know I won't get to it today or tomorrow, but reorganizing my spice cabinet is something I really ought to do when I have a spare half-hour or so. I'm sure I have duplicates of multiple spices (why so much ground cumin?!), bottles that aren't labeled on top (the only way I can easily peruse everything) and tons that have long since been bumped out of alphabetic order. Sorting through them would not only make my life easier, but also remind me of all the treasures lurking in the shadows. One of my favorites is sumac, which grows wild in the Middle East and parts of Italy. (There is a relative found in the States, too.) While you can buy the dried red-purple berries whole, the version many of us have the easiest access to and most use for is ground sumac. Sumac "is more than tart," wrote former Food and Dining editor Joe Yonan. "It's also a little floral, a little fruity, and a little earthy, maybe something like Meyer lemon mixed with Aleppo pepper." It's multidimensional and multipurpose, and packs a punch in a tiny package. Use it any place you'd employ a squirt of lemon juice. Or try it as a finishing touch in lieu of, or in addition to, freshly ground black pepper. When people ask me how to amp up flavor without relying on salt, sumac is always one of my first suggestions. I first fell in love with it years ago when testing a sweet potato fries recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi, then made it one of the stars of my sheet pan Thanksgiving meal with turkey legs, where it also seasons the orange spuds. You'll find another pairing of the spice with poultry in Grilled Chicken With Sumac and Black Lime, which Daniela Galarza featured from chef Fadi Kattan's cookbook, "Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food." Sumac shines in the spice rub alongside garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin and cinnamon for a delectable bird that needs no sauce or long marinating time. The grill will give you the coveted smoky taste that marries especially well with those ingredients, but you can achieve just as satisfying a result by starting the chicken in a very hot cast-iron skillet and finishing it in the oven. Spices play a starring role in Lakhan's Old-Fashioned, a twist on the classic drink that brings Indian flavors to the forefront. The bulk of that foundation comes from a simple syrup made with jaggery (an unrefined sugar cane or palm sugar) and chaat masala, a spice blend that you'll more often find used in snacks and street-food-inspired eats than cocktails. A split base of bourbon and Spanish brandy lends complexity in conjunction with a few dashes of bitters. You may never look at an Old-Fashioned the same way again. Speaking of familiar — and unfamiliar — drinks, allow me to point you to the Taylor Swift-inspired Almost Alchemy Cocktail that Emily Heil concocted in her own kitchen after accpeting she'd never get around to trying the real thing. This deeply hued pink drink named after one of Swift's songs is on the menu at the new 1587 Prime Steakhouse in Kansas City, Missouri, opened by Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, a.k.a. the pop singer's fiancé. If the cocktail sounds and looks like a Cosmopolitan, you're not far-off, Emily reports. Our version of the Alchemy features citrus vodka, dry curaçao, oolong tea, and strawberry, cranberry and lime juices. Emily and her husband both enjoyed the cocktail, if not the "alchemy" of setting steel wool aflame. Vivid color is just as important to Ellie Krieger's Branzino With Roasted Red Pepper Puree and Fennel Salad. The spread of pureed roasted red peppers seasoned with Calabrian chiles is an enchanting bed for the white fish, though I could see it pairing with just about any protein, seafood or otherwise, you prefer. If you're anything like Ellie, you'll be transported to the Mediterranean with just one bite. Now who couldn't use that these days? If you're sticking close to home next week, be sure to join me and Aaron for our live weekly cooking chat we host every Wednesday at noon Eastern. Submit your food questions now, then come back when we kick off the conversation. Until next week, happy cooking. |
0 comments:
Post a Comment