The Airman's sister knows I like to post photos of the food I cook on Facebook so she invited me to join a group where people do exactly that. I'll admit that I was pretty standoffish for for the first few months definitely a lurker more than anything. Then, for some unknown reason I got kind of competitive. The more I looked at other people's postings the more I thought, "My dinner is better than that!" What can I say, I'm kind of an asshole. So, I started posting me meals this past week. I'm a pretty good cook and lately, recipes on the internets have not been satisfying my taste buds. Earlier this week I posted my recipe for Spicy Pork Stew and Cheese Grits. Today I give you Moroccan Spiced Chicken with Toum.
Food and Wine had a recipe for Moroccan Chicken that was way too busy (I'm sure it's delicious). So I cut out all the steps except for the mixing the butter and all the spices together and then coating the chicken with the mixture inside and out. I also, for good measure, put a lemon in the cavity of the chicken. I have this terrible habit of basting my chicken with melted butter. So there's that too. I don't use too much--no need to clog all the arteries but I also like to put a last coat on the bird when it comes out of the oven.
Toum on the other hand, is something I was taught to make by my good friend and wifey extraordinaire, Manal.
I could eat this stuff all day. In fact I only made the chicken because of the Toum. Toum is a a Lebanese dipping sauce and to be honest I have no idea what the exact amounts of any ingredient used so I'm giving approximations.
Labna (in English, it's often written as Labni) is a Kefir cheese (basically a really think yogurt) Toss the entire contain in (i think the one I got was 16oz) a food processor.
Start with 5 cloves of garlic, peel them and toss them in.
Add a teaspoon of salt and a a tablespoon of olive oil.
A squeeze of lemon juice (I forgot this last night and no harm was done)
Blend until smooth.
Taste: It should have a spicy garlicky kick and it should not taste overwhelmingly like yogurt. This is probably not the best way to describe the flavor because I know other places online will say you can use any old Greek yogurt...Trust me, you can't. So if it's still tasting like yogurt add some more garlic and salt to taste.
Serve with the chicken and pita. It will change your world for the better.
Food and Wine had a recipe for Moroccan Chicken that was way too busy (I'm sure it's delicious). So I cut out all the steps except for the mixing the butter and all the spices together and then coating the chicken with the mixture inside and out. I also, for good measure, put a lemon in the cavity of the chicken. I have this terrible habit of basting my chicken with melted butter. So there's that too. I don't use too much--no need to clog all the arteries but I also like to put a last coat on the bird when it comes out of the oven.
Toum on the other hand, is something I was taught to make by my good friend and wifey extraordinaire, Manal.
I could eat this stuff all day. In fact I only made the chicken because of the Toum. Toum is a a Lebanese dipping sauce and to be honest I have no idea what the exact amounts of any ingredient used so I'm giving approximations.
Labna (in English, it's often written as Labni) is a Kefir cheese (basically a really think yogurt) Toss the entire contain in (i think the one I got was 16oz) a food processor.
Start with 5 cloves of garlic, peel them and toss them in.
Add a teaspoon of salt and a a tablespoon of olive oil.
A squeeze of lemon juice (I forgot this last night and no harm was done)
Blend until smooth.
Taste: It should have a spicy garlicky kick and it should not taste overwhelmingly like yogurt. This is probably not the best way to describe the flavor because I know other places online will say you can use any old Greek yogurt...Trust me, you can't. So if it's still tasting like yogurt add some more garlic and salt to taste.
Serve with the chicken and pita. It will change your world for the better.
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