Paper Palate

Mark Bittman’s “Minimalist” column is always the very first thing I read in Wednesday’s edition of the New York Times. Partly because it is short and I can get through it quickly at work but also because I applaud his take on cooking and food. He likes to use simple but strong flavors, he tends to make recipes that, hypothetically, can be cooked in 30 minutes while covering plenty of regional and cultural ground. He’s sort of the thinking man’s Rachel Ray (who, no matter what gastronomes and foodies say, I love)…or at least a 30 minute meal cook with credentials. Bittman makes cooking accessable, affordable and educational in a quick three or four paragraphs on a weekly basis. I think plenty of people need that.

In last week’s Dining section, Bittman tackles North African food, noting that it is a cuisine often overlooked even though its technically part of the wildly popular Mediterranean genre. I think he has a point: the only time I ever tried to make anything North African was after returning from Morrocco with a bag filled with tagine spices. What’s more, my familiarity with North African cuisine is limited to that same trip to Morrocco where my daily diet consisted of chickpea soup, lamb tagine, and mint tea. Granted, the food was wonderful but after five days of this same exact meal three times a day, I got a sick of it. Since then, I have rarely cooked nor eaten recipes from the region. I decided it was time to get over it, and give Bittman’s chicken with olives recipe a go.

From my research, I could tell that Bittman’s take on Chicken with Olives was pretty traditional and easy, as is his wont. His largest departure from tradition with this recipe was his use of plain ol’ lemon juice rather than preserved lemon. This could be attributed to his goal of keeping costs down or perhaps just to keep it as simple as possible. I’ve always wanted to use preserved lemons and was a bit disappointed that he didn’t call for them…were I to do it again, I think I’d splurge and get some ($9 for 300g on Amazon). I was strictly adhering to Bittman’s recipe, but I could make it interesting by trying some of said traditional accompaniments to North African food I was reading about. I decided on harissa and yoghurt sauce.

The Cook’s Thesarus the defines harissa as “Tunisian chile paste = heriseh Pronunciation: huh-REE-suh Notes: This is a hot North African paste that’s used as a meat rub or (mixed with water or oil) as a condiment. Substitutes: chili paste OR hot pepper sauce”. Although the Cook’s Thesarus and many other sources site it as specifically Tunisian, it can be found throughout Northern Africa. It has a distinct flavor which can be is attributed to the use of roasted red bell pepper thus considerably differentiating it from a Mexican or Asian chile sauce.

Most recipes call for any sort of dried chile which makes it a really easy thing to do at home. Grab whatever dried chilis you have lying around and go. I happened to have habaneros, anchos and pasillas. Simply reconstitute a handful of the chiles and smash up in the food processor with a roasted red pepper, 2-3 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, and 3 tablespoons olive oil and I found out that you end up with an excellent condiment that could be used on most anything.

I found a yogurt sauce on the Gutsy Gourmet, called “Middle Eastern Yogurt Sauce”, was simple and the site said it was “marvelous” which were two good enought reasons to try it as well. Yogurt sauces are very traditionally Mediterraean but usually thought of more as a Greek thing (like tzatzki). Although the recipe is not much different from one you would find in a Greek cookbook (yogurt, tahini, garlic and lemon plus water for thinning), its application in this context, over Bittmans’ chicken, is what interested me. These two sauces plus a simple couscous (chickpeas + cilantro) along with some cumin flavored zuchinni I figured would make the perfect North African menu.

Although I read every single one of Bittman’s columns, the fact is I rarely cook the recipes, but I’ve never spent too much time thinking about why that is. After cooking his Chicken with Green Olives, I think I know why: it was a little flat. Not only did it take more than the 30 minutes he said it would in his cute video, but it lacked a certain depth to it, which is one of the reasons I think I would try for the preserved lemon.

I saw it as North African food done safely or pehaps, “an introduction to the food of Northern Africa!” Once I added the harrisa and yoghurt sauce to the mix, though, it was a slam dunk. This is not to say it is a bad recipe at all…there is certainly a time and a place for safe regional cuisine: dinner parties with a bunch of people you hardly know, for example. This is perfect for that, because it is a bit exotic, but not completely unfamiliar.

However, for the more experienced cook or the more developed palate, perfect it is not. But that is okay; I don’t think that is who Bittman writes for, nor should he. And for those of us a little more willing to go the extra mile, his column is still a wonderful jumping off point for a more complete menu and an excuse at times to delve into regional cuisines a bit more than we normal would.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 to 4 pounds leg-thigh pieces of chicken, cut in two, excess fat removed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion, chopped
2 teaspoons peeled and minced ginger
1 1-inch cinnamon stick, or ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
2 cups chicken broth
1½ cups green olives, drained and pitted
Lemon juice to taste

Heat oil in a deep casserole or skillet on medium high until oil is very hot. Add chicken pieces, skin side down, and brown well, turning as needed and seasoning well with salt and pepper. Remove chicken from pot, and drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the mixed olive oil and chicken fat.

Reduce heat to medium and add onion, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, paprika, ½ teaspoon or more of pepper and some salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until onion softens and becomes transluscent. Return chicken to the pan, skin side up, add the chicken broth, return heat to medium high and cook at a brisk simmer for about ten minutes.

Add the olives, and cook, uncovered to allow sauce to reduce, until the chicken is done–about 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

For more on North African cooking, visit the following sites:

Gutsy Gourmet: Africa
Knowledge Hound
Wikipedia on N. Africa
Recipe Source: Africa