Grilled Persian Saffron Chicken

Soraya, my best friend and love of my life is Persian. Thanks to her and her family, I grew up eating delicious Persian food. Whenever I'm feeling nostalgic, which is almost always, I tend to make this dish, which trust me is easy and packed with flavor. YOU REALLY MUST TRY IT!

Ingredients:
1/2lb Chicken (any cut will do)
Pinch of Saffron (just for color)
fresh juice of 2-3 limes
2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Friends of the chicken:
Persian Rice: Soak the rice overnight to remove excess starch. Add oil to the pot and heat on high to make a crust for the rice. Then add water and cook on low and add a towel to the top to steam it. Once it's almost done add butter and salt and fluff it through the rice and top with saffron water.
Mast: Plain yogurt with cucumber, salt, pepper, vinegar and mint if it's laying around.
Grilled tomatoes: self explanatory.

Chicken Directions
Marinate the chicken overnight if possible in the lime juice, salt, saffron mixture.
A few hours before cooking, add the yogurt.
Skewer the meat and grill until cooked through or if you're sans grill, try broiling it.
Serve with rice or pita bread. Plate the tomatoes alongside and douse with mast.

BOGO Meals: Roast Chicken and Minestrone Soup

One of the best ways to save money and get the most out of your food is to be able to make two meals from one. An easy way to do this is with chicken! Chicken is one of the most versatile meats and if you buy a cut with the bone in, it's even more versatile!

The first dish is a simple: Roast Chicken with Vegetables.
2 chicken legs with thigh meat, bone and skin still attached
1-2 potatoes
1 carrot
1/2 onion.
1 clove garlic
2tbs olive oil
sprig of fresh thyme and rosemary if you have it (makes a huge difference)
salt and pepper for seasoning

Cut the vegetables into rounds like hockey pucks.
Lay them on the bottom of your baking tray.
Place the chicken on top.
Mince the garlic and slide it under the skin of the chicken.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, and herbs.
Drizzle the olive oil and rub the chicken and all the vegetables, WELL! However, make sure the chicken is still laying on the bed of veggies.
Don't use too much oil because the chicken will exude oil when cooked for the veggies.
Bake at 350 for 20-30mins.
Let rest for 10 mins before serving or all the yummie juices will pour out when you cut into it.

Dish two: Minestrone Soup w/ chicken stock
Chicken bones
1 carrot
1 onion
1/2 bell pepper or bunch of string beans
1/2 cup kidney or white beans
1/3 pasta
1 tomato
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic

Basic Stock:
Save the bones, fat, and skin from the meal.
Boil in a pot with peppercorns, half a carrot, half an onion, a clove of garlic, and a bay leaf.
Strain and you have stock! You can freeze it for later or use it for soup the same day.

Soup
Now, saute another clove of garlic with the remaining onions, carrots, and peppers or string beans in some of the chicken fat on med-low heat.
Once it starts to smell good, add the stock and bay leaf.
Grate the tomato into the soup. Chop the skin and toss it in.
Add the beans and pasta after 10 minutes.
Let cook for another 20.
Turn the heat off and let it sit, allowing the soup to cool and flavors to congeal.
(If you like it hot, because some like it hot, throw in a small chili into the pot!)
There you have it, two meals for the price of one!

Magic Chicken Soup-Arroz Caldo

Being biracial, I hardly ever get sick, however, on the rare occasion that I do come down with something, I use this: my magic chicken soup. I shit you not, it helped cure me when I caught a case of SARS :)

Prep Time: 5
Cook Time: 40

Magic Chicken Soup
Two chicken thighs, bone in skin on
1/2 cup rice
1.5 inches of ginger diced
1 onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
3 peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Directions:
Saute the onions, garlic and ginger in a tsp of oil.
Add the chicken. Sear the skin.
Add water, bay leaf and peppercorns.
After 20 minutes, add the rice and cook until the chicken is falling off the bone.
Before serving you can remove the bones and skin.
It may not be the prettiest dish at the ball, but it's effective, easy, and delicious. Thank me later.

*Again, since this is a Filipino recipe, the measurements don't really matter. You can add less chicken, more chicken, less rice more rice. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS YOU LOAD IT UP WITH FRESH GINGER!

Chicken Adobo- Easy and Delicious

Everyone loves a Filipino, it's true, and it's because we make adobo.
Adobo is quick, easy, and delicious.
This recipe is for Karin who's in the mood for some homecookin' :-)





To make adobo you will need:
Soy Sauce
White Vinegar
5 cloves of Garlic
4 Peppercorns
1 Bay Leaf
a ration of Chicken or pork or both (why not, go crazy!?)

STEP 1 and only: Place all the ingredients in a pot. Boil for a half hour or until the meat has darkened with the sauce, making it retain the liquid and thicken the sauce.
Some also like to broil the meat afterwards and caramelize the skin with the sauce, while that's all fine and dandy, it's really not necessary but if you feel so inclined, be my guest. It is actually good. :)

Note: I haven't told you how much soy sauce or vinegar to add because... I don't use a ratio. Knowing how to make adobo has been embedded in my DNA. Some will tell you 1/2 vinegar to soy sauce while others will recommend a one to one ratio. Truth is, we don't have a rule. Add to your hearts desire, play with it, see what you like, if it's too strong, add water. There's really no way to mess up this goodness. The most important thing is to have LOTS OF GARLIC! Oh yes, and remove your shoes before eating, because everyone knows Filipinos don't wear shoes in the house!

Mabuhay!