mediterranean chicken in the lower east side of manhattan - aka "belly dancing chicken"

Through the magic of cooking and blogging I am able to transform regular ingredients into exotic ingredients from far away lands with the application of herbs, spices and heat all in a two hour span. I know that may sound like some kind of tricky mumbo jumbo but its absolutely true. Take this chicken for example: yesterday evening a long time friend, a buddy I have known since we were both 18 years old or so calls me up and says "I have some chicken breasts and I am thinking of grilling them, do you have any ideas?" Well thats like asking if there is sand on the beach - of course I have ideas. Fortunately my friend is usually pretty well stocked so when I asked him about mint he said "growing in the garden" and when I asked about feta cheese he said "a half pound in the fridge" so before you know it he was pounding out his chicken and spreading this mediterranean mixture I had described to him inside the flattened breasts and rolling them back up and tossing them on the grill. We also discussed a potato that was first parboiled then sliced and rubbed with olive oil, oregano and coarse salt that was also grilled. (he sent me a picture from his cell phone)

The consensus between his 9 year old daughter, her 9 year old friend who was over for dinner, his girlfriend and him was - no leftovers - so as much he was hoping to save some for a nice lunch these delights disappeared faster than a wizard in a sandstorm. Well, since I now have mint and lemon zest and chicken and oregano on my mind - I had to get busy.

I had chicken thighs not breasts so I made a nice rub but since I didnt have feta I had to use goat cheese and since I didnt have a garden with fresh mint I had to use some dried mint I had dried myself from my last mint purchase so my version was going to be slightly different. I made a nice mixture in my mortar and pestle of goat cheese, garlic, oregano, mint, lemon zest, salt and olive oil and this was rubbed all over the thighs then I ground fresh pepper over the whole lot and they were allowed to rest in this for half an hour before they were first seared on the stove top then popped in a hot oven.

Chicken is out of the oven looking perfect and doing its resting thing while I slice some cucumbers and fluff up the rice with some of the marinade that I had reserved on the side just for this very flavor footprint, I wanted everything to stroll harmoniously together.

Now if you cant tell these are three different plates then you have no business in my kitchen. The flavors were outstanding, the chicken was juicy with a nice crispy skin, the rice danced ever so seductively with the rest of the plate - it was like belly dancing with out the music and with out the belly dancer but with everything thing else that makes you feel exotic, a little of the far away right here in Manhattan.

phoenix rising

Last night my little Escoffier says to me " can I have salmon with lime for breakfast" to which I replied, "salmon with lime, are you sure?" and he said "yes." I couldn't actually believe it until this morning when he asked "what are we having for breakfast" and I said "salmon with lime" and he said "good". I made his and he gobbled it right up before I could even get a chance to blink. So as I was blinking I snapped these shots of him eliminating his portion.

It was so good I felt like I was having breakfast in Japan even though I have never been to Japan and I dont even know if this is typical Japanese breakfast, but to me it was, and if it isnt when I come back in the next life in Japan this will be my breakfast. Pan seared salmon with jasmine rice and cucumber seasoned with salt, pepper and hungarian paprika and of course lime.

Class Camp-out

The kids third grade class had a sleep over field trip in Wading River Long Island. So after climbing down a hundred steps we learned about the beach or in this case the Long Island Sound, and we learned there are no sharks.





Then our group threw spears and touched snakes. We slept in cold cabins and came home.





I did not photograph everything because for some reason me an one of the camp directors became instant nemesis's, so much that during the racket that was a drumming circle he managed to hear just me and asked if I could stop because I wasnt doing it right - to which I replied no. He got upset and left the room. I got upset and left the room later only to be asked by the drum leader to sit in the middle and play some more-right next to my buddy the nemesis.





Fun had by all.


So we came home and I made Oso Buco with Jasmine rice.