sunday gravy with yeah right: it’s a KSK pantry raid! sarah’s grilled za’atar chicken

Greeting folks! And a special greeting to all of our recently arrived brethren. I’m your host yeah right and this is Sunday Gravy. In these posts I take you on a culinary magical mystery tour. To refresh the minds of everyone, what I cook and post here is what I am cooking and having for Sunday dinner. I promise to pull no punches and to give every ingredient to you. There will be no beer left undranken!

I will take no credit what-so-ever for today’s recipe. All of the credit goes to our former “Foodball” host on KSK Sarah Sprague. Sarah is an amazing cook, as evidenced by her recipes, she is also a friend, fellow Angelino and alive and well! One of these days I’m going to be able to coordinate with her to attend one of our famous L.A. Short Bus Field Trips. For the uninitiated, the L.A. DFO group gets together to eat, drink and frolic and then gives an “Oral History” of the gathering afterwards.

That’s right! We are a fucking interactive blog! Take that shit Uproxx!

We also have a field trip next Saturday August 15th. More details to come soon. If you are in the L.A. area and would like to attend, by all means. Show the fuck up and let’s get crunk!

So today’s recipe: First of all here is the original post:

http://uproxx.com/ksk/2013/11/foodball-grilled-zaatar-chicken-pitas/

When I first read this post I was curious about it. Also confused. The fucks a Za’atar? Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice mix made up of:

Za’Atar

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
• 2 teaspoons ground sumac
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

I get my sesame seeds and sumac from Whole Foods. They’re sold in these little ass boxes. I know some folks have mentioned going to a spice store to have this ground for you and that would work too.

Put the sesame seeds in a skillet and cook over a medium flame for 3-5 minutes until they get aromatic, set these aside to cool. Take the remaining ingredients and put in a spice grinder, or if you are like me and don’t have a spice grinder, use a coffee bean grinder. It works perfectly. You can get a coffee grinder for less than 20 bucks on Amazon. Open up your wallet ya cheap bastards. Plus you can finally grind that last minute Christmas gift of Starbucks Coffee beans your unimaginative Aunt Martha got you for Christmas this past year. Anyway put the now cooled sesame seeds along with the other ingredients into the grinder. Pulse for a few seconds and there you go. The smell when you remove the top of the grinder is fucking incredible. It smells like a Moroccan spice market. Rich, spicy, earthy goodness. You will find your own reasons to use this spice. Today for instance, I’m going to be grilling some naan on the grill. A little olive oil brush, a little more za’atar and maybe some garlic salt. Cook for a minute or two on each side. Fuck yes.

Chicken and za’atar marinade:

6 ounces non-fat Greek Yogurt (about a cup)
2 tablespoons za’atar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
zest from 1/2 a lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
juice from 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 – 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, diced into large cubes and strips (A mix of white and dark meat is fine, or all dark meat.) I used all white meat today. I also totally copied and pasted this from Sarah’s original post. Love and miss you Sarah!

I’m also going to do a quick relish, which I shamelessly stole from the post and I’ve got two real original ideas! Check out my non-plagiarizing ass!

Onion garnish

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon za’atar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
1/4 – 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

The only omission from the original recipe is green pepper. Don’t get me wrong! I cook the fuck out of green pepper. Everything creole, cajun and red sauce Italian I make has green pepper. I just don’t dig it uncooked. That’s just me. That’s just something I don’t enjoy. Combine all ingredients and let set for a couple of hours or refrigerate over night.

Garlic yogurt dipping sauce

Another cup of plain Greek yogurt

3-4 cloves of minced garlic

1 teaspoon of za’atar

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Some fresh ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for a couple of hours. This is a delicious dip for any and all dip required occasions.

Garlic Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

One potato per person peeled or not depending upon preference

3-4 cloves minced garlic

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Some sprigs of fresh rosemary.

1 tablespoon kosher salt.

Cut your potatoes into wedges and toss with olive oil. Salt the potatoes and cover with garlic and rosemary. Cook in a 375 oven for an hour or 70 minutes or so. This is one of my “go to” side dishes. Much beloved and ridiculously aromatic. You’re going to be driven fucking nuts by the fucking smell.

So anyway. We’re going to grill the marinated chicken over A CHARCOAL FIRE!!!. About 10 minutes per side. Cover if you are cooking thicker cuts of chicken. When done cook that naan thing I talked about. Serve with the garlic sauce and the red onion relish.

This shit is delightful. I’ve discovered a whole world of yogurt marinated goodness. Basically if you use plain yogurt, citrus, garlic and your choice of spice you can make the culinary fucking magic. I have a yogurt marinade with Aleppo peppers, another where I use lime and Garam Masala another with crushed red pepper flake and kiwi.

Experiment! The world is not a scary place. I believe the origins of this recipe are from Syria. Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food can be amazingly delicious and not entirely unhealthy for you. Branch out! Try new things!

And if you find yourself in L.A maybe we can hang out! Have a brew! Talk about sports! Who fucking knows!

Peace!