SC - sumac/za'atar- 2 recipes

Sun Apr 30 09:39:02 PDT 2000

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I think it was margali who asked:

>Some time back I asked if anyone knew what I could make with sumac,
>other
>than za'atar.  Just repeating the question, as I got no answer at that
>stage...

I was over at my local (very friendly) ME Market yesterday, getting some 
henna for the ol' roots, and asked around about za'atar. My accent is 
awful, I'm sure, but they weren't sure what I was asking for.

Now, they do sell sumac, and that's how it is labelled. They asked what it 
was I wanted to cook with it, and I mentioned curry (I'm pretty sure it was 
sumac/za'atar that the Afghani restaurant was using in their curry base). 
They waved me over to another container that was simply labelled '7 
spices', and told me to mix that with the sumac.  I tasted the '7 spices' 
once I got home, and it tastes remarkably like my bastardized poudre forte 
recipe (I mixed Cariadoc's formula for it with more stuff to take it more 
towards the taste of the one sold by the Pepperer's Guild).  This is going 
to be a blast to play with.

I already have plans to try the 7 spices and see if it works well in making 
one of those chai latte's.

As for the sumac, I did a web search  yesterday and came up with a couple 
recipes that call for it.

The first one was called Musakhkan, I saw a variation on this elsewhere 
where they used thinly sliced roasted beef in place of the chicken. The 
second recipe I found was an onion relish, that looks so easy I feel I can 
try it confidently. I didn't mark where I found these recipes, but it might 
have been SOAR. (but i'm not sure).

MUSAKHKAN

1 whole free-range chicken (about 3 1/ 2 pounds)

   Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 1/2 pounds onions, peeled and sliced thin
    1/4 cup sumac

4 sheets marquq bread (see the Note below) or 2 large khubz 'arabi (Arabic 
flatbread or pita bread), split open and separated

1. Cut the chicken into up into two breasts, two thighs, two legs, and two 
wings. Salt and pepper the chicken.

2. In a large, deep casserole, heat 1/ 4 cup of the olive oil, then lightly 
brown the chicken on all sides over a medium heat, about 20 minutes. Remove 
and set aside. Add the remaining 1/ 4 cup olive oil to the casserole and 
cook the onions until translucent, about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Add the sumac and cook for 2 minutes to mix.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Cover a 9 x 12-inch baking dish with two 
overlapping halves of the Arabic bread or 2 sheets of marquq bread. Spoon 
half the onions over each, then arrange the chicken on top of the onions 
and cover with the remaining onions and the juices from the casserole. 
Cover with the two remaining half leaves of bread or sheets of marquq 
bread, tucking in the sides crusty side up and spray with water. Bake until 
the chicken is very tender and almost falling off the bone, about 1 1/ 2 
hours. Before the top cover of bread begins to burn, spray with water again 
or cover with aluminum foil.

     Note: The size of marquq bread made and sold in the U.S. or Canada 
varies, so use common sense.
Makes 6 servings

Sumac and Onion Relish
This recipe comes from Brian Mailman long before Brian became the author of 
"FWIW" on the Empire page and an important part of the Empire Kosher 
family. This is spectacular! Like all Brian's creations, it is spectacular! 
Works terrific with any poultry recipe _ although we've been known to just 
eat this with a spoon

Note: Sumac is a dried herb, and may be found in any Middle Eastern grocery 
store or in kosher butcher stores with a Sephardic clientele. This sumac is 
not an American tree!

Source: Palestinian woman who runs the mom-and-pop down the street, 
according to Brian's original post.

Yield: Approximately 1-1/2 cups

3 medium-sized onions, sliced into rings

1-1/2 tbsp. sumac (more to taste)

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. salt

Pinch of cayenne

Place the onion rings into mixing bowl. Add rest of ingredients and stir 
thoroughly and gently. Let rest, stirring occasionally for about three 
hours. Relish will lose at least half of its original volume.

This is a good relish to use as a sandwich spread--for example, take some 
very thinly sliced roast beef (or cream cheese) and stuff a pita with it 
and plenty of the relish. I've even used it as a garnish when serving curry.

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I think it was margali who asked: 
 
<blockquote type=cite cite>Some time back I asked if anyone knew what I
could make with sumac, 
other 
than za'atar.  Just repeating the question, as I got no answer at
that 
stage...</blockquote> 
I was over at my local (very friendly) ME Market yesterday, getting some
henna for the ol' roots, and asked around about za'atar. My accent is
awful, I'm sure, but they weren't sure what I was asking for. 
 
Now, they do sell sumac, and that's how it is labelled. They asked what
it was I wanted to cook with it, and I mentioned curry (I'm pretty sure
it was sumac/za'atar that the Afghani restaurant was using in their curry
base). They waved me over to another container that was simply labelled
'7 spices', and told me to mix that with the sumac.  I tasted the '7
spices' once I got home, and it tastes remarkably like my bastardized
poudre forte recipe (I mixed Cariadoc's formula for it with more stuff to
take it more towards the taste of the one sold by the Pepperer's
Guild).  This is going to be a blast to play with. 
 
I already have plans to try the 7 spices and see if it works well in
making one of those chai latte's. 
 
As for the sumac, I did a web search  yesterday and came up with a
couple recipes that call for it. 
 
The first one was called Musakhkan, I saw a variation on this elsewhere
where they used thinly sliced roasted beef in place of the chicken. The
second recipe I found was an onion relish, that looks so easy I feel I
can try it confidently. I didn't mark where I found these recipes, but it
might have been SOAR. (but i'm not sure). 
 
MUSAKHKAN 
 
1 whole free-range chicken (about 3 1/ 2 pounds) 
    
  Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 
    
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 
    
3 1/2 pounds onions, peeled and sliced thin 
   1/4 cup sumac 
    
4 sheets marquq bread (see the Note below) or 2 large khubz 'arabi
(Arabic flatbread or pita bread), split open and separated 
  
1. Cut the chicken into up into two breasts, two thighs, two legs, and
two wings. Salt and pepper the chicken. 
 
2. In a large, deep casserole, heat 1/ 4 cup of the olive oil, then
lightly brown the chicken on all sides over a medium heat, about 20
minutes. Remove and set aside. Add the remaining 1/ 4 cup olive oil to
the casserole and cook the onions until translucent, about 35 minutes,
stirring occasionally. Add the sumac and cook for 2 minutes to mix. 
 
3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Cover a 9 x 12-inch baking dish with two
overlapping halves of the Arabic bread or 2 sheets of marquq bread. Spoon
half the onions over each, then arrange the chicken on top of the onions
and cover with the remaining onions and the juices from the casserole.
Cover with the two remaining half leaves of bread or sheets of marquq
bread, tucking in the sides crusty side up and spray with water. Bake
until the chicken is very tender and almost falling off the bone, about 1
1/ 2 hours. Before the top cover of bread begins to burn, spray with
water again or cover with aluminum foil. 
 
    Note: The size of marquq bread made and sold in the
U.S. or Canada varies, so use common sense. 
Makes 6 servings 
 
 
Sumac and Onion Relish 
This recipe comes from Brian Mailman long before Brian became the author
of "FWIW" on the Empire page and an important part of the
Empire Kosher family. This is spectacular! Like all Brian's creations, it
is spectacular! Works terrific with any poultry recipe _ although we've
been known to just eat this with a spoon 
 
Note: Sumac is a dried herb, and may be found in any Middle Eastern
grocery store or in kosher butcher stores with a Sephardic clientele.
This sumac is not an American tree! 
 
Source: Palestinian woman who runs the mom-and-pop down the street,
according to Brian's original post. 
 
Yield: Approximately 1-1/2 cups 
 
3 medium-sized onions, sliced into rings 
 
1-1/2 tbsp. sumac (more to taste) 
 
1 tbsp. olive oil 
 
2 tsp. salt 
 
Pinch of cayenne 
 
Place the onion rings into mixing bowl. Add rest of ingredients and stir
thoroughly and gently. Let rest, stirring occasionally for about three
hours. Relish will lose at least half of its original volume. 
 
This is a good relish to use as a sandwich spread--for example, take some
very thinly sliced roast beef (or cream cheese) and stuff a pita with it
and plenty of the relish. I've even used it as a garnish when serving
curry. 
 
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