This is a simplified version of the traditional Palestinian dish m'sakhan, in which chicken is spiced with sumac and then roasted in the oven over bread. Sumac and za'atar that we love and use so much are combined here with fresh lemon to give the chicken a powerful sharp kick. It works fantastically well and is almost addictive. Try serving the chicken with warm pita bread and a garlicky yogurt sauce, made by mixing Greek yogurt with crushed garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
You know summer is really here when the farmers’ markets are bursting with ripe, juicy berries -- red and yellow raspberries, small fragile strawberries, lush purple-juiced blackberries -- and the bakers rush to put them on the bakery and restaurant menus at the peak of their short, intense season. Crostatas, or rustic pies, are an excellent way to use peak-of-summer berries or other fruit. These small free-form crostatas make a lot of sense in the home kitchen. You can serve each of your guests an individual pie without having to buy tartlet pans or other special equipment.
This after-dinner drink is like a little ray of boozy citrus sunshine at the end of a heavy meal and should be served very cold, in little shot glasses.
This butter fried chicken recipe is in my head more often than not. That's saying something. It's one of our monthly meals at the Zimmern house, and it's yet another brilliant way to do chicken for a crowd that includes kids. Paired with a bright citrus punch and salty capers, this fried chicken entrée makes everyone happy. My son starts screaming "butter chicken" and runs up and down the hallways when he comes home from school and learns what's for dinner. I first ate this dish 30 years ago, served for a family meal one night at a restaurant in Florence where I was a stagiaire. I hadn't seen butter during my first few weeks in Italy and almost fainted when I tasted this.
Ingredients
A moutabel dip is a must on the Eastern Mediterranean mezze table. A traditional Syrian specialty, it was usually made with eggplant, but nowadays there are a variety of moutabels, such as beet, potato and zucchini.
Crusty with grilled bits of onion, garlic and lemon zest, these chops were my first experience with goat in Italy.
Ingredients
This dish is an inventive crossbreeding of two classic dishes: sole amandine, in which the fish is finished with sautéed sliced almonds, and sole meunière, in which the fish, often whole, is sautéed in browned butter. In my version, I use baby flounder (easier to find in the market here than true sole), lightly coat the fillets with ground almonds, sauté them in browned butter, and serve them with toasted almonds and a sprinkling of parsley (borrowed from the meunière). It's a marriage of equal partners and one that I think would easily win familial approval on both sides of the aisle.
For my money rich tasting, sweet/salt gravlax beats out smoked salmon in the luxurious treat department. The lagniappes here are that gravlax is far less expensive than smoked salmon, and a little goes a long way.