Now I wend a long way east, taking inspiration from a very interesting recipe in Serious Eats.

“There’s a lot going on in the marinade, but one of the standouts—arguably even the key ingredient—is anchovy-based Vietnamese fish sauce, or nuoc mam,” write Emily and Matt Clifton. “Lime, ginger, and fish sauce add bold, bright, deep flavor to chicken,” they point out.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the particular fish sauce they mention, so I used the standard Thai fish sauce (nam pla) available at the Asian food stores in Greece. Limes are, again, an imported fruit that we can only get on Kea in the summer, when bars and the more sophisticated restaurants use it. I only had the local fragrant lemons, which, I must admit, are quite different in flavor; I decided to combine lemon and orange in my recipe.

I didn’t discard the very flavorful Vietnamese-inspired marinade but used it as the sauce to bake both the chicken as well as the accompanying vegetables, potatoes, some of our last garden peppers, and squash, drizzling with olive oil, as I usually do.

I think you will like this deep-flavored, easy chickenand vegetable dish as much as Costas and I did…

Serves 4 

About 2 1/2 pounds (1 kilo 250 grams) chicken, spatchcocked

The MARINADE

1/4 cup (60ml) soy sauce

1/4 cup (60ml) Asian fish sauce

1/4 (60ml) sunflower oil

2 packed tablespoons (7g) fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, finely chopped (optional)

¼ cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice

¼ cup (60ml) fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon (5g) finely grated zest from 1 orange

3 tablespoon (30g) minced peeled fresh ginger

2 tablespoons smoked hot pepper, or Aleppo pepper flakes

4 medium cloves garlic, minced or grated (about 4 teaspoons)

The VEGETABLES etc. 

3 medium baking potatoes peeled and cut into about 1 ½-inch pieces

1 pound peeled and seeded butternut squash cut into about 1 ½ -inch pieces

1 large red bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced

2 small, sliced oranges, plus 1 orange peeled, quartered and sliced

About 1/3 cup olive oil

Cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional)

Lay the chicken on a parchment-lined plate or pan, or place in a large zipper-lock bag, if you plan to refrigerate it with the marinade.

In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, fish sauce, oil, cilantro, if using, lemon and orange juice and zest, ginger, smoked or hot pepper, and garlic. Pour half the marinade over the chicken, and massage to make sure it coats well the entire front and back. Cover with kitchen film, or seal the bag and let the chicken marinate for at least 45 minutes, and up to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F (200°C) and set the oven rack in the middle position.

Line a rimmed baking dish with parchment paper and spread the potatoes, squash, and pepper pieces pouring the rest of the marinade over, and tossing well to make sure all vegetables are coated. Add the quartered orange slices and toss again.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the bag, and arrange over the vegetables, skin-side up, pouring any marinade drippings over, arrange the orange slices over the breast and thighs and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for about 45 min. then cover loosely with parchment paper and bake another 20 minutes or more, until done –the center of the thickest part of the thighs should register 155 to 160°F (68 to 71°C) on an instant-read thermometer.

If the chicken skin is not brown enough by the time the thighs are cooked through, set broiler to high and broil for 1 minute or until browned and crisp, but be very careful, because the skin can burn fast.  

Let rest for 5 minutes before serving, transfering chicken and vegetables to a platter, if you like, and garnished with orange slices and cilantro.

The post Vietnamese-Inspired Baked Chicken with Potatoes and Squash appeared first on Aglaia's Table οn Kea Cyclades.

Costas, who loves desserts, likes to freeze the cake and he cuts thin slices to eat after lunch.

Instead of grating the fruit to get the fine zest, then juicing it, I pulse whole pieces in the blender — peel and flesh of the lemon, orange or tangerine—to add aroma and tang to the cake. 

I bake it either in loaf pans, or in a square, round or rectangular pan. When cooled a bit, I often slice it horizontally and while still warm I douse with the basic lemon syrup I describe in the very similar Yogurt Cake.

I often cut the cake horizontally and add a layer of jam or marmalade in the middle, and/or a seasonal fruit and nut topping: Confit orange slices, briefly cooked strawberries, and/or almonds or pistachios.

Traditionally all Greek cakes –called glyka tapsiou (cakes baked in a pan)– the most well known being walnut or almond cake, are served soaked in syrup.  I always splash liberally the cake with my Lemon Liqueur;  you can use store-bought Limoncello or a really good citrus-flavored liqueur, like my favorite Grand Marnier!

Makes 2 loaf pans (8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches, or 20 X 10 X 6 cm)

or a 9-inch round or square cake

3 eggs

2/3 -1 cup sugar, to taste

2/3 cup light olive oil –not very fruity

2 small oranges, lemons, or tangerines, washed then quartered to remove seeds, then pulsed in the blender to get about 1 ½ cups pulp (see NOTE)

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

Lemon Syrup (optional)

Line the cake pans with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 F (185 C).

In the standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the eggs with the sugar in medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.

Add the olive oil and the orange pulse and work in low speed, increasing gradually to incorporate them.

Meanwhile, in a bowl mix the flour with the salt and baking powder. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the mixer and work at a low speed just until fully incorporated.

Pour in the prepared pans and bake for about 40 minutes or more, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes then invert the cakes, peel the paper, and let cool on a rack.

NOTE: 

Alternatively you can use 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice, and the fine zest of 2 oranges, lemons or tangerines.

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Yields 2 small, or one large round loaf

1 cup fine semolina or pasta flour

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3  cups whole wheat flour

3  teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)

3 ½ cups fresh pumpkin and tangerine pulp (see NOTE 2)

1 cup Seville orange or any kind of citrus marmalade

About 1/4 cup spring water (non chlorinated), as needed

Olive oil for the bowl

Blanched almonds to decorate (optional)

Place flours, yeast, salt and pepper in the bowl of a standing mixer and toss with a spatula. Make a well in the center and add the pumpkin-tangerine pulp and marmalade. Fit the bowl to the mixer and work with the dough hook on low for 1 minute. With the motor running add water if needed and work the dough for 5 minutes or more, occasionally stopping to turn over the dough with a large spatula. The dough should still be somewhat wet and sticky, but should start to come off the sides of the bowl. If too dry, add a little water, if too wet add a few tablespoons all purpose flour.

Lightly oil a large transparent or semi-transparent bowl, as well as a piece of plastic wrap. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball.  Transfer to the oiled bowl. Cover with the oiled plastic wrap and let rise until double its original volume: about 1 1/2 hour or more.

(When the dough has expanded to about 1 1/2 times its size you may transfer the bowl with the dough to the refrigerator, and leave it overnight and up to 24 hours. It will continue to rise slowly. Before proceeding further, bring to room temperature).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and if you like, halve with a spatula.

Form one or two loaves and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with oiled plastic wraps and let the loaves rise for another 30 minutes –they won’t rise much.

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Brush the breads with water or milk and decorate with almonds, if you like.

Bake for 5 minutes, sprinkling the inside of the oven with water twice, then reduce the heat to 375F and continue baking the breads for 40 minutes or more, until golden brown an hollow-sounding when tapped at the bottom. A meat thermometer inserted in the center should reach 205 F. When done, transfer to a rack to cool completely before you  slice to serve.

NOTE1:

• To make the the pumpkin-tangerine pulp, work in the blender 3 cups grated fresh pumpkin together with 3 tangerines (peel and flesh). Halve the tangerines to remove the pips, if there are any.
• If you opt for canned pumpkin, work one cup in the blender with the tangerines just to facilitate the process, and then mix with more canned pumpkin to get the amount needed.

NOTE 2:

To stuff the bread with fresh cheese, follow the shaping instruction for Cheese or Chocolate Stuffed Bread.

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