toastykitten

Last night we didn't eat until almost ten o'clock. That's because we were making m'sakhan, or chicken with onions and sumak. It is a very, delicious, tender dish made with chicken, lots of onions, garlic, spices, and pita bread. The chicken is in the oven so long that when we take it out to eat the meat just falls right off.

Mark's been wanting to make Arab food more these days. I think he misses home. We usually cook Chinese, because my parents give me vegetables and sometimes marinated meat when I see them on the weekends. Stir-frying is quick and easy; cooking Arab food takes a lot of preparation and time, something neither of us has the patience for on the weeknights.

I think we might designate Fridays Arab food night.

Mark's family recipe for m'sakhan:

Ingredients
chicken, cut, washed and rinsed (leg quarters work best)
4 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice (usually 1-2 lemons)
sumac, allspice, salt and pepper to taste (you want lots of it)
2 onions, sliced thinly
lots of garlic, minced
olive oil
water
pita bread

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in a large (roasting) pan. Season very liberally with sumac, allspice, salt, (freshly ground) pepper. Add half your garlic. Pour olive oil over the chicken, enough to cover and rub in the oil. Cover the chicken with about half the cut onions, pour in half the lemon juice, and pour in some water to cover the chicken slightly. There should only be about half an inch of water in the pan. Bake chicken in the oven for 40 minutes.

While the chicken's cooking in the oven, season the remainder of the onions with sumac, allspice, salt and pepper, very liberally. Pour olive oil in the onion mixture, and toss until everything is cover. Saute the onion mixture over medium heat in some more olive oil until it's caramelized - brown and soft and translucent.

After 40 minutes, turn chicken over, and cook some more until it's done. You may need to turn up the heat to 400 degrees if you're really hungry or your oven isn't hot enough. The skin should be turned a nice crispy brown.

Pull the pan out.

Wet the pita bread you're going to use slightly. Place the pita bread under the chicken. Pour the drippings from the pan over the chicken and place back into the oven until the bread gets nice and crispy, about five more minutes.

When you take the pan back out, place the pita and chicken on a plate. Using tongs, place the caramelized onions on top of the chicken.

Dig in. The optimal bite is when you get chicken, pita and onions all on one fork.

I think I peeled approximately 30 cloves of garlic last night. We bought a lot of short ribs and marinated them, Korean-style. We also marinated some chicken wings for non-red-meat eaters, my dad's way, which is more of an approximation of how I think he does it.

How to make my dad's chicken wings, even though he doesn't believe in recipes:

For 1 pound of chicken wings (Adjust accordingly because I definitely didn't take any measurements and I'm just guessing - this marinade should completely cover and coat the wings):

2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce (I prefer Kikkoman, since it's a little sweeter.)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sesame seed oil

You could also added some scallions, but it's not necessary. When my mom told me what to do, I said, "That's it?" When I made this the first time, I made it a bit too salty, so this time I'm adding some sugar to add some balance to it.

Marinate for at least one hour. Grill or fry in a skillet or wok. If using a skillet or wok, a tablespoon or two of canola or peanut oil will do.

We used to eat this every day for dinner when we were kids because it was the cheapest meat available. It's kind of amazing that I still like this as much as I do.

The funny thing is, I can't stand to be in the same kitchen as my parents. They're forever telling me I'm doing something wrong, or I'm gonna cut myself or "Here, let me show you how to do it" and before you know it, they've taken over and I'm just standing there, not cooking or cutting. I've learned not to look at the stuff they have, because they will keep some things forever. Same rule applies to looking in a Chinese restaurant's kitchen. As long as the food you eat is good, you just. Don't.