Fresh Tart

I figured after the (lovely!) decadence of last week's poached egg-over-pork belly-over-pancake, I owed you - and myself - a salad.  Recipe for Cabbage Salad with Toasted Coriander Mayonnaise at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Make the Chicken with Taklia (Coriander Seeds & Garlic Toasted in Butter) and Sauteed Spinach (posted below) for dinner, then have poached eggs for breakfast the next day.  That's pretty much the routine in this house.  In fact, I saved the chicken pan drippings and used them to saute the cabbage and spinach in this dish.  (Don't let delicious pan drippings go - so much flavor!)

Because we were going chicken-to-the-max, I also poached the eggs in chicken stock.  You don't need to do that.  Although if you have it around...very worth it.  Yum.

The crunchy-garlicky taklia makes the dish.  I left a little texture in the cabbage as well; against a pillowy-soft egg, the bite of the taklia's garlic and coriander is fresh enough to counter the pretty big hit of chicken-before-egg richness.

Poached Eggs with Vegetables & Taklia (Coriander Seeds & Garlic Toasted in Butter)
Serves 2

2 c. chicken stock or (generously salted) water
2 Tbsp. chicken fat or butter
1 large shallot, sliced thin
1/4 small head green cabbage, trimmed, sliced thin/shredded
2 c. spinach leaves, sliced thin
salt & freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp. chicken pan juices or chicken stock
2-4 eggs

taklia (room temperature)

Put 2 c. chicken stock (or generously salted water) in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken fat or butter and when it is melted and hot, add shallot to the pan.  Saute for 5 minutes, then stir in cabbage and spinach leaves with a generous pinch of salt.  Stir to coat the vegetables in the chicken fat (or butter), then stir in the 2 Tbsp. pan juices (or stock).  Saute until wilted and just-tender.  Taste and add a little salt if needed.  Divide vegetables between two plates.

The stock (or water) will likely boil as you're sauteeing the vegetables, which is great.  Turn heat down so that the water is barely simmering - small bubbles should barely break the surface.  As soon as you're done sauteeing the vegetables, crack one egg into a small dish and slide it into the water.  Quickly do the same with the second egg.  Set the timer for 3 minutes.  The eggs whites will look shredded, but that's OK.  When the timer goes off, use a slotted spoon to scoop one egg out of the stock/water.  Tilt the spoon so the liquid drains completely off, then place the egg on top of one of the plates of warm vegetables.  Repeat with the second egg and second plate of vegetables.  (Poach additional eggs if desired.)  Top eggs with a teaspoon of taklia and a few grinds of black pepper each.  Serve immediately.

Thanks to Daniel Klein's Chilled Carrot Soup with Coriander Yogurt & Daylilies recipe, which I posted this week at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine, I am obsessed with toasted coriander seeds.  The fragrance off the hot skillet is at once fresh and warm, totally sexy, everything I want now that spring is finally showing its sheepish head.  (I put on a bathing suit and sat in the sun today.  I almost wept for the warmth.  It has a been a long Minnesota winter, friends.  Brutally long.)

So after devouring the soup's coriander yogurt garnish, leaving hardly a drizzle for the soup, I starting poking around for more toasted coriander seed ideas.  I zeroed in immediately on taklia, a Middle Eastern condiment, usually comprised of toasted garlic, toasted coriander seeds, cayenne pepper, and butter.  Yes, yes!  Commonly the garnish for melokhia (Egyptian herb soup, although I had it first at a Lebanese restaurant), it's also delicious on pretty much everything.

The garlic and seeds together are crunchy, and salty, and toasty-lemony-heaven.  You have to try it.  I have a couple of other taklia posts up my sleeve, so stay tuned...

First up, just simply sauteed chicken.  I'm a (chicken) thigh girl, but John is not...so I make sure the breast at least has skin for crunch and flavor.  Take the meat off the bone yourself (not difficult) or even better, make the butcher do it.

As I ate half the taklia right out of the pan (insert need for self control, gah), sauteed spinach with a hint of orange sounded like a just-right foil for butter, garlic, coriander, and crunchy chicken. I had leftover pickled orange marmalade from the Corner Table CSK Roast Chicken Sandwich recipe, but you could use marmalade from a jar, of course.

Chicken with Taklia (Coriander Seeds & Garlic Toasted in Butter) and Sauteed Spinach
Serves 4

2 Tbsp. coriander seeds
6 cloves garlic
salt
5 1/2 Tbsp. butter, divided (4 Tbsp. + 1 1/2 Tbsp.)
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 skin-on, boneless chicken breast halves
1 lb. spinach leaves, chopped a bit if large
2 Tbsp. orange marmalade
freshly ground black pepper

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat.  Add coriander seeds and toast until fragrant and a little brown, just a couple of minutes.  Transfer seeds to a mortar & pestle and crush/grind.

Mince garlic, with a couple of generous pinches of salt, into a paste.

Return small skillet to medium heat.  Add 4 Tbsp. butter to the pan and when melted, add garlic.  Saute until garlic is just starting to turn golden.  Stir in coriander seeds and cayenne pepper and saute for a 1-2 minutes more, until garlic is lightly golden brown.  Transfer right away to a small bowl so the garlic stops cooking.  Season with salt to taste and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper.  Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  When the skillet is hot, add the butter and oil.  Place the chicken, skin side down, in the skillet and brown well.  Turn the chicken skin-side-up and transfer the skillet to the oven.  Roast for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Return the skillet to the stove top.  Transfer the chicken to a platter and keep warm.  Remove all but 1 Tbsp. of fat from the skillet.  Heat the pan over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp. of the taklia and orange marmalade to the pan.  Stir up any pan drippings, then add spinach to the pan with a little sprinkle of salt.  Saute until just-wilted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Slice chicken breasts and serve with spinach and taklia.  Store leftover taklia covered, in the fridge.