Middle Eastern Style Baked Sesame Chicken
Coating chicken thighs with spices and sesame seeds adds a unique flavor to an otherwise ordinary weeknight chicken dinner. This recipe for baked sesame chicken should not be confused with the sesame chicken you find in Chinese restaurants. There is no breading, the chicken is baked not fried and the flavor is very different. Middle Eastern Style Baked Sesame Chicken is made with boneless chicken thighs, with a generous coating of toasted sesame seeds flavored with spices and ingredients traditionally found in Middle Eastern foods, like cumin, coriander and pomegranate molasses.
Middle Eastern food is often seasoned with a mixture of fresh herbs and spices creating one complex and unique flavor out of many ingredients. At first glance of a typical ingredients list one would wonder how will all the spices and herbs taste together? It would seem like there is too much flavoring going on and the ingredients would compete. Yet, Middle Eastern food is the master of mixing all these spices and herbs in just the right way to create one harmonious flavor out of many.
Baked Sesame Chicken
When I started developing this recipe for baked sesame chicken, I loaded it up with a lot of different spices and ingredients that I love in Middle Eastern foods. Yet, after my first batch I decided to keep the flavor profile of baked sesame chicken on the subtle side. What stood out to me is the combination of the toasty notes of sesame seeds and the sweet and tangy flavor of pomegranate molasses and wanted to make sure these flavors stood out. It took a lot of will power to resist my temptation to add saffron to the marinade, but I do believe it would work nicely here.
Chicken benefits from some marinade, especially when the skins and bones are not there to add extra flavor. However, you do need to be careful and not marinade chicken for too long when there is a lot of acid. Chicken, especially boneless breasts, turns mealy if it sits in a marinade for too many hours. In this recipe, the amount of time marinating is kept at a minimum of 30 minutes at room temperature seasoned with Kosher salt, then an hour in the refrigerator coated in the sesame marinade. There is not a lot of acid in the marinade, so the chicken thighs can take a longer marinade if you wish, but not overnight.
Like the yogurt dressing, the roasted vegetables are more like a condiment for the baked sesame chicken as opposed to a vegetable side dish. The concentrated and bright flavors of roasted fennel and grape tomatoes help the nutty and subtle sweetness stand out. The yogurt dressing is optional, but I think the vegetables roasting in the oven with the chicken is an integral flavor for the meal.
To Grill or Not to Grill
This time of year, it is tempting to want to grill these chicken thighs. The days are longer, warmer and bright, and I just want to spend to whole time outside. However, I have good reason to bake sesame chicken and not grill it. Sesame seeds burn easily when seared over the hot coals. Unlike chicken meat, the charred sesame seeds turn very bitter and unpleasant. Therefore, this is not a recipe that effortlessly transitions from roasting to grilling.
Specialty Ingredients for Middle Eastern Style Baked Sesame Chicken
There are a couple of specialty items in the recipe, Aleppo Pepper and Pomegranate Molasses. both ingredients are available at specialties markets. You can find both at Middle Eastern food stores like Sahardis in Brooklyn or online. If you are interested you can make pomegranate molasses using this recipe from Alton Brown. Personally, I have not had a lot of luck making it, so I buy it.
Pomegranate molasses has a unique flavor of tart, sweet and caramelized pomegranate syrup and there is not a good substitute.
If you cannot find Aleppo pepper, you can substitute it with most varieties of chili peppers.
Sesame Seed Love
I love just about anything with the toasty nuttiness of sesame seeds and sprinkle them on bread, in salads, stirred into rice as in Crunchy Jasmine Rice, sprinkled over a stir fry in Sesame Shrimp with Spinach, or as a featured flavor like in Cold Sesame Noodles. Even though they are seeds, I get the same warm nutty flavor I love.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs are staple dinner items in many households, especially mine. They are easy to prepare and do not take a lot of time to cook. We eat them so often, it is nice to have a variety of marinades for chicken to change things up a bit. Baked Sesame Chicken is a great alternative to a breaded cutlet creating a meal with a unique flavor profile. The combination of the nutty sesame seeds and the sweet and bitter components of the pomegranate molasses, orange zest and honey, compliment the roasted chicken and vegetables for a unique tasting chicken dinner.
Roast thinly sliced fennel and grape tomatoes to brighten up the nutty chicken. The yogurt dressing is optional and adds a tangy contrast to the roasted chicken.
Serve with a green salad made with arugula, orange segments and avocado slices with a citrus vinaigrette.
This meal is also delicious made with skin on and bone in chicken thighs. Or, any part of the chicken with or without the skin and bones.
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 1.85 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 5
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ¾ tsp dried oregano
- A few grounds of white pepper
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 TB dry white wine or vermouth
- 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
- Zest from half an orange and orange slices
- 3 TB toasted sesame seeds
- Sesame chicken
Marinated sesame chicken thighs
- 1 fennel bulb with fronds about 13 oz (380 g)
- 8 oz 2331 g grape tomatoes
- 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 orange slices
Yogurt Sauce:
- ¼ cup plain yogurt or crème fraiche
- ½ clove pressed garlic green germ removed
- Pinch of Aleppo pepper flakes or a pinch of ground cayenne pepper
- If it is too thick thin it out with a squeeze of lemon juice or milk. Adding a little at a time until you get the right consistency for easy drizzling.
Instructions
Make the marinade
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Place the chicken thighs on a rimmed baking sheet large enough to hold the chicken thighs and pat them dry on both sides. Sprinkle Kosher salt over both sides of the chicken and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
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Mix the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl large enough to hold all the chicken thighs. After the 30 minutes rest, add the seasoned chicken thighs to the marinade and toss around with your hands to get the chicken pieces well coated with the sesame seeds and marinade.
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Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate the chicken for one hour or more.
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20 minutes before you want to bake the chicken, turn the oven on to 400°F (200°C / Gas Mark 6) and place the rack in the middle position.
Putting it all together
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Cut off the stalk and fronds of the fennel bulb, then cut the bulb in quarters. Slice the bulb quarters into thin pieces less than a quarter of an inch (.5 cm) thick. Add the sliced fennel to a large mixing bowl. Add the grape tomatoes, the extra virgin olive oil, some fennel fronds, a pinch of Kosher salt and a couple grounds of black pepper. Toss to evenly coat the vegetables with olive oil.
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Arrange the chicken thighs on a rimmed baking sheet. Add the fennel and grape tomatoes and arrange around the chicken. Slide in the orange slices near the chicken.
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Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced with a fork, about 165°F (74°C).
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While the chicken is cooking, mix in a small bowl the yogurt, pressed garlic Aleppo pepper and lemon juice. Add a pinch of Kosher salt and a couple of grounds of fresh black pepper. Taste and correct seasoning. Cover with plastic wrap or lid and let it rest on the counter until ready to serve.
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Serve hot drizzled with yogurt sauce and a tossed salad of arugula and fresh herbs, avocado and orange segments.
© 2018, Ginger Smith- Lemon Thyme and Ginger. All rights reserved.
Spaghetti with Turkey Meat Sauce
When schedules are tight, and you want a hearty dinner with little preparation, a pasta dinner with turkey meat sauce is the answer. I can’t tell you how many times I relied on this meal over the years. When my kids lived at home, pasta with turkey meat sauce was a regular, if not weekly dinner. Fortunately, they never tired of this very dependable and affordable meal.
Pasta served with a simple meat sauce made with ground turkey and canned tomatoes are the basis for this recipe. We use ground turkey a lot for burgers, meatloaf, or a meat sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love a juicy beef cheeseburger and believe Bolognese sauce is food for the Gods, yet the boys preferred ground turkey. Luckily, when it comes to making a meat sauce, their preference for ground turkey was easy to satisfy. Unlike ground beef, ground turkey is the perfect choice when you want a quick meat sauce. Turkey does not require several hours of cooking to break down and develop rich flavor like beef does. In fact, because turkey is so lean, the longer it cooks the tougher it gets.
Originally, my intention for making this sauce was to create a meal that was easy to make, and my kids would eat. With little toddlers running around I often did not have time to chop a lot of vegetables. A substantial meal with little prep was the ideal dinner. Aside from the amount of time the turkey meat sauce needs to cook, the most difficult part is preparing the garlic. As for the rest of the meal, ground turkey quickly browns then cooks in a sauce of chopped up canned tomatoes, grated carrots, and the minced garlic. The time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta provides a window of 30 – 40 minutes. This gives the meat sauce plenty of time to cook. The result is a meat sauce with bright flavor, and my attention could easily move between making dinner and my children’s needs.
As the boys grew up and if time allowed, I added other vegetables or seasoning. It is a great sauce to use up any loose vegetables hiding in the refrigerator. Anything goes be it, red pepper flakes, pancetta, fresh herbs, winter squash, mushrooms, or other vegetables. You name it, this hearty sauce develops into whatever your inspiration desires. However, keep in mind, adding more ingredients changes your quick dinner into one requiring extra preparation and cooking time.
For a vegetarian/vegan pasta sauce: Tomato Sauce with Rosemary and Balsamic Vinegar
What I really like about this meal, is it so adaptable. I find it difficult to call this a recipe, instead, it is a foundation for endless possibilities. It is a simple family dinner that can easily be made with whatever ingredients are in your pantry or refrigerator. There is no need to measure, use what you have and adjust to your tastes. If you only have one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, it will still taste great. If you don’t have fresh herbs there is no need to run to the store, used dried herbs. What is important is putting a nutritious homemade dinner on the table and enjoying time spent with your family and friends.
Spaghetti with Turkey Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb (453 g) ground turkey
- 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic green germ removed and minced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes optional
- 1 medium or 2 small carrots about 2.5 oz / 75 g grated on a box grater
- 1- 1½ tsp Kosher salt divided
- 1 28 oz (800 g) can of whole tomatoes in purée rough chopped
- 1 14.5 oz (411 g) can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1½ tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 lb box spaghetti or other favorite pasta
- 1 TB balsamic vinegar
- small handful of fresh basil leaves
- small handful of fresh parsley
Instructions
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Fill a stock pot 2/3 up with water and place on a burner over high heat.
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Place another large saucepan or 5qt Dutch oven over a burner set to medium-high heat. Pour in 2 TB of extra virgin olive oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the ground turkey to the pot and break it up. Let the ground turkey cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes. Once the turkey meat starts to brown break up any large chunks and stir. Cook the ground turkey until the meat is no longer pink and the juices collected on the bottom of the pot have evaporated, about 2-3 minutes.
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Add the grated carrots, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, if using, and ½ tsp Kosher salt. Stir and cook for about for a couple of minutes.
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Add both cans of tomatoes with their juices, dried oregano, and dried basil to the ground turkey and stir. Bring the sauce to a brisk boil, then turn down the heat to medium. Add the granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp of Kosher salt and stir. Taste and correct for seasoning with more Kosher salt if needed. If you are using no-salt canned tomatoes, you may need the full 1½ tsp of kosher salt to the sauce. Don't add more sugar until it has simmered for several minutes. You should not need extra sugar, but sometimes a pinch is required. The sugar helps sweeten the sauce and balance the flavor.
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Simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
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When the sauce is done simmering, and just before serving, turn off the heat and add the chopped fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar to the sauce. Stir to mix.
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Meanwhile, when the water comes to a boil add about 1 TB of Kosher salt to the boiling water and cook the pasta following the instructions on the back of the pasta box. Ideally, time the pasta to finish cooking just after the sauce is finished cooking.
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Drain the pasta from the water and add a little olive oil and stir. Plate the pasta with sauce and serve with grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese.
© 2017 – 2018, Ginger Smith- Lemon Thyme and Ginger. All rights reserved.
Sautéed Sesame Shrimp and Spinach
I could serve shrimp every night and my sons would never get tired of it. Mention “Shrimp for dinner,” and their eyes would light up and they would go into their happy dance. That happy dance is just as adorable at 26 years old as it is at 3 years. Their expressions of joy and love could turn on me instantly with expression of “H o w D a r e Y o u,” if the shrimp portions were unequal. We may have started our dinner giving thanks and praying for world peace, but I could see their intense gaze upon each person’s plate scanning and counting the shrimp to make sure they were not cut short. God forbid someone in the family received one more shrimp than anyone else. If looks could kill, the scowl-glare of, “MORE SHRIMP” would do the job instantly. We may not be able to solve world peace, but at least we work very hard to keep the peace at home.
Looking though my recipe collection I realized that I have a large number of shrimp recipes. Most of them I have not used because having shrimp on the menu is usually a spontaneous decision, dependent on price and something I can quickly make with vegetables and pasta. (My kids favorite.) I did come across one recipe in my collection, Stir-Fried Sesame Shrimp and Spinach by Martha Rose Shulman at NY Times Cooking, that nudged me to remember a homework assignment I completed for an online class, The Science of Gastronomy at Coursera.org. Two science professors from the University of Hong Kong taught the course and focused the learning objectives on how cooking techniques are based on science, and how to use this science to make you a better cook.
In Ms. Shulman’s recipe she uses a Chinese technique to clean shrimp with salt and water. Flash several years back in time, my homework assignment for The Science of Gastronomy, tested the effects of soaking, (brining) shrimp in salt and water to see if there was any effect on taste and the mouth-feel of cooked shrimp. Reading this recipe was bringing it all back to me. I have the best intentions to remember everything that I have ever learned, but usually I need a clue and a bonk on the head to stir the memory bank. I just had to test this out again.
In summary, if you want to make shrimp talk add salt while you are cleaning the shrimp and they will become squeaky. The brining technique produces crunchy-squeaky-tender morsels of shrimp that squirt in your mouth. My homework assignment had us soaking shrimp in salt water, plain water and the control shrimp was left alone. The shrimp in the salt water definitely was more crunchy than the other shrimp samples. Soaking the shrimp in plain water left them mushy. As I understand it, the shrimp cells absorb the water and cause the cell tissue to collapse, giving you a mushy mouth-feel. Salt will draw the moisture out of the shrimp cells, but keeps the moisture absorbed in its own cells. The heat from cooking causes the salt to release the moisture out of its cells and back into the shrimp, making it tender, crunchy and squeaky.
This is the same concept of pre-salting food in the Zuni Cookbook, as featured in my recipe, Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken.
Martha Rose Shulman’s recipe instructed you to rinse the shrimp with water then toss the shrimp with salt, then rinse again and repeat. I found this method to be more effective at producing crispy shrimp than the soaking method of my homework assignment.
She also instructs you to use a “generous” amount of salt for the brining. I do not know exactly what a generous amount means, and I am cautious about adding too much salt to my food. My idea of generous may be different from her idea of generous, and different from your idea of generous. In the interest of keeping the salt to a minimum, I measured 1 slightly rounded teaspoon of Kosher salt per pound of shrimp for the brine. If you wish you can use my recipe as a guide, and carefully adjust the amount of Kosher salt you use to brine the shrimp to suit your tastes. The teaspoon of Kosher salt was my idea of generous and I was happy with my crispy, not salty, shrimp.
Don’t throw out the shrimp shells. They make a simple shrimp stock that can be used in any recipe that calls for fish stock or clam juice. (See notes in recipe for instructions.)
I made very slight changes to the recipe because I do not own a wok. I used a sauté pan, deglazed the pan with wine, and added preserved lemon. Both additions are optional and if you are using a wok you won’t need to deglaze the pan. On one occasion, I substituted the spinach with white chard – stems and all, and was equally delighted with the results.
Sautéed Sesame Shrimp with Spinach is an easy recipe, creating a delicious and healthy dinner in 15 minutes. No matter what variation you use, spinach or chard, wok or sauté, there is a generous amount of shrimp with each serving to satisfy all the shrimp lovers in your home. Bring on that happy dance.
Sautéed Sesame Shrimp and Spinach
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp
- About 2 tea Kosher salt divided, plus more for seasoning
- 2 Tbs canola oil or light sesame oil
- 1/8 tea sugar
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger minced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/4 - 1/2 tea dried red chili flakes
- 2 Tbs sesame seeds toasted
- 1 lb cleaned fresh spinach stems trimmed
- 1/4 cup dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc or water, or stock (optional)
- About 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
- 1/4 of a preserved lemon diced (optional)
Instructions
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Place the peeled shrimp in a colander and rinse with water. Sprinkle a rounded teaspoon of Kosher salt all over the shrimp and carefully toss the shrimp for one minute. After a minute, rinse the shrimp with water. Repeat the whole process one more time.
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Combine about 1/4 teaspoon of salt with the sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
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Heat a large skillet or sauté pan, large enough to accommodate 1 lb of spinach, to very hot but just shy of smoking. Add 2 tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl the oil around to cover the bottom of the pan.
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Add the minced garlic, minced ginger, and chili flakes to the pan and very briefly sauté. Stir the ingredients around so that they do not burn.
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Add the shrimp and spread evenly across the pan in one layer. Let the shrimp cook undisturbed for about 1 minute. After one minute, stir the shrimp around and sauté for one minute more.
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Add the sesame seeds and spinach and carefully stir to evenly cook the spinach for about a minute. Add the sugar/salt mixture and just shy of a 1/4 cup of dry white wine, (if using). Stir the spinach and scrape off any brown goodies stuck the bottom of the pan.
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Continue to cook until the spinach is wilted, and the shrimp is just cooked through and pink. About 2 more minutes.
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Add the preserved lemon, if using, then drizzle the dark sesame oil over the whole dish. Toss and serve with your favorite grain like rice or couscous.
Recipe Notes
I made this dish with chard and enjoyed it just as well. If you decide to use chard instead of spinach, remove the shrimp from the pan after the first 2 minutes of cooking, and set aside on a plate. The chard will take longer to cook, especially if you are using the stems. When the chard is cooked through, add the shrimp back in the pan and continue to cook until the shrimp is just cooked through.
How to make Shrimp Stock Add the shells from 1 lb of shrimp to a medium sauce pan and gently sauté on medium high heat. Once the shells have turned pinkish and no longer translucent, add water into the saucepan to cover the shrimp shells about 2 inches. Add some aromatics to the shrimp and water, such as celery, parsley and a bay leaf, then cook the stock at a simmer for about one hour. Drain the stock through a fine mesh strainer and dispose of the shrimp shells and aromatics. Cool the shrimp stock and refrigerate and use within a couple of days or freeze the stock. The stock should keep well in the freezer for 3 months. Makes about 3 cups of stock.
© 2016 – 2018, Ginger Smith- Lemon Thyme and Ginger. All rights reserved.