DINING IN: Add a Dash of Exotic to Everyday

Food-th This menu, which comes from an old issue of Bon Appétit, is one of my all-time favorites because the flavors are amazing and it couldn’t be easier.

By Karen Schulz

Five-Spice Roasted Chicken

Ingredients
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 T. coarse kosher salt
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 t. Chinese five-spice powder
1 cut-up chicken (8 pieces, bone in) *
1 large onion, peeled and cut into
16 wedges
(* My family does not eat chicken wings, so I started buying bone-in breasts, legs, and thighs separately rather than one cut-up chicken.)

Directions
Combine garlic, salt, olive oil, and Chinese five-spice powder in large bowl. Add chicken pieces; turn to coat.
Cover and chill at least 1 hour, but best if overnight.
Preheat oven to 425° F. Arrange chicken, skin side up, atop onions. Roast until chicken is cooked through, basting occasionally with pan juices, about 50 minutes.
Remove chicken from oven and let rest 10 minutes. Arrange chicken and onions on platter and serve.

Ginger-Scented Rice

Ingredients
3-inch-long, 1-inch-thick piece of fresh ginger, peeled, cut crosswise into ½ inch-thick pieces *
1½ c. water
1 c. jasmine rice, rinsed
1 T. butter
1 t. coarse kosher salt
*Using squares of frozen Dorot ginger is a
much easier alternative than juicing fresh ginger.

Directions
Using a garlic press, squeeze enough fresh ginger into a small bowl to measure 1½ tablespoons juice with pulp.
Transfer ginger to small saucepan or rice cooker. Add 1½ cups water, rice, butter, and salt to the pan. Cover and bring to boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to low and cook covered until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let rice sit 10 minutes. Uncover, fluff with fork and serve.

Snow Peas with Toasted Almonds

Ingredients
1 T. unsalted butter
¼ c. sliced almonds
½ c. snow peas, trimmed
2 t. minced shallot
1 t. fresh lemon juice

Directions
Melt butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add almonds and cook until golden and fragrant, and butter begins to brown, stirring frequently, about 1½ minutes.
Add snow peas and shallot. Sauté until snow peas are crisp-tender, 1½ to 2 minutes.
Remove skillet from heat and add lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and serve.

This menu, which comes from an old issue of Bon Appétit, is one of my all-time favorites because the flavors are amazing and it couldn’t be easier. Five Spice Roasted Chicken, Snow Peas with Toasted Almonds, and Ginger Scented Rice makes for a great family dinner, and is impressive enough for a dinner party. I even served it at a baby shower I was hosting. It always gets rave reviews.

When I came across this unique menu in one of my favorite magazines, I had never heard of five spice or scented rice. I had all the ingredients, except the five spice powder, and I love ginger, so I thought I’d give it a go.

My lesson learned with this menu was to not be put off by unfamiliar ingredients. Turns out, five spice, is just another spice easily found on the spice shelf at your local grocery store. It is generally a mix of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel. There is a lot of depth to its flavor and the cinnamon strikes a familiar chord with the kids. It’s always great to introduce your family and children to new flavors, not only to broaden their taste buds but also to help them be great guests when they go to a friend’s house and are served something new.

The timesaving tip for this recipe is to use three or four squares of Dorot frozen chopped ginger for the rice. It’s a complete game changer. While I’m on the subject of timesaving tips, I have to plug rice cookers. My friend Yuko promised me I would not regret getting a rice cooker and not only do I not regret it, I don’t know how I lived without it. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, but if you want perfect rice every time, easy clean up, and the automatic switch to “warm” when it’s done option, then you need a rice cooker.

Since the chicken marinates overnight, all that’s left to do for dinner is pop it in the oven an hour before you want to eat, sauté the snow peas, and boil water for the rice (or just push “start” if you have a rice maker). The good news is, once you buy five spice, you too, will have all the ingredients easily on hand to make this dish often, which I promise you will want to do.