1. Combine the flour, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir until well-combined.
2. Add the yogurt and cooking oil. Using the dough hook at medium-low speed, gradually add the water. Knead with the dough hook for 10 minutes until the dough looks nice and elastic. Form into a bowl, transfer into a large, oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with cling wrap and let rise for 1-1/2 hours.
3. Preheat oven with baking sheet in it, at 475 degrees F. Punch down the dough and divide into 4 balls. Roll in a bit of flour and let stand, covered with cling wrap, for 10 minutes.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll or stretch the dough into pieces about 12-14 inches in length and about 6 inches in width. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.
5. Bake for 6 minutes until light golden and puffy in areas. Remove to a cloth lined dish.
   

Labels: recipes, the savory and salty

1. Combine the spices for the chicken. Rub onto the chicken pieces and let sit for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, combine the garlic, ginger and a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle and pound until a paste forms. Add 3 tablespoons of water to the paste. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, black pepper and turmeric for the sauce and set aside.
   
4. Heat 2 tablespoons sunflower oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add the chicken pieces (don't crowd) and brown on both sides-- don't worry if they aren't cooked in the middle; they will finish cooking in the sauce later. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside on a plate.
5. Lower the heat to medium and add the onions. Fry until the onions are just a bit browned, then add the garlic/ginger mix. Cook until the water is almost evaporated, then add the dried spice mixture. Stir carefully until the spices are fragrant, taking care not to burn them.
6. Add the pureed tomatoes and lower heat to medium low. Cook, stirring for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened a bit.
   
7. Add the yogurt, maybe a tablespoon at a time, making sure it is incorporated before adding more. (This prevents the yogurt from curdling.)
8. Add the chicken, along with it's accumulated juices. Stir to combine, then add the 1/2 cup water and 2 teaspoons salt. Lower heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. (If you are using chicken thighs, cook for 10 minutes longer.)
   
9. Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Add the cream to the sauce, along with the garam masala and stir to combine, reducing the sauce just a bit. Cut the chicken into serving pieces and add back to the sauce, along with the cilantro. Serve right away with rice and naan (see recipe here).

Labels: recipes, the savory and salty

• There are seven major islands in the Canaries: La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote
• All canaries (the birds) descend from birds native to the Canaries (the islands). The name of the islands came first, allegedly named by the Romans when they encountered fierce dogs kept by the native population. (And so called the island 'Gran Canaria', and the people canarii, because they kept the dogs; canine being Latin for dog, of course. )
• The islands have been under Spanish rule since 1495.
• The indigenous population is called the Guanches.
• Fuerteventura, which has a dry desert climate (only 18 days of rain a year, on average), still has more goats than people.

Some of the ingredients for mojo picón: red pepper, dried pepper, garlic

So even if my facts are iffy, no matter-- there's your primer! Anyway, back to the treats. Although the food encountered is mostly mainland Spanish (jamón serrano, tapas, bocadillos), we did find a few things unique to the Canaries. The main indigenous Canarian food staple is gofio, a toasted grain flour that is used to make porridge and desserts. You could maybe call it the poi of the Canaries. I had never seen gofio on mainland Spain, and so I bought a bag of it at the grocery, where there was an entire section of the various types of gofio. (Some consist of corn, barley, wheat, or a mixture of the different grains.) I'm going to try to reproduce the one gofio item that I ate that was delish: a dessert called mus de gofio, or gofio mousse. All the recipes I've seen so far differ immensely (some call for egg yolks, like a traditional mousse, and others call for condensed milk as a sweetener, with no egg). Hopefully I'll figure it out and post it, without wasting the whole kilo of gofio in the process!

Other Canarian specialties are queso majorero (Canarian goat cheese), and anything involving goat meat, such as roasted cabrito (roasted kid goat). (Fuerteventura has a lot of goats because of the non-vegetation-friendly climate there-- there are barely any trees on the island!) The food preparation that most captured our attention was mojo. Not mojo like Austin Powers, but mojo-- pronounced 'mo-ho'-- as in a sauce. It is basically the Romesco sauce of the Canaries, and comes in different incarnations: red mojo (the most common), green mojo, goat cheese mojo, etc. It is apparently used on nearly everything, but most commonly found on papas arrugadas, or 'wrinkled potatoes'. These are small potatoes boiled in their skins in sea water then cooked dry until they gain a wrinkly appearance. Mojo is then poured on top and it is served as the most common tapa in the Canaries. I bought a bottle of the mojo picon, the red pepper mojo, but decided to just try to make my own at home. After going through various recipes (in Spanish and English!) here's what I came up with. It is actually really similar to Romesco-- many recipes even call for almonds-- but all seemed to have the North African touch of cumin, which gives it a bit of a different flavor. Many recipes seem to call for the spicy dried red pepper found in the Canaries, but as that isn't very common, I used a typical dried red pepper, like the type found in Asian grocery stores, and used a bell pepper to give it fresh flavor, color and also to control the spiciness. (There was no point in using several dried peppers-- all you would taste is spicy and nothing else.) I came pretty close to the mojos that I had while there, and you can further adjust it to taste by using more or less vinegar as well.

Canarian Mojo Picón
makes about 1 cup of sauce

Ingredients:
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 dried red pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 small red bell pepper, diced, seeds and stem removed
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Remove the seeds from the dried red pepper. Soak it in boiling water for at least 2 hours.
2. Mash the dried pepper in a mortar and pestle. Add the cumin seeds, garlic and salt, and pound until a paste is formed.
3. Place the paste in a blender or food processor. Add the bell pepper, vinegar and olive oil, and process until smooth.

The sauce is traditionally served with papas arrugadas. You can substitute steamed or boiled new potatoes. I had larger potatoes on hand last night, so I roasted them instead, with olive oil and salt, and they tasted crazy good with the mojo.

Labels: recipes, the savory and salty, travel