Pullum Parthicum (Parthian Chicken)

I quite enjoy a bit of historical cooking. Cooking in the Archives has been a lot of fun (even if I don't always agree with their interpretations). And I've quite liked some of the recipes from Shakespeare's Kitchen and Townsends as well.

Reiver was actually the one who originally put me onto Townsends. And now he's shared a few more of his favourite cooking channels. One of which is Max Miller's Tasting History. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the videos I've watched on his channel, but Reiver has his cookbook and had pointed out that we had all the bits for this chicken recipe. And, unlike some of his other recipes, he actually seems to have a reasonable source for this one and hasn't been overly... "creative" in his interpretation of it.

This was quite a surprising recipe. It honestly didn't really grab me at first. It looked unusual, but not that exciting. But, I have to say, this turned out very nice in the end! I don't think it was quite a favourite for me, but it was nice.

I never would have thought of combining red wine and fish sauce, but the combination works surprisingly well! And the caraway, black pepper, celery, and asafetida is a somewhat bewildering -- but not unpleasant -- way to complete the flavours.

I think I might put somewhat less wine next time. I do feel like using a full cup was a bit heavy-handed and possibly excessive for a recipe that calls for "seasoning" with wine. But otherwise, I really can't complain or suggest any changes or alterations. This was actually quite lovely!

We served our Parthian chicken over a bit of saffron rice with a slice of buttered rye bread and some silverbeet gratin on the side. This turns out to have been an excellent (and fairly thematically appropriate) combination. Would definitely recommend!

Parthian Chicken: Open the chicken and quarter. Pound pepper, lovage, a little caraway, moisten with garum, season with wine. Arrange the chicken in an earthen dish and put the seasoning on top. Dissolve silpuium in warm water, and put it with the chicken and cook. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.
-- Apicus, De re coquinaria

Pullum Parthicum

Slightly adapted from Tasting History by Max Miller

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (~1.5kg)¹
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lovage or 1/4 c. celery leaves²
• 1/2 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. caraway seeds, ground
• 1/2-3/4 c. dry red wine
• 3/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• 1/4 c. warm water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
2. Quarter the chicken and place the pieces, skin-side-up, in a baking dish.
3. Combine the fish sauce, lovage (or celery), pepper, and caraway and mix well.
4. Stir in the wine.
5. Pour this mixture over the chicken. Try to distribute the spices as evenly as possible and press them into the chicken skin a little.
6. Stir the asafetia into the water and pour it over the chicken as well.
7. Roast at 230°C (450°F) until chicken is cooked through and meat registers ~74°C/165°F (~45 minutes).
8. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
9. Serve drizzled with the sauce and extra black pepper.

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¹ Honestly, any skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces should work reasonably well for this. I actually ended up using a bunch of thighs for my rendition. ^Back
2 I used both the leaves and the ribs of the celery for my rendition and liked that quite a lot. I only used one rib this time around, but Reiver and I agreed that a bit more would have been even better. Personally, I would recommend 1/4 c. of leaves + 2 ribs of celery if going that route. ^Back

I've had this recipe in my queue for a while, but kept failing to actually make it. It was alright in the end. Not amazing, but not bad either. And I did quite enjoy the almonds in it. A decent side dish all-in-all, even if it's not the star of the show.

Photo goes here.

Roasted Broccoli with Almonds and Orange

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 500g broccoli, cut into florets
• 4 tsp. olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. orange juice
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 2 Tbsp. almonds, toasted and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Toss broccoli with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet.
4. Roast at 220°C (425°F) for 20-30 minutes, flipping and stirring halfway through.
5. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with remaining 1 tsp. of olive oil and orange juice.
6. Sprinkle with orange zest and almonds and serve.

I appreciate how quickly this recipe comes together. And the fact that it gets you a protein and a vegetable is nice as well. I just sautéed up a bunch of zucchini to go with it and our dinner was complete!

Molasses-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1/4 c. Roman mustard
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, divided
• 680g sweet potatoes, cut into 1cm thick discs (unpeeled)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground and divided
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 pork tenderloins (~350g each)
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock

Directions

1. Preheat oven 200°C (400°F).
2. Combine molasses, mustard, rosemary, and 1/2 tsp. pepper flakes and mix well. Set aside.
3. Toss sweet potatoes with 2 Tbsp. oil, 1/2 tsp. sea salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper and spread out on a baking sheet.
4. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat.
6. Season pork with remaining salt and pepper and sear on all sides (6-8 minutes).
7. Clear a space on the centre of the baking sheet and place pork in the cleared space.
8. Brush pork and sweet potatoes with molasses sauce.
9. Roast for 15 more minutes.
10. Return pan to heat and add shallot.
11. Cook until shallot softens (~3 minutes).
12. Add remaining sauce and chicken stock to pan and bring to a boil.
13. Cook until sauce thickens (~5 minutes).
14. Slice pork, top with sauce, and serve with sweet potatoes.

叉烧 (Char Siu/Cha Shao)

I had a really great char siu recipe years ago. It was a recipe that I synthesized after reading through dozens of char siu recipes + getting advice from Chinese cooks. It involved lots of different ingredients, most of which I've forgotten now. Unfortunately I've since lost the recipe. (This is one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place.)

I'd like to try to recreate that recipe at some point. Or at least a close approximation thereof. In the meantime, I figured I'd give the Woks of Life recipe a try. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. But I am still definitely interested in experimenting with different recipes and tweaks in the future.

汉字/Hanzi: 叉烧
拼音/Pinyin: chāshāo
英文/English: (lit.) fork roasted
This roast pork is usually called "char siu" or "char siew" in English. This is a transliteration of the Cantonese. In Mandarin, it is called "chāoshāo".

叉烧

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1.4kg boneless pork butt/shoulder¹
• 50g sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. five-spice powder
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)
• 1 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp. molasses
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. malt syrup or honey
• 1 Tbsp. hot water

Directions

1. Cut the pork into slabs or strips about 5cm thick. Don't trim off any fat!
2. Combine the sugar, salt, five-spice powder, white pepper, sesame oil, wine, soy sauce, hoisin, molasses, fresh garlic, and garlic paste and mix well.
3. Set aside 2 Tbsp. of the sauce and set it aside in the fridge.
4. Slather the sauce all over the pieces of pork. Place the pork in a bowl or baking dish, cover it, and place it in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 245°C (475°F) and place a wire rack in a roasting pan or large baking dish.
6. Pour 1-2 c. of water into the bottom of the pan and place the pieces of pork on the rack.
7. Roast in the top third of the oven for 10 minutes.
8. Reduce heat to 190°C (375°F) and continue roasting for another 15 minutes.
9. Remove the pan from the oven and flip all the pieces over. Rotate the pan 180° and return it to the oven.
10. Roast at 190°C (375°F) for another 15 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, mix the reserved 2 Tbsp. of sauce with the malt syrup (or honey) and hot water. You may need to warm it up a bit to get everything to fully combine.
12. Remove the pan from the oven and brush the pork with the glaze. Flip the pork over and brush the other side with the glaze as well.
13. Return to oven and roast for another 10 minutes.
14. If the pork hasn't crisped up yet, set the oven to broil and broil it for a couple minutes on each side. Watch it carefully while it's under the broiler!
15. Remove the pork from the oven and brush another coat of glaze on each side.
16. Let cool for 10 minutes, then slice and enjoy!

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¹ I actually ended up using pork loin. Pork butt is fattier and generally preferred, but I was still happy with the results I got from the leaner loin. ^Back

Roasted Carrots and Shallots

These really are excellent roasted carrots. The flavour is excellent and they're done just right. I had a few extra parsnips, so I tossed them in along with the carrots.

Roased Carrots and Shallots

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2018

Ingredients

• 700g carrots (or mix of carrots and parsnips)¹, peeled and halved lengthwise
• 4 large shallots, halved
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
2. Toss carrots and shallots with butter, salt, and pepper.
3. Spread mixture in an even layer on rimmed baking sheet, cut-sides-down.
4. Roast at 230°C (450°F) until tender and undersides are well-browned (~25 minutes).
5. Sprinkle with thyme and serve.

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¹ If your carrots are less than ~3cm in diameter, leave them whole. If they're thicker, you can roast them for a little longer. ^Back

Raan (Leg of Lam with Raisin-Mint Sauce)

Apparently raan normally uses mature mutton or goat. Iyer has adapted it to more tender western lamb. He also added a sauce to the dish. The sauce is lovely, but I don't think it really needs it.

Raan

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Roast

• 1 boneless leg of lamb roast (~1.6kg)
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. slivered almonds
• 1 Tbsp. bin bhunahua garam masala
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 4 fresh green Thai chiles, stems removed
• 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
• canola oil

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 c. raw cashews
• 1/4 c. golden raisins
• 1/2 c. tinned tomato sauce
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 c. firmly packed fresh mint, chopped

Directions

Roast

1. Tie lamb into a compact shape with twine and make 4-6 slashes ~1/4" (~0.5cm). Place in a shallow pan and set aside.
2. Put yogurt in blender and add the almonds, garam masala, salt, onion, ginger, garlic, and chiles and purée to make a slightly gritty paste.
3. Pour the yogurt mixture over the lamb and sprinkle with cilantro.
4. Massage the marinade into the meat, working it into all of the slashes.
5. Cover and chill overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
7. Oil a rack and place it in a roasting pan.
8. Place the lamb on the rack along with any clinging marinade. Reserve the remaining marinade.
9. Roast lamb until seared and lightly browned (~10-15 minutes).
10. Reduce heat to 325°F (160°C) and roast for another 15 minutes.
11. Spoon the reserved marinade over the lamb, add a little water to the pan, and continue roasting, checking occasionally to make sure the drippings aren't burning. Continue roasting until meat registers 135°F (60°C) at centre of thickest part (~1 1/2 hours).
12. Prepare sauce while meat is roasting.
13. Remove roast from oven and let meat rest for ~10 minutes.
14. Cut off twine, slice, and serve with sauce on the side.

Sauce

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add cumin and sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
3. Add the onion, cashews, and raisins and stir-fry until cashews are lightly browned (~5 minutes).
4. Add tomato sauce and water and deglaze the pan.
5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally until some of the oil has separated and come to the surface (~10 minutes).
6. Transfer sauce to blender and add the cream. Purée to make a creamy, slightly grainy sauce.
7. Just before serving, reheat the sauce, covered, over low heat and stir in the mint leaves.

Bottom Round Roast Beef

A very simple roast with a butter-based sauce.

Bottom Round Roast Beef
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
1 (4lb.) boneless beef bottom round roast
2 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
2 Tbsp. canola oil

1. Pat roast dry with paper towels and sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
2. Combine 1/2 tsp. salt, rosemary, thyme, and peppercorns and grind in spice grinder.
3. Pat roast dry again and brush with canola oil. Sprinkle with herb mixture.
4. Bake at 250F for ~2 hours or until internal temperature reads 135F.
5. Turn off oven and allow roast to stand in hot oven (without opening door) for another 30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow to stand for a further few minutes then slice thin against the grain. Serve with zip-style sauce.

Zip-Style Sauce
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a small pot over medium heat, whisking constantly. Sauce is done once it comes to a simmer.
2. Keep warm until ready to serve.