Chicken or Cod Marbella
Potato Salmon and Leek Tart
Aunt Bonnie introduced our family to this dish and it is adapted from the The Silver Palate Cookbook. I’ve been making many different variations of this dish 2-3 times a year for 15 years. The Marbella marinade is great with any white meat, even meaty white non-oily fish like cod, halibut, catfish or tilapia.
Cooking instructions:
Deep marinading overnight is very important for chicken or pork.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
The Full “Patchke” (Yiddish for puttering around)
Fresh Chicken
For best flavor, use:
4 quartered young chickens
For quicker prep time, use:
3-4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 lbs. boneless chicken thighs – skin on for schmaltz.
Wash in cold water, dry, the chicken inside out with paper towel.
Place whole chicken on its back and cut down the middle of the breast cleaving and cutting through the breastbone, cut out the back and neck bones, and divide into legs and breasts. For more manageable sizes cut again into drumsticks, thighs, and cut each breast into two roughly equal pieces. Trim fat, grizzle, and extra skin.
Rinse skinless boneless chicken breast in cold water and dry with paper towel. Cut each breast into three ½ to ¾ inch slices. Start with a slant cut away from the triangular tip of the chicken breast then one more cut parallel and about equal thickness to the first.
Place each piece between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and pound with a small cast iron skillet. Two or three whacks and one or two on the flip side will even out the thickness and tenderize chicken breast. This method ensures the chicken is consistently cooked and tender. Be careful not to pulverize the chicken.
Trim boneless chicken thighs of excess skin. Chicken thighs do not need pounding. Leave skin on chicken thigh, which is important for the schmaltzy (umami) depth of flavor.
For Cod
Rub kosher salt all over fish and rinse with cold water until there is no smell. Dry with paper towel.
Marbella Marinade
½ cup of best available extra virgin olive oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup pitted prunes roughly chopped
1 cup pitted Spanish green olives: ½ roughly chopped ½ whole
½ cup capers with some juice
6 bay leaves
6 cloves garlic finely chopped
¼ dried oregano
1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley chopped
1 cup dry white wine
½ cut honey or brown sugar
Mix chicken and marinate bone in skin on chicken overnight with all of the marinade in large baking or glass pan.
Boneless skinless and pounded chicken need 4 to 6 hours in the marinade. Cod needs to marinate for 1 or 2 hours.
Bake at 350F for 1-1 ½ hours until brown on top. Boneless / Skinless will cook on the faster side of this range.
For no patchke and if you have no time to marinate mix all ingredients and start cooking at 300 for the first hour, turn up to 350 for 45-60 minutes.
Breakfast for Yom Kippur is my favorite Jewish holiday cooking after Passover. If the Passover seder is the most celebrated meal, cooking for Yom Kippur Breakfast can be a subversive experience for the Jewish cook. It is considered holy for Jews to congregate far from kitchens to fast, pray, and think nothing of food. Preparing food for feasts following fasts does not seem less sacred to me, but a necessary balance to heal the self-induced starvation and melancholy of our Jewish family and friends. We bring them back to life from the repentance of Yom Kippur with comfort food: bagels and cream cheese, and, since 2010 at CHJ Break-fasts, Chef Taegun’s original “Smoked Salmon and Leek Tart”.
This recipe makes THREE (3) TARTS. I always serve this with cucumber yogurt sauce. This freezes and travels well and can be served for outside gatherings at room temperature. A quick microwave blast bring cold slices back a comforting and warm breakfast.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Flaky Pie Crust for 3 tart pans
Tart Crust instructions (or can use pre-made crust)
Tart Filling for 3 tarts
Cooking Directions
Cucumber Dill Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients:
Cooking Directions
I also make this sauce with green onions, or fresh parsley and serve with grilled salmon.