What to do with turmeric?
On the hunt for a snack, one of my sons made his way through the assorted vintage cookie jars and crockery I use for kitchen storage. I could hear the gentle clink of lid after lid, but I knew when he’d reached the crockery that houses the bag of turmeric a friend brought from the family farm in India. The warm, distinctive fragrance wafted out of the kitchen.
Thanks to Home Plates readers, I’ll be able to put the turmeric to good use. I’d been thinking about a peppy curry chicken salad, but I think I’ll make Steph Zervas’ Persian chicken skewers instead this weekend.
Zervas says the easy recipe used to make regular appearances on her menus. She has tinkered just a bit with the recipe, which appeared in Sunset magazine in 1999. I’ve included her adjustments in the version that accompanies this column. She has doubled the onion and turmeric. “It’s dull if you don’t increase them,” the Millbrae resident says.
Don’t substitute ground turkey for the ground chicken. The recipe just doesn’t taste right with turkey, she says, and ground chicken is more readily available these days than it used to be.
A mixture of ground chicken, bread crumbs, egg yolk, onion, turmeric and salt is shaped into logs around skewers, then chilled before grilling. The original recipe called for chilling the skewers for 30 minutes, but Zervas says it works better if you chill the chicken for at least eight hours. Served the grilled chicken with lemon or lime wedges to brighten the flavor, and basmati rice, grilled tomatoes and fresh parsley or basil sprigs on the side.
You don’t have to use skewers, by the way. Zervas often forms the mixture into breakfast sausage-size patties and fries them in a nonstick skillet. “I bet the George Foreman grill would be
great for this,” she says.
Farol Johnson’s mother took ordinary turkey stuffing or dressing and made it daring. Johnson, of Alameda, says her mom’s recipe is the only one she has run across that calls for turmeric. “I have no idea where it originated,” Johnson says. “The turmeric gives the stuffing or dressing a lovely golden color.”
Of course, Johnson’s mother made the dish year after year without a glance at a written recipe, and Johnson does the same. Using her “bare bones, scribbled notes,” made when she roasted her first turkey years ago and called home for help, Johnson she has put together a recipe for our use with approximate measurements. Adjust the seasonings to your taste. Johnson often uses quite a bit more turmeric, as much as a tablespoon.
This side dish is good with pork or chicken, as well as turkey. I may cut the recipe in half and serve it with pork roast for a family dinner this fall.
Second helpings
The Italian pasta and bean soup recipes felt like home to Michele Syth. “I had this my entire childhood and have been making it for my family for 43 years,” she says. “The best comfort food. My nanny and mother also made it with peas instead of beans sometimes. We called it pasta fazool for beans and pasta fazeel for peas.”
One quick note: The slow cooker recipe for pasta fagioli omitted a key ingredent: a 15-ounce can of Great Northern beans. You’ll find the corrected recipe with today’s column.
Request line
• Shirley Gano wonders where you turn when you have food safety questions. She’d like a go-to source that includes many types of foods and different preparations. What are your absolute sacred food safety practices? Do you have rules about storage? How long do you keep leftovers?
• It’s more of a big bush than a tree, but a reader, Stacie, has a lime tree that produces prodigious crops twice a year. Her tree is groaning under the weight of yet another crop right now. Do you have a creative recipe or two that uses plenty of limes? Our lucky gardener would be grateful. Send recipes, tips and requests to Kim Boatman at HomePlates@ bayareanewsgroup.com. Find recent Home Plates recipes online at www. mercurynews.com/tag/ home-plates/.