The Great Chef

This recipe, by chef Jean Georges Vongerichten, is one of my favorite chicken recipes because it is full of flavor, exotic, easy to cook, and reminds one of my favorite trips - Tunisia. To be honest, any recipe that uses cumin and harissa is half way through to be part of my favorites list. If you happen to be wondering what in Epicurus name is harissa allow me to tell you. Harissa is a hot, delicious North African spice paste made of  piri-piri, red chili pepper, and garlic. You can find it in any Middle Eastern markets and it is, generally, sold in cans. It keeps almost forever in your fridge. I like to transfer the paste into a plastic container with lid after opening the can just to prevent that the natural oxidation of the metal affects the flavor of the harissa. Personally, I find it really hot to eat by itself. Actually, one of the funniest episodes of our trip to Tunisia was exactly our first experience with harissa. It looked so good! We took a piece of bread, spread ...

Among many other things, Portuguese cuisine is known by its ability of reduce the waste to the minimum, meaning "Portuguese eat almost every part of the animals included into their diet". In case of pork, actually, we eat everything. And when I say everything, I mean... everything! With chicken, it happens almost the same thing. We eat legs, thighs, wings, breast, neck, claws, liver, heart, gizzard (or the stomach) and we use the bones either to make stock or soup. In this process of making a less common animal part edible, the inners are probably the biggest challenge. But as all big challenges, when successfully accomplished, it turns into a tasty victory. One of the Portuguese's favorite snack is chicken gizzards' stew. Going to a neighborhood small restaurant/bar/cafe - aka "tasquinha" - and have a serving of gizzards and a cold beer is one of those classics one cannot skip while in Portugal. It is a must have! Hey, I can hear you: "Eww! That is SO ...