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Kotόpoulo me Pligoύri |
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TasunkaWitko 
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Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9389 |
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 Topic: Kotόpoulo me PligoύriPosted: 24 August 2011 at 17:08 |
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Κοτόπουλο με πλιγούρι - Kotόpoulo me Pligoύri
Chicken with Wheat
This traditional Thracian recipe is posted for a friend of mine since high school, Holly, who farms and ranches with her husband up here in North Central Montana. Hopefully, she will be able to give this a try and will get a picture! If not, I am interested in this one and will probably try it myself, sooner or later ~
For this beautiful-looking and simple peasant fare, you will need:
1 frying chicken, cut up
2 and 1/2 cups wheat grains
1 onion, chopped
Water
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Oregano to taste
Paprika to taste
Here's the method, from Culinaria - Greece (2008):
The pictures in the Culinaria book are amazing, and I know that this ancient dish will be a crowd pleaser. |
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Rod Franklin
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Joined: 17 February 2010 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 921 |
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Posted: 25 August 2011 at 03:04 |
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These kind of things interest me. I like the idea of recipes that don't include refined grains. Can you even get wheat grains short of buying a 50lb sack at a feed store, or on the internet?
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TasunkaWitko
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Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9389 |
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Posted: 25 August 2011 at 09:59 |
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hey, rod - i did ask my friend holly about this, since her family farms. here was her answer:
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Rod Franklin
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Posted: 25 August 2011 at 11:24 |
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I'm going to check a few places around here, although I can't recall seeing whole wheat grain in small quantities anywhere.
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Boilermaker
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Joined: 23 July 2010 Location: Marietta, GA Status: Offline Points: 685 |
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Posted: 25 August 2011 at 17:16 |
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Oddly enough, I have a bag of Ziyad brand cracked wheat grains in my pantry that I bought at my local Kroger on closeout a while back for $1.49 for a one pound bag. I had no idea what i would make with it but thought it looked interesting so I bought it. Now I have a potential use for it. It is very coarsely cracked and there is a recipe similar to this one on the back of the bag so I think it would be perfect for this dish. Thanks for posting this, Ron.
Rod, Ziyad is a brand of Mediterranean foods based out of Chicago, they are carried in the international section at our local Kroger. Good luck. |
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TasunkaWitko
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Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9389 |
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Posted: 10 September 2011 at 14:28 |
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hey, guys - i got a 50-pound bag of wheat grain this week and am giving this recipe a try tomorrow. if anyone wants me to send enough wheat for this and/or the kiskéki, let me know in a PM with your address. many thanks to my wonderful friend holly for supplying some of the finest whole-grain wheat available!
 here's how it looks - you simply can't beat real montana wheat:  the first part of preparation is boiling the 2.5 cups of wheat until it aborbs 2 cups of water. here we are:  while it was boiling, i cannot describe the wonderful smell that was filling the house. it's the same smell that fills the air around here this time of year when i'm driving around, and it really is nice! now, according to the instructions, i will let it dry overnight before using it in the recipe tomorrow. we'll see how it goes ~
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TasunkaWitko
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Posted: 11 September 2011 at 17:42 |
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From Culinaria Greece:
 Demeter and Persephone, by Corina Chorila Working as closely as I have today with a product straight from the earth, it is not hard to see the origins of these myths and how the Greeks came about them. The annual cycle of seeds, crops and harvest is one that reaches back to the roots of civilisation, and it is reasonable that the ancient cultures would have placed a lot of focus on these things. Lacking modern science, they came up with explanations that were consistent with their belief systems and plausible in their minds. The chicken is simmering now - the preparation was simple and the smell is amazing. Lacking specific guidance on seasoning, I guestimated on the salt, pepper, paprika and oregano. I think I came close, but the end results will say for sure; it is possble that i have a little to much, and will give a report, with notes and pictures, soon!
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TasunkaWitko
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Posted: 08 October 2011 at 10:04 |
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i've got messages out to the folks who seemed most interested, but if anyone else wants 5 or 10 cups of good, whole-grain, locally grown montana wheat for this recipe, or bread, or anything else - pm me with an address! ron
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Rod Franklin
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Posted: 17 October 2011 at 12:22 |
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I'm making this right now. Or something like anyway. Cooked the wheat berries last night for about an hour. So they're done already. Had a bowl for breakfast with honey, butter and some salt. Chewy goodness...
The batteries are dead in the camera. I found that out after I started. I read the 2 recipes for pork and chicken and went ahead with what I remembered... Always a mistake. I think it'll turn out fine none the less. I'm not making a bunch, just 4 chicken thighs worth. I fried the thighs on medium heat in a small bit of olive oil till nicely browned. Maybe 15 minutes. Removed them from the pan and on medium high, fried a whole onion in the drippings till translucent. I added what I felt was a proper amount of salt, pepper, oregano(Mexican is what I had) and mild paprika. Stirring constantly to bloom the spices a little. Then high heat and in went maybe 2 cups of the cooked wheat. A good stir and a minute or three of frying then in goes the chicken thighs and some water till it felt right, 2 cups maybe. Up to a good boil, heat down to low, lid on and it's simmering away. I figure 30 minutes and it'll be good to go. Smells good. 20 minutes into the simmer I take off the lid and see what I think is too much liquid. This isn't supposed to have much of a gravy as far as I can tell. Up goes the heat to medium, flip the thighs and continue with the lid off for the final 10 minutes to evaporate some liquid. Watching carefully. Checked the seasoning while I was in the neighborhood and I am really impressed with the combination of Mexican oregano and paprika. It's like instead of those two spices, white wine was added. I think I got lucky but neither the oregano or the paprika stand out. They combined into a new taste. A taste I like. The salt was good, I added more black pepper and one little hot chile.  After the 10 minutes was up things were just starting to get sticky. Just before you could call it starting to dry up I stopped. Stopped with what I could only describe as a kind of wheat risotto. A wheat risotto with a mysterious wine like flavor. Complicated and rich. I'm a happy guy. Easy to make. Tastes fine. Great find! Makes me want to go get a fitty pound sack of wheat! |
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TasunkaWitko
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Posted: 17 October 2011 at 12:35 |
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hey, rod - glad to see that you tried this. i will make it a priority to post my pix as soon as possible so you have some for comparison. Here are a few observations to go with yours:
a), yep, that oregano/paprika combination is truly beautiful, isn't it? much more than the sum of its parts - it was definitely one of the things i found special about this dish!
b) i also noticed there seemed to be a little too much liquid, but then again, the picture from Culinaria Greece does show that there is some. it's pretty thin, not quite like gravy, but makes good sopping-up juice for any bread served with the dish.
c) on a related subject, i also learned that it is better to have a little too much liquid rather than not enough, because the wheat does continue to expand while it is simmering in this dish. you will know when the wheat is "done" because it will be swelled up to an almost speherical shape, and will sort of "pop" when you're eating it. it won't be quite as chewy as it is now. both ways are good, but i think the fully-swelled-up version is the more "correct' and in keeping with the spirit of the dish.
good stuff, isn't it? if you get the chance to get some batteries and post a picture, feel free to do so.
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TasunkaWitko
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Posted: 18 October 2011 at 13:32 |
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ok, as promised, here we go with some pictures ~
when we last left you in suspense, dear reader, we had measured out our wheat, boiled it as per the recipe instructions and left it to dry overnight. from there, we start with a shot of all the goods:
 as you can see, there isn't a heck of a lot needed for this thracian peasant dish, but i can assure you, the flavour quotient is very, very high!
as with so many good dishes, we begin by chopping a couple of onions:
 the recipe says one onion, but these were pretty small, so i did two. if you make this, adjust the amount to your taste.
after sweating the onions out for a bit, i added the chicken, a few pieces at a time, in order to brown them.
 i kept the onions in the dutch oven while browning the chicken, and this is not a problem:
 the onions continue to cook and soak in flavour, and eventually most of them melted into a beautiful, carmelised sauce - it's quite brown, and removing the onions while browning the chicken would eliminate that, but i found it to be very good when prepared this way.
when all the chicken pieces were browned and set aside, i removed most of the extra fat (there wasn't much) and turned my attention to the spices.
the recipe keeps it simple, enumerating a wonderful quartet consisting of salt, pepper, oregano and paprika:
 but unfortunately, the recipe does not list any amounts of these spices, so i winged it and took a guess based on some past recipes i have made. as i recall, i settled on a generous teaspoon each of salt, pepper and oregano - and 1.5 or 2 teaspoons of the paprika, and sprinkled them on the chicken and onions:
 this ended up working really well, and i was amazed at the wonderful aroma and ultimate flavour combination. the paprika and the browning of the chicken and onions made this a very dark dish, quite a bit darker than the picture in culinaria greece, but i can't say enough how good it tasted ~
after the spices, i added the required amount of water, 6 cups:
 this seemed like a lot, but keep in mind, it needs to soak up the hard, whole-grain wheat, which i added next:
 from there, i brought the whole concoction to a boil:
 then reduced the heat and covered the dutch oven so that the chicken could simmer and the wheat could absorb the water. after about an hour, here's what we had:
 looking really, really good!
i went ahead and simmered a while longer, uncovered, so as to allow the wheat to soak up more water and for some of the water to evaporate as well. as the liquids reduced, the aroma kept getting richer and better.
looking back, i believe i should have kept the pot covered while this happened, so that the wheat could absorb the water more. as it was, the wheat came out just a little chewy, but with excellent flavour that went well with the chicken.
we served this dish up in very simple fashion: chicken, wheat and a side vegetable dish simply consisting of carrots and corn (more gifts from demeter):
 as you can see here, the wheat has puffed up quite a bit:
 but it was still a little chewy/tough. not enough to ruin the dish, but it seemed to me that i should have simmered it longer while covered.
that one texture problem aside, i can't describe in enough words how great this tasted. simple, simple ingredients truly are the key to real, true cooking success. the dish was very dark from the paprika and the carmelisation of the onions, providing a very rustic touch that brought on a whole depth of flavour. the wheat acted as a perfect compliment for the chicken and the spices, and considering the incredibly low cost of this meal, all things considered, i believe it was one real bang for the buck that must be tasted to be appreciated. it's so easy, there's no excuse not to.
later, after supper, i took some of the leftover wheat (with bits of chicken mixed in) and added some more water. i brought it to a boil and simmered a while, in order to see if could get the wheat to absorb more water, and sure enough, before long, the grains swelled up considerably:
 when allowed to get to this point, the grains are very soft and almost "pop" when you bite into them, releasing wonderful flavour without the chewiness. based on this, i would recommend simmering as long as possible, adding more water if needed, until the grains seem almost, but not quite, spherical.
if anyone is interested in authentic, old-style greek/thracian cooking, i sincerely hope they are able to give this a try. it is simple, inexpensive and really provides a savory, rustic, quality meal for a family.
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Daikon
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Joined: 20 October 2011 Location: San Francisco Status: Offline Points: 381 |
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Posted: 20 October 2011 at 17:52 |
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Instead of using domesticated wheat, you could also use farro or other more ancient, wilder, less-well-known whole grains....
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TasunkaWitko
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Posted: 20 October 2011 at 18:29 |
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That's an excellent idea, Daikon, and it keeps in perfect spirit for what we're trying to do here. Thrace - and Greece, for that matter, are right there in the cradle of civilization and agriculture is at the heart of it all. I've got some writing on this somewhere and will see if I can find and post it. i enjoyed this dish very much, and will certainly be making it again, but I don't have much ready access to the old grains such as farro and spelt. There are a couple of shops in Great Falls where I should be able to find these and others, and I'll make it a goal to do some searching for them. I might be able to get barley or rye locally, but I don't know enough about grains to know how they would work with this dish.
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Daikon
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Posted: 20 October 2011 at 19:03 |
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You can find charts like this to help you determine which grains can be easily substituted using the same cooking technique. Mostly such substitutions are easy, but there are a few gotchas (such as that unprocessed quinoa has a naturally occurring coating of bitter saponins that make it unpalatable to birds while growing, but that needs to be removed before you try to eat it); so before diving in, do a little reading about any particular grain/cereal that you are thinking of using.
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TasunkaWitko
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Posted: 21 October 2011 at 09:16 |
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A great resource - thanks! |
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1. The previous day, boil 2 and 1/2 cups/500mg wheat grains in 2 cups/500ml water until the liquid is absorbed. Allow to dry overnight and break up the next day.