Dukkah and Tomato-ey Soffritto

Ok so its funny you should ask if I know what a tomato-ey soffritto is because YES you are right if I didn't Nate would spin kick me IN THA HEAD! lol I actually made spaghetti today for dinner tonight and my sauce started with a soffritto consisting of tomato, onion, garlic, local green bell pepper (Rachel scored from work!) and fresh oregano and thyme (I scored from the Italian dinner party I had the other night).

For my 1 Billion points:

Dukkah also spelled "Duqqa" originated in Egypt and is a mixture of herbs, nuts, and spices that are "pound" in to a blend. The word Duqqa originated from the Arabic word "to pound". Its simplest form is mint, salt and pepper that can be found on the streets of Cairo. Its range of derivatives is vast because of the many varieties of nuts, spices, and herbs in the area.

The two dishes I found are:

Duqqa Beer Can Chicken

04JUN

During my recent trip to Canada, I was lucky enough to visit one of Edmonton’s indoor farmer’s markets.  We ended up purchasing a few items there for the dinner that we cooked during the freak snowstorm that happened Saturday night.  Fortunately, I was able to bring back a spice blend called Duqqa.  The spice blend that I picked up pretty much sticks to what is referenced in that wikipedia article.  I immediately thought of putting it on chicken and cooking it, which led me to today’s recipe.

After the easter ham, I knew that I was able to cook low and slow on my grill.  I took that approach today with this recipe.  I ran it at about 225 until it was cooked through (safe cooking temp about 180 for chicken before carry over)  The result was one tasty bird.  While this recipe takes some time, it saves you in prep work which takes all of 5 minutes.

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Duqqa Beer Can Chicken

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 1 bird

Duqqa beer can chicken is extremely simple and adds wonderful flavors to the bird. The slow cooking ensures a perfect consistency for the bird.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (3-4 lb)
• 2 tbsp dukka
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 beer

Instructions

1. Heat grill to 225 F.
2. Rinse and thoroughly pat dry chicken.
3. Mix dukka with olive oil and slather all over the bird.
4. Remove top from beer can with a can opener and pour out half. Mix in some extra dukka in the can (about 1 tbsp) and sit the bird atop it.
5. Cook until a thermometer positioned in the thickest part of the breast reads 180 F.
6. Remove from grill and allow to rest 20 minutes before carving.

All the ingredients

Duqqa

Mix with oil

Spread on chicken

Cut off top of can

On its throne

Cooking

Finished dish

Duqqa Beer Can Chicken

Photos in your stall

Posted on March 22, 2011 by dana

I always suggest using photos in your stall to help customers envision your products in their own homes. Whether you make fake fur pillow covers, grow heirloom tomatoes, make garden art or sell bedding plants, taking photos of your items in actual use will give customers ideas.

Here’s the trick: Pay attention to customers’ questions. If you’re getting the same questions over and over again, this is a good indication that either your signage is not good enough, you need more information, or your products are really obscure. I should know. I sell a product called Duqqa…if I’d simply called it, An exotic rub of nuts and spices, it would have made my life a lot easier.

What do I have to do to help customers figure out what it is and how to use it?

I cook up recipes using my products, take some nice photos of the finished dishes, then have them printed out on nice quality paper, laminate them, post them on my website atwww.hotchickspicecompany.com, created a recipe flyer and, I display them in my stall. 

Baked Brie with Traditional Duqqa

Having lots of fun with this blog! Thanks for always pushing me : )