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Plus, A Very Spiced Chicken with Cipollinis and Preserved Lemon and Date Relish

What should my top five pantry ingredients be? Kosher salt, olive oil, chili flakes, canned tomatoes, Ritz crackers!

Today I’m introducing a new column where you can ask me questions in the comment section and I will respond back to you all via a video over the next week or so.

I’m here to help you get dinner on the table, so these questions can be recipe related, equipment and product related, substitutions ideas, or anything you want to know about food in general.

ANYTHING you want to know… Ina or Martha?!

Please drop your questions in the comments section and let’s give this a try!

And, now back to regularly scheduled programming….

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🕊️Reading: Death and Birds: A beautifully written newsletter called

Death & Birds

written by Chloe Hope that explores yes, both death and birds, in the most glorious way. Chloe’s personal essays are captivating, grounding and soulful. She’s also very funny. As an end-of-life doula and one that works caring for baby birds at a wildlife rescue, Chloe’s newsletter is precisely what I love most about the possibilities of newsletters - the juxtaposition of bringing together two seemingly disparate topics that aren’t so different after all. Subscribe! 

🎧 Listening To: We Can’t Print This: I was recently on my friend Fiona McCann’s podcast she co-hosts with her friend Eden Dawn. Fiona and I met when I briefly lived in PDX, she had just moved from Dublin where she was an editor at the Irish Times. She’s a hoot and we’ve stayed good friends. We Can’t Print This interviews writers, in fact, they just had on

Cheryl Strayed

the week before last. In my episode, we chatted about Nova Scotia, recipe development and marmalade. You can listen here! 

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✨✨ ✨ I hope you enjoy reading these and much as I enjoy writing them. They are a labor of love. If you’re able to support my work, I’d be grateful. ✨✨✨

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🍷 Shopping From: The RealReal Home Section: I become laser focused when looking for clothing on the RealReal, so focused I somehow missed they have an entire home section?! Trouble ahead… Not exactly as price friendly as Facebook Marketplace, which can be a goldmine, but I came across these cool stemless glasses and this fun platter, neither of which I bought, but heavily considered. If you purchase them, can I borrow them for my next book shoot?

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Honestly, it’s been mostly beans, greens and ground turkey around these parts with a lot of broth making in between. After hosting all summer, I’m desperate to be eating food that is not between a bun.

Dan and Helen had us over for dinner last week and he made delicious Butter Basted Cod. Try this. He served it with steamed rice and roasted broccoli. Perfect.

I also made a very good noodle dish, which made use of all the odds and ends of vegetables in our fridge. I charred the last of our Savoy cabbage, along with some wilting bok choy and some shiItake mushrooms. I added in some grated ginger and garlic towards the end. I tossed the vegetables with some udon in sauce I made of gojuchang, black vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil, oh and a bit of salted butter. Try this and leave out the pork if you like. It is now unlocked for all subscribers. 

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A Very Spiced Chicken with Cipollinis and Preserved Lemon and Date Relish 

This is a very good chicken recipe. I have now made it a few times and I stand by my conviction. I opted to cook the bird at a lower temperature than I normally would and because there is a lot of spice going you don’t want them to burn. The result is a juicy bird with a crusty skin. I also call for olive oil spray, which is something I never thought to do before. I intended to drizzle the oil on top of the bird to prevent the spices from scorching, but I saw a can of California Olive Oil Spray staring at me and a light bulb went off. Using it gives you incredibly even coverage! Try it and see. The relish is also delicious. Taste it before adding additional salt as preserved lemon is pretty salty already. 

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken and onions:

3 ½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt 

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon za'atar 

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 

½ teaspoon ground red pepper flakes

1 3 ½ to 4 pounds chicken, backbone removed 

Olive oil spray (!)

1 pound Cipollini onions, peeled 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

For the relish:

⅓ cup roughly chopped pitted dates 

¼ cup chopped preserved lemon, both flesh and rind, seeds removed 

¼ cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons roughly chopped mint

1 garlic clove grated

½ cup olive oil 

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl stir together the salt, pepper, za'atar, turmeric, cinnamon and red pepper flakes. Season the chicken on both sides of the bird evenly and place on a sheet pan. Spray the top of the bird with the olive oil spray in an even layer. Let the chicken hang out while the oven comes to temperature. When it does, place the bird in the oven, legs towards the back. 

Toss the cipollini onions with two tablespoons of oil and season with salt. After the chicken has been roasting for about 30 minutes, scatter the onions around the bird and place back in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes more or until a thermometer registers 165° degrees. Check the onions occasionally and toss to make sure they aren’t burning. The onions should be schmaltzy and softened. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes. 

While the chicken cooks, make the relish: In a medium bowl combine the dates, preserved lemon, cilantro, mint, garlic and olive and stir together until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if needed. 

Carve your bird and pass the relish at the table to spoon over top.  

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If you make the chicken let me know.

And, please don’t forget to ASK ME ANYTHING in the comments. Excited about this!

With love,

Colu