# Buttermilk Chicken Roast (Wings)

**Chef:** Raj  
**Cookbook:** Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat  
**Potluck Date:** November 18, 2023  

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## Recipe

chicken, though tougher, which means it needs to
be gently slow cooked. You can use a chicken instead, in which case the
cooking time will be slightly shorter.
The cheese traditionally used here is called sfela
1
, an ancient, PDO
cheese of the Messinia and Mani regions, also known as ‘the cheese of fire’.
Sfela is not easy to find outside of Greece, but it can be replaced by feta or a
combination of feta and a hard cheese like a spicy, aged kefalotyri or
pecorino. The green olives add a delightful tangy punch, which makes my
tastebuds happy!
The cockerel is usually served over thick spaghetti, bucatini-style pasta or
hylopites, the traditional Greek egg and milk noodles that either look similar
to tagliatelle or can be small and square-shaped – popular with children. It is
the perfect dish to prepare for a Sunday family feast.
SERVES 6
1 cockerel (or free-range chicken), about 2.5kg (5½lb), cut into portions
100ml (3½fl oz) olive oil, plus a splash for the pasta
4 large white onions, roughly chopped
3–4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 bay leaves

4–5 allspice berries
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp ground cloves
1–2 sprigs of rosemary (or 1 tbsp dried rosemary)
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp tomato purée (paste)
500g (1lb 2oz) tomatoes, puréed in a blender (or use canned)
150ml (5fl oz) hot water
250g (9oz) feta, crumbled
200g (7oz) pitted green olives
1–2 tbsp chopped parsley
500g (1lb 2oz) thick spaghetti (I like to use number 6) or bucatini
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wash and pat dry the cockerel. Season with a little salt and pepper and let
stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, place a large, wide pot over a medium-high heat. Pour in half
the olive oil. Once hot, add the onions, stir and bring the heat down to low.
Season with salt and black pepper to taste, cover and gently cook for about
20 minutes until soft and glossy. Check the onions occasionally while they
are cooking and gently stir to prevent them from sticking. Once ready, remove
the pot from the heat and, using a slotted spoon, remove the onions to a plate,
leaving the remaining olive oil in the pot.
Place the pot back over a medium-high heat. Pour in enough of the
remaining olive oil to just cover the bottom of the pot and, in batches, brown
the cockerel pieces for about 3–4 minutes on each side, adding more oil
when necessary. Transfer the browned cockerel to a plate.
Bring the heat down to medium-low, add the remaining olive oil and gently
sauté together the garlic, bay leaves, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and
rosemary. Add the vinegar, stir, mix in the tomato purée (paste) and pour in
the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place the cockerel
pieces back in the pot. When the sauce is gently simmering, pour in the hot
water. Cover and gently simmer for about 1½ hours until the meat is tender
and falling off the bone, checking occasionally to make sure it has enough
liquid to cook without burning at the bottom, and adding a little extra water if
needed.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the cockerel portions from the sauce and
place on a platter. Return the sauce to a medium heat and add the cooked
onions. Gently stir and simmer, uncovered, for another 15 minutes. Add the
crumbled feta and olives, season with salt and pepper to taste and let simmer
for another 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Mix in the chopped parsley
and place the cockerel pieces back in the sauce.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water, according to the packet
instructions. Drain and add a splash of olive oil.
Serve the cockerel over the cooked pasta, with freshly ground black
pepper, and enjoy!
1
 A hard, salty cheese with PDO status, made with sheep’s and goat’s milk, resembling pecorino and
used in a similar way, particularly grated.

OIL

Watermelon summer salad with purslane, capers and feta
The combination of watermelon and feta is an old-school Greek classic that
has made a grand comeback. Watermelon works so well with white cheeses
and it is a wonderful addition in refreshing summer salads, successfully
substituting tomatoes. Ancient Greek doctors used them for hydration, as a
diuretic, and to treat sunburn and sunstroke.
Purslane is a weed that grows like crazy during summer – even in random
pots on my balcony in downtown Athens. It’s packed with vitamins and we
use it a lot in salads – even in a regular Greek salad – and other recipes such
as stews.
The caper plant is another precious weed widely used in the Greek kitchen.
During late spring it starts to grow everywhere, even out of walls and
pavements in the centre of Athens. The Acropolis hill is covered in capers
throughout summer and the islands are full of large wild caper bushes that
climb down steep hills and hang off rocks; those growing near the sea are
considered the best. Capers are very nutritious, packed with vitamins,
minerals and strong antioxidants, and the ancient Greeks believed in the
plant’s magical as well as medicinal powers.
The actual caper is a bud that blooms into a stunning white-pinkish flower
with a violet stamen, although the leaves can also be preserved and used in
recipes. Later on in the summer, the plant produces a little, oblong berry
which in Greece we call ‘caper cucumbers’. These are also preserved in a
similar way as the buds, and they are simply amazing. On certain islands, like
Chios, pickled caper berries are stuffed with garlic cloves and served as a
lovely meze alongside tsipouro or ouzo.
Instead of vinegar, I use agourida, also known as verjus. It has a fresher,
milder flavour compared to vinegar and it’s less tangy than lemon – ideal in
salads, syrups and cocktails.
SERVES 4–6
1 medium red onion, halved and sliced
450g (1lb) peeled watermelon, deseeded and diced
150g (5oz) teardrop or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Lebanese cucumbers with skin, sliced into rounds

A bunch of purslane, thick stems discarded, separated into small clusters with
leaves
1–2 sprigs of oregano or 1 tsp dried
2 tbsp capers
6–8 Kalamata olives
1 tbsp verjus or red wine vinegar
130g (4½oz) feta, crumbled
100ml (3½fl oz) early harvest olive oil
Flaky sea salt
To soften the sliced onion and make it less astringent, soak in cold water for
10–15 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
Place the watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, purslane and onion in a large
bowl. Strip the oregano leaves from the stem, if using fresh, and add to the
bowl. Add the capers and olives, sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt, and pour
in the verjus or vinegar. Gently toss.
Transfer to a salad bowl or platter. Sprinkle with the feta and drizzle with
the olive oil.
TIP To deseed a watermelon without ruining its shape, use a toothpick.

Ladenia, baked flatbread with tomato, onions and capers
This recipe originates from Kimolos, a small Cycladic island that sits next to
Milos. Legend has it that the island was named after its first inhabitant, who
was married to Taurus’ daughter, Side. The island has its own popular dishes,
but the most famous of all is this pie. Resembling a relatively thick-crusted
pizza, this recipe presents ladenia in its most basic form, which I adore. It can
be ‘dressed up’ once baked, with some crumbled or flaked cheese (such as
feta, aged Greek graviera
1
, pecorino or Parmesan). For special occasions, or
when I wish to pair it with a wine or beer, I like to add thin slices of a cured
meat like louza
2
, sliced prosciutto, or a spicy chorizo.
You will need a large, round and slightly deep baking tin/pan (I use one that
is 30–35cm/12–14 inches in diameter).
SERVES 4

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