Magnificent News: Eat Voraciously: Irreplaceable

Read online

Here's what's for dinner tonight.

By G. Daniela Galarza

Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here.

Irreplaceable

I was introduced to Georgian food relatively recently, and it wasn't even on a table in front of me. It was on a screen. In 2016, Anthony Bourdain took his "Parts Unknown" crew to Tbilisi. Between sips of the Georgian brandy known as chacha, beer and local wine, he feasted on khinkali, the dumplings as big as a toddler's fist; vegetable salads; thick soups; layered rice dishes; and chkmeruli, a dish of roasted chicken in a creamy garlic sauce.

I miss Bourdain, who died in 2018. Did you also watch his shows or read his books?

For a while after his death people wondered who might take his place, who would step into his well-worn shoes and travel the world. But as we've learned, he's irreplaceable. No one else could land in a place and swiftly unveil its geopolitical tensions, neighborhood rivalries, unique culture and intense local gossip over a long lunch. No one else could do it with his verve and humor, charisma and self-awareness, innocent curiosity and genuine warmth.

Periodically, I go back to Bourdain's work and try to revel in it, try to remember what he wanted us to notice. So often his lessons were not about the food — they were about having heart and remembering the humanity in one another. Moreover, he was willing to take a step back into a calm place of humility. "Maybe that's enlightenment enough: to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity," Bourdain once said. "Perhaps wisdom ... is realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go."

Today's recipe is for chkmeruli, which comes together in less than an hour and is lovely served with rice or potatoes or something to soak up the garlicky sauce.

Today's recipe

Photos by Rey Lopez for The Washington Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

Georgian Garlic Chicken (Chkmeruli)

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

For easy printing and scaling, view this recipe in our Recipe Finder.

Servings: 4
Active time: 20 mins
Total time: 35 mins

Ingredients

One 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
Fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil or grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 cloves garlic
1 medium jalapeño pepper or habanero pepper (stem removed), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup whole milk

Steps

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Pat the chicken dry and season it generously with salt and pepper.

2. In a large, oven-safe skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and butter until the butter is foamy. Add the chicken, skin side down, with pieces not touching one another. (You may need to use two skillets or work in batches if your pan is too small.) Cook until browned, about 10 minutes on the first side, 5 minutes on the second side. The chicken will not be cooked through. Transfer to a plate and pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of the oil and rendered fat.

3. In a food processor, combine the garlic, jalapeño or habanero pepper, water, milk and a small pinch of salt; puree to form a smooth, loose sauce.

4. Nestle the chicken pieces into the skillet(s); it's okay if the pieces touch and overlap a bit now. Pour the sauce over them. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat (away from the bone) registers 165 on an instant-read thermometer.

5. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then transfer to a platter, with pan juices spooned over. Serve hot.

Adapted from food writer Jenny Holm. Tested by Nilar Andrea Chit Tun.

Nutrition information per serving: Calories: 380; Total Fat: 23 g; Saturated Fat: 7 g; Cholesterol: 130 mg; Sodium: 180 mg; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 0 g; Protein: 38 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas:

Instead of chicken >> consider using roasted mushrooms or slabs of roasted rutabaga.
The milk is traditional, so I wouldn't skip it >> but a nondairy milk would work instead.