Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [97]
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Fine sea salt and ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and chile in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove the chile and discard. Stir in soy sauce and set aside to cool.
Cover the dried wakame with warm water in a medium bowl and soak for 5 minutes. Drain, squeeze dry, and set aside in a medium serving bowl.
Scoop out the seeds from each cucumber half with a small spoon and slice each cucumber half thinly. Sprinkle the salt over the sliced cucumbers and gently knead with your hands until the cucumber slices release their water, about 3 minutes. Transfer the to a clean kitchen towel, wrap the towel around the cucumbers, and squeeze out as much water as possible. Add to the bowl with the wakame.
Add the radishes, cilantro, and scallions to the wakame and cucumbers. Add half the rice vinegar mixture and 2 tablespoons of the sesame seeds. Toss to combine, and refrigerate until serving.
Light a grill for direct high heat, about 500°F.
Coat the chicken breast halves with the sesame oil and the remaining 6 tablespoons sesame seeds. Place one of the breast halves on a large sheet of plastic wrap, season it with salt and pepper, top with another sheet of plastic wrap, and pound until uniformly ⅙ inch thick and the approximate diameter of a dinner plate. Set aside. Repeat with the remaining breast halves, using fresh sheets of plastic for each one.
Brush the grill grate and coat liberally with oil. Remove the plastic wrap from one side of two of the flattened breasts and place them on the grill so that they are spread out flat. The easiest way to do this is to support it from the plastic-wrapped side with your open hand and flip it onto the grill. Immediately lift off the sheets of plastic wrap. Grill until the chicken looks opaque at the edge, about 30 seconds. Flip with a spatula and grill 15 seconds on the other side. Remove to a platter, cover to keep warm, and repeat with the other two chicken breast halves.
Serve each paillard spread out flat on a dinner plate; it should nearly cover the entire serving surface of the plate. Drizzle the remaining rice vinegar mixture over the paillards, and place a large mound of seaweed salad in the center of each one.
WHOLE CHICKEN LEGS
Spicy Maple Sugar Chicken Legs
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
There’s something surprisingly sexy about the clandestine meeting of hot spice and sweet sugar—the peppers burn and the sugar soothes, igniting the palate and caressing it all at once. The spice in this recipe comes from the brine, which puts all of the burn inside the meat. The sweet balm is brushed on at the end in the form of a roasted maple glaze. So the two elements are kept separate until they bump into one another in your mouth. Very hot. Very cool.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups Chile Brine
4 chicken legs (about 3 pounds total), washed and patted dry
1 tablespoon canola oil
Coarsely ground black pepper
½ cup Maple Lacquer
DIRECTIONS:
Combine the brine and chicken legs in a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag, press out the air, and seal the bag. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
Light a grill for indirect medium heat, about 325°F.
Remove the chicken from the brine and discard the brine. Pat the chicken dry, coat with the oil, and sprinkle all over with the pepper. Set aside for 20 minutes.
Brush the grill grate and coat with oil. Put the chicken over the unheated part of the grill, cover, and cook, turning once or twice, until the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear or an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part (without touching bone) registers 165°F, about 40 minutes total. During the last 10 to 15 minutes of grilling, move the chicken over to the heated part of the grill to brown all over. Brush with the glaze during the last 5 minutes.
Serve immediately.
CHICKEN LEG DRUMSTICKS
Chicken Drumsticks Bathed in Riesling, Tarragon, and Garlic
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Rieslings can be dry or sweet,