How to turn baked chicken and old bread into a brilliant Turkish meze – recipe | don't waste
Today's Turkish dish is a great way to turn leftover baked chicken and bread from the night before into an incredibly more indulgent meze. It's easy too, as it basically involves shredding chicken thigh or breast meat (or choosing a roasted whole carcass) and tossing it with stale bread soaked in chicken broth or milk, crushed walnuts, garlic and spicy paprika. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate and dress later. It will keep in the fridge for up to five days after cooking the chicken and is delicious cold, spread on toast or as part of a larger meze with flatbread, muhammara, hummus and grilled vegetables. Some versions of this recipe suggest blending everything in a food processor, but in my opinion, that gives it too mushy a texture; you will get a much better texture and flavor if you grate the chicken by hand and crush the nuts in a mortar, before adding the other ingredients and kneading everything by hand.
Circassian ChickenThis more indulgent meze recipe turns leftover chicken into a spicy rillette-style spread. It's super quick to make, turning leftovers into a centerpiece for a great shareable meal or a delicious sandwich filling. It's delicious chilled or at room temperature. Here I served it over crostini prepared by gently frying stale ciabatta in extra virgin olive oil.
20 min prep Serves 2 to 4 people as part of a meze
< p class="dcr-3jlghf">1 large slice of stale bread, about 100g100ml chicken stock or milk2 tbsp walnut oil or oil extra-virgin olive100g walnut halves, 50g crushed in a mortar, the rest left whole1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped 2 tsp sweet paprika 180g leftover cooked chicken meat, grated Sea salt and black pepper Chopped parsley, to serve (optional) Bread, to serve (optional)Place the bread in a bowl, cover with broth or milk and let soften.< /p>
Tear the softened bread into pieces and add a tablespoon of walnut oil, the crushed walnuts, the garlic, a teaspoon of paprika and the chicken. Season, then toss well by hand to combine.
Arrange chicken mixture on platter. Heat the second tablespoon of oil in a skillet, stir in the remaining teaspoon of paprika and drizzle over the chicken mixture. Garnish with walnut halves and a pinch of parsley, if desired, and serve with bread.
Today's Turkish dish is a great way to turn leftover baked chicken and bread from the night before into an incredibly more indulgent meze. It's easy too, as it basically involves shredding chicken thigh or breast meat (or choosing a roasted whole carcass) and tossing it with stale bread soaked in chicken broth or milk, crushed walnuts, garlic and spicy paprika. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate and dress later. It will keep in the fridge for up to five days after cooking the chicken and is delicious cold, spread on toast or as part of a larger meze with flatbread, muhammara, hummus and grilled vegetables. Some versions of this recipe suggest blending everything in a food processor, but in my opinion, that gives it too mushy a texture; you will get a much better texture and flavor if you grate the chicken by hand and crush the nuts in a mortar, before adding the other ingredients and kneading everything by hand.
Circassian ChickenThis more indulgent meze recipe turns leftover chicken into a spicy rillette-style spread. It's super quick to make, turning leftovers into a centerpiece for a great shareable meal or a delicious sandwich filling. It's delicious chilled or at room temperature. Here I served it over crostini prepared by gently frying stale ciabatta in extra virgin olive oil.
20 min prep Serves 2 to 4 people as part of a meze
< p class="dcr-3jlghf">1 large slice of stale bread, about 100g100ml chicken stock or milk2 tbsp walnut oil or oil extra-virgin olive100g walnut halves, 50g crushed in a mortar, the rest left whole1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped 2 tsp sweet paprika 180g leftover cooked chicken meat, grated Sea salt and black pepper Chopped parsley, to serve (optional) Bread, to serve (optional)Place the bread in a bowl, cover with broth or milk and let soften.< /p>
Tear the softened bread into pieces and add a tablespoon of walnut oil, the crushed walnuts, the garlic, a teaspoon of paprika and the chicken. Season, then toss well by hand to combine.
Arrange chicken mixture on platter. Heat the second tablespoon of oil in a skillet, stir in the remaining teaspoon of paprika and drizzle over the chicken mixture. Garnish with walnut halves and a pinch of parsley, if desired, and serve with bread.
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