Georgian (Gruzini) Roast Chicken with Bazhe Walnut Sauce, served on black rice with walnut oil and Georgian salt, with Rkatsiteli wine from Daveste Vineyards in North Carolina!
My connection to Georgia, (the Republic of Georgia, aka Gruzia), is from my service in the Israeli Army, as the printing shop was manned by a bunch of great, tough, Georgian-born guys, and, after noting my nose, (a classic, large, Ukrainian nose, inherited from my Sednev-born grandmother), they decided I was their “little sister”, and made it a lot of fun to go to the printing shop to oversee the publication of books my unit (Graphic Design, Education Corps) had designed and illustrated!
So when Dan and I were driving home from our recent trip to Colorado, and he made me happy by stopping at Daveste Winery, which we found while driving through Troutman, North Carolina, (see: https://southernwestvirginia.org/?p=1380), I was surprised and delighted to find that they are making a Georgian wine, Rkatsiteli, from Georgian estate grapes they imported to North Carolina!
We did a tasting at the winery, and bought 2 bottles of wine, including one of Rkatsiteli, (I wish we’d bought more!), and, when we got home, I started researching Georgian recipes on the internet, and sourcing all the spices and condiments I’d need to make authentic Gruznini dishes! (I swear that half the fun of cooking, as well as gardening, and trip-planning, for me, is doing the research and sourcing everything!)
As I learned from Wikipidia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_wine, Georgia is the oldest wine-producing region in the world, home to wine production (Georgian: ღვინო, ɣvino) for at least 8000 years! And in 2013, UNESCO added the ancient, traditional Georgian winemaking method of using the Kvevri clay jars to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List!
I also learned, from several sites, including Saveur, the importance of walnuts in Georgian cuisine, and this is a great article to start with: “The Walnut Whisperers of Georgia”: https://www.saveur.com/food/the-walnut-whisperers-of-georgia/ Bazhe Walnut Sauce is an easy-to-make classic Georgian sauce served with many things; I call it “Gruzini Walnut Pesto”, LOL.
The three classic dishes I wanted to start my Gruzini Foodie Adventure with were Roast Chicken with Bazhe Walnut Sauce (Katmis Satsivi), Beef Kharcho with Walnut Sauce, and Chakapuli, a Georgian Lamb & Tarragon Stew, and I pulled a bunch of recipes for all three. I then went to good ol’ amazon and sourced all the spices and condiments I’d need, including a well-reviewed collection of Georgian spices and spice mixes, including the classic “Khmeli Suneli”: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V48B1HJ/, and Tkemali, the traditional green Georgian plum sauce: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPPRRGB “Khmeli Suneli” is a must-have for Georgian cooking, as it contains, among other things, tarragon, coriander, blue fenugreek, and Georgian saffron, which is marigold petals! (There are a number of recipes, and even videos, for it online, if you want to make your own).
Everything else we bought locally, and Dan actually found artisan Walnut Oil in our rural, southern West Virginia neck of the woods, which amazed the dickens out of me! We had Aleppo Pepper, Pomegranate Juice, and the other needed ingredients in our pantry, from my previous amazon forays. I decided to make the Roast Chicken with Bazhe Walnut Sauce first, and serve it on Lundberg Family Farm’s Black Pearl Rice, another amazon foodie find: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M6WVEAA
Georgian spices and condiments, and the Rkatsiteli wine from Daveste Vineyards
I started the Chicken with Bazhe Sauce with a recipe from Saveur: https://www.saveur.com/recipes/georgian-roast-chicken-with-bazhe-sauce-recipe/ but I tweaked and changed it somewhat. I decided to make a super-crispy-herbed-skin roast chicken (You can Google “super crispy skin chicken”- there are many recipes; d’artagnan has a good one: https://www.dartagnan.com/tips-for-crispy-chicken-skin.html), and I did this by washing and then thoroughly drying the whole 5 1/2 lb. chicken, inside and out, loosening the skin, so I’d be able to put herbs under it, sprinkling it with Kosher salt, and putting it in the fridge, uncovered, to dry for a day. When I took it out of the fridge the next day I thoroughly dried it again, and put tarragon and Khmeli Suneli, a Georgian spice mixture, under the skin, crushed garlic cloves, tarragon and Khmeli Suneli in the cavity, and then dusted the outside of the chicken skin with more Khmeli Suneli. Then it went on a roasting rack, so the heat would circulate around it, and into the oven at 400F for 1.5 hours (basically 20 minutes per pound; check it for doneness with a meat thermometer, so you don’t overcook it and dry it out. I suggest taking it out of the oven a bit early, as it will continue to cook even once it’s out of the oven). Once the chicken was in the oven I made the rice, and the Bazhe Walnut Sauce according to the Saveur recipe, but I wound up upping all the spices to our taste…
We served the roast chicken on the black pearl rice, with the Bazhe Sauce and walnut oil, and Georgian salt, and accompanied by the Daveste Rkatsiteli wine, and it was a DELICIOUS dinner! And since it was just Dan & I, we had it for two nights- and did not tire of it! Bazhe Sauce is, essentially, a kind of walnut pesto, and is served with many things; we will be using what’s left as a dip, on sandwiches, and pasta! Chef Dan loved it, too, and I will definitely be making this dish again- after I make Chakapuli, the Georgian Lamb & Tarragon Stew, once he roasts the leg of lamb we have in the freezer!
Have you made any Georgian dishes or tried Georgian wines?
What are your favorites? Do you have any good recipes to share?
Please tell me in the comments!
