1,000 Jewish Recipes (144 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
2.
Add garlic, jalapeño pepper, and half the cilantro to pan and sauté a few seconds. Stir in tomatoes, pepper flakes, cumin, and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat 45 to 50 minutes or until chicken is tender. Skim fat from sauce.
3.
Add olives and 1 tablespoon cilantro to sauce and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning; add lemon juice, if using. Serve hot, sprinkled with remaining cilantro.
Chicken with pineapple is a popular combination on many Jewish tables. It probably started with the well-known Jewish love for Chinese food, which seems to have begun as a New York Jewish custom of going out to Chinese restaurants. Some say the reason is that Jews wanted food that was exotic and a complete change from what they ate at home. The sweet and sour dishes may have also appealed to many who were of Ashkenazic origin who found this taste familiar to dishes in their own cuisine.
With that idea in mind, my sister-in-law Nirit prepares her pineapple chicken with honey and soy sauce.
In other families, the seasonings used are not necessarily Asian. A friend of mine bakes the chicken and pineapple in a savory sauce of onions, garlic, cumin, and tomato.
For this easy version, the chicken is seasoned simply with curry and roasted. After being carved, it's baked briefly with fresh pineapple slices sautéed with gently spiced pears. It's convenient for Shabbat because you can assemble the chicken and fruit in the baking dish and heat it in the oven when you need it. Serve it with a colorful accompaniment, such as
Glazed Carrots
,
Carrot Puree
or
Sweet Potato Puree, Miami Style
.
3
1
â
2
- to 4-pound chicken
1 tablespoon curry powder
Salt (optional) and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large pears, ripe but firm, peeled, halved, cored, and quartered
1
â
2
teaspoon ground allspice
1
â
2
teaspoon ground ginger
8 slices fresh pineapple, cored and halved
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chervil or parsley
1.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Pull out fat from inside chicken. Mix curry powder, pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil in a small bowl. Rub chicken all over with mixture. Set chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast chicken, basting occasionally, about 1 hour or until juices no longer run pink when thickest part of thigh is pierced with a sharp knife. If juices are pink, roast chicken a few more minutes.
2.
Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large skillet. Add pears, allspice, and ginger and sauté over medium heat about 3 minutes on each side, or until nearly tender. Add pineapple slices and sauté together, turning pineapple once or twice, about 3 more minutes or until fruit is tender. Season lightly with pepper.
3.
Transfer chicken to a carving board. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Let chicken stand 5 to 10 minutes. Carve chicken into four or eight pieces and put them in a shallow casserole dish. Add spiced fruit. Bake uncovered about 10 minutes or until heated through. (If you're refrigerating chicken before serving it, reheat it, covered, at 300°F for about 40 minutes or until completely hot.)
4.
Sprinkle chicken and fruit with chervil before serving.
Middle Eastern favoritesâbulgur wheat, almonds, and figsâflavor the stuffing of this chicken. Ground coriander, allspice, and ginger, which are popular in the region, season both the chicken and its stuffing.
If you have extra stuffing, put it in a small oiled baking dish, cover it tightly, and bake it alongside the chicken for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through.
Serve this festive bird for Shabbat. It's also great for Sukkot, when fresh figs are often available. (You can use some figs as a holiday garnish for the platter of chicken.)
Fig, Bulgur Wheat, and Toasted Almond Stuffing
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1
â
2
teaspoon ground allspice
1
â
2
teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1
â
4
teaspoon salt (optional)
One 3
1
â
2
- to 4-pound chicken
1 to 1
1
â
2
tablespoons vegetable oil
Fresh parsley sprigs
1.
Prepare stuffing. Let cool completely before stuffing chicken.
2.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix coriander, ginger, allspice, pepper, and salt, if using. Rub chicken with about 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle it evenly with spice mixture. Rub spices into chicken.
3.
Spoon enough stuffing into chicken to fill it, without packing it tightly; reserve any extra stuffing in the refrigerator.
4.
Set chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and roast about 1 hour or until juices no longer run pink when thickest part of thigh is pierced with a sharp knife. If juices are pink, continue roasting chicken a few more minutes. Transfer chicken to a carving board. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
5.
Serve chicken and its stuffing on a platter. Garnish with parsley sprigs.
 or
Â
1
â
2
cups, enough for 1 chicken
This savory stuffing with a touch of sweetness is delicious in chicken but don't limit it to poultry dinners. Use it to stuff acorn squash for a lovely vegetarian entree, or simply serve it on its own as an accompaniment for grilled lamb chops, braised beef, or roasted vegetables.
1
â
2
cup slivered almonds
2 or 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup medium bulgur wheat
2 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1
â
2
teaspoon ground allspice
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup dried small dark figs (Mission figs), stems removed, quartered
1.
Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400°F. Toast almonds in a baking dish in oven, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
2.
Heat oil in heavy saucepan over high heat. Add onion and sauté over medium heat, stirring often, about 7 minutes or until onion begins to turn golden. Add bulgur and sauté, stirring, 2 minutes. Add stock, coriander, ginger, allspice, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes. Add figs without stirring. Cover and cook about 5 more minutes or until water is absorbed. Gently stir in almonds. Adjust seasoning.
3.
Let cool before stuffing chicken.
Cornish hens are delicious with a fruit stuffing and make a beautiful holiday entree, whether it's for Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, or Shabbat. Combining poultry with fruit is traditional in both the Persian and the Moroccan culinary styles.
I like to poach some extra dried apricots in wine and use them to garnish the hens as well. The hens make an impressive presentation when you serve them whole but are easier to eat if you cut them in half.
1 cup dried apricots
1
â
2
cup dry white wine
1
â
2
cup water
Orzo Stuffing with Apricots and Cashews
4 medium Cornish hens (each about 1
1
â
4
to 1
1
â
2
pounds)
1
â
2
teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey
1.
Combine apricots, wine, and the water in a bowl. Put a small plate on top to keep apricots in liquid. Let them soak while you prepare the other ingredients.
2.
Prepare stuffing. Then, preheat oven to 400°F. Discard excess fat from hens. Mix pepper, ginger, soy sauce, oil, and 2 teaspoons honey in a small bowl. Rub hens all over with honey mixture.
3.
Spoon
1
â
3
to
1
â
2
cup stuffing into each hen, packing it in gently. Reserve remaining stuffing in the refrigerator.
4.
Set hens in a roasting pan or shallow baking dish just large enough to contain them. Roast hens, basting occasionally and adding a few tablespoons hot water to pan juices if they brown, for 45 minutes or until drumstick is tender and juices no longer run pink when the thickest part of the drumstick is pierced with a sharp knife. If juices are pink, continue roasting hens for a few more minutes and check again. Stuffing should be hot inside.