Chicken Stew with Dried Limes

Ever since I made Gormeh Sabzi with dried limes a few weeks ago, I have been looking for more ways to incorporate these little flavor-bursts into my cooking. The New York Times did a feature story on them a few years ago called “Dried Limes, a Middle Eastern Secret for Flavoring Soups and Stews.”

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/dining/02power.html?ref=dining

The author described them accurately with this sentence: “Holding one to your nose is a bit like sniffing freshly grated lime rind while standing in the center of a brewery.” They are very pungent which mean they lend themselves well to lazy cooking. If you throw a couple of these limes in your dish, you won’t need much else for flavor.

I loosely followed the suggested recipe for chicken stew.

1.       Heat 2 tbs of olive oil and brown 6-8 chicken thighs in a large stew pot. Remove and set aside.

2.       Add 2 chopped onions and sauté until translucent. Add 2-4 garlic gloves and sauté for one minute more.

3.       Add 6 cups of chicken stock, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and the chicken.

4.       Pierce 4-6 dried limes with a knife. (This is like trying to stab a ping-pong ball so be careful!) Add to the pot.

5.       Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook for 25-30 minutes. Occasionally push limes against the side of the pot so they release their juices as they soften up.

6.       During the last five minutes, add a cup of chickpeas, a giant mound of chopped spinach and whatever other chopped herbs you want (cilantro, chives, parsley, etc.)

7.       Season with salt if necessary and serve with sliced radishes, scallions, chopped mint, walnuts and or a dollop of Greek yogurt.

I like to leave the limes in the stew but don’t eat one. Pungent means pungent!

Spicy Peanut Dressing with Pomegranate Molasses

I should never do anything without a list, especially shop for groceries. Even if I have made a recipe a thousand times, I still manage to forget half the key ingredients unless I write them down. Last night I started to chop up some kale for my favorite Kale Tabbouleh Salad and then realized I was missing the chickpeas and the grains. I had, however, bought the mint which is the most expensive item in the recipe so I was determined to use it. I googled mint and kale and stumbled across a recipe for which I had all the ingredients on-hand. Nothing beats that on a cold winter night!

It was a simple salad with a peanut-based dressing that called for my newly-acquired pomegranate molasses. I was hesitant about the combination at first and tried it before sacrificing my mint to its flavors, but the dressing was fantastic. It hits all the right salty, sweet and spicy notes without being too heavy and overwhelming.

http://food52.com/recipes/18080-lacinato-kale-and-mint-salad-with-spicy-peanut-dressing

I did not use a blender as suggested but just whipped together 3 tbsp of peanut butter, 3 tbsp warm water, 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp fresh garlic, minced, 2 tsp fresh minced ginger, 1tsp sesame oil and1 tsp dried red chili flakes. Toss with a one bunch of chopped kale, one cup chopped mint and one cup of chopped nuts of your choice. The dressing is thick so toss for a good few minutes to distribute.

Citrus Salad with Shallots and Toasted Pecans

Last Friday I worked from the reading room of a small library in New Hampshire surrounded by oil paintings of very old Yankees and bald eagles. It was an incredibly relaxing environment since I wasn’t in the office bouncing from meeting to meeting but also not at home wondering if I should vacuum. I actually got a lot done, (in case any of my coworkers are reading this!) but then I discovered a pile of Cook’s Illustrated magazines.

This is the real deal cooking magazine. You won’t find any food porn inside these pages but instead it’s a simple, black-and-white publication with recipes and cooking tips reviewed by the best in the field. Knowing it’s an expensive subscription, I began secretly snapping photos with my iPhone.  There is nothing quite like that misbehaving in the library! Here is a rough summary of one of the stole recipes:

1)      Peel pith away from 2 red grapefruits and 3 naval oranges. Cut each fruit in half and then slice crosswise into thing pieces.  Toss with 1 tsp of sugar and a pinch of salt and let sit for 15 minutes.

2)      Meanwhile, toast ½ cup of pecans in 1 tsp of butter (or coconut oil) until browned.

3)      Drain fruit in a colander and reserve 2 tbsp of the juice. Toss the juice with one minced shallot, 1 tsp of Dijon and 3 tbsp of olive oil.

4)      Arrange fruit over 4 cups of watercress, argula, etc. and sprinkle with pecans. They also recommended dried cranberries as well but I get sick of those this time of year.

5)      Drizzle dressing on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Before tossing, ask families members to appreciate how much time you spent getting the pith off the fruit! 

Not a Week Night Curry…but so worth it!

A few days ago I posted my favorite week night curry recipe and discussed the importance of keeping week night recipes simple so you don’t lose your mind. I then somehow managed to find the most complicated curry recipe ever on the New York Times website and decided to make it. On a week night.

This Coconut Chicken Curry with Cashews recipe is worth the effort and then some. Not only is it a great way to get your healthy fat serving in for the month (ha!), but it might be the most delicious chicken dish I have made…or at least it’s in a tie with the Pimenton Roasted Chicken I posted recently. The recipe says the total cooking time is an hour. This is a lie unless you have cooking elves or the ability to focus on one thing at a time on a week night. Please.

It involves toasting spices, nuts and coconut, browning the chicken and the turnips individually, grinding ingredients into a paste, etc. This is not a throw together meal. However, if you take the time to go through all these steps, you will be rewarded with a truly decadent curry.

http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1014468/Coconut-Chicken-Curry-with-Cashews.html

The picture doesn’t do this piece justice since it’s so obviously in need of a cilantro garnish. But you know what I really don’t do on week nights? Garnishes. 

Weeknight Thai Curry

I struggle with striking a balance between exploring new recipes and keeping old favorites in circulation. Cooking something new feels creative but it can also be time consuming and turn an already frazzled Tuesday night into a shit show. 

Heidi Swanson’s Weeknight Curry from Super Natural Every Day is a great base recipe to incorporate a few times a month – especially since you can mix up the vegetables and/or the meat. It’s not an overly rich curry and can be thrown together in 15 minutes.

1.       Mix 2-3 tsp Thai curry paste with a few tbs of coconut milk and set aside.

2.       Chop up one onion, a nice chunk of ginger, 8 oz of tofu, chicken, shrimp, etc. and about 4 cups of vegetables (zucchini, cauliflower, red pepper, sugar snap peas, etc.)

3.       Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in the wok and then add half the onions and ginger. When translucent, add half the curry paste and coconut mixture. Stir to coat and then add your tofu of meat of choice. Cook thoroughly and then remove the mixture and set aside.

4.       Now do the same thing with the vegetables. Add another tsp of coconut oil and the remainder of the onions and ginger. When translucent, add the curry paste and coconut mixture. Stir to coat and add your vegetables.

5.       Add about 2/3 cup coconut milk and ½ cup of broth depending on how soupy you like you curry.

6.       Cover and let simmer for a few minutes until the vegetables lose their raw edge. Add your tofu or meat back in and cook 1 minute more. Salt to taste.

I can make this recipe in my sleep. I now just need to remember to MAKE it instead of embarking on a journey through exotic recipes on a particularly rough evening! 

Pumpkin Yogurt Muffins with Pepitas

Xavier is not a kale-eating kid. I think you have to live in Brooklyn to have one of those. He will, however, eat a muffin in any form so sneaking vegetables into muffins is one of my many clever parenting strategies. My other ones involve TV and sugar.

These muffins from the Whole Foods site use 100% whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed, pumpkin, yogurt (I used full-fat) and molasses among other things. The recipe skips butter entirely...although you can see in the photo how Ryan made up for that 'flaw.'

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3339

 For the hell of it I just googled kale muffins. They do exist. Yuck!

Ghormeh Sabzi

Ghormeh Sabzi is a Persian stew made with a mixture of green herbs, dried limes and fenugreek. I have been anxious to make it ever since I bought dried limes and fenugreek only to have them gather dust on my shelves. Rupal to the rescue!

Last night she came over and taught Jen and I how to make what I hope was the first of many Persian dishes.  

 Soak and cook 1.5 cups of dried adzuki beans and ½ cup kidney beans or set aside 4 cups of canned beans.

Chop up a mixture of 6-9 cups of green herbs in any combo (e.g. 2 bunches parsley, 1 bunch cilantro, 2 cups/2 bunches of chives or scallions or even leeks, 1/2bunch dill)

 Saute two sliced onions, 4 garlic cloves and a green chili pepper until soft. Add in a few tablespoons of dried fenugreek as you cook. Add the beans and stir.

In a separate pan, sauté the scallions and then add all the green herbs. Cook down for a few minutes.

 Combine the two pans into one and add water until the mixture is just covered. Add one teaspoon turmeric, salt to taste and a bit more fenugreek. Add 6-8 dried limes and push down under the liquid. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Press the limes against the side of the pan so all their yummy juices seep out before serving with rice.