Posts Tagged ‘chicken’
The Birthday of the Trees
January 19, 2011 | 
Author The Jewish celebration of Tu B’Shvat [TOO bayshuh-VAHT] — The Birthday of the Trees — begins tonight at sundown. In recent years, it has been common to hold a seder with rituals protocols and readings; but I’m just planning to enjoy traditional treats like dried fruits, nuts, olives and citrus. I’m always there for the food!
A town like Ann Arbor , of course, is a perfect place to celebrate Tu B’Shvat! Planting trees and enjoying the fruits that they bear are two of the primary traditions for the day, perfect for my beloved town’s eco- and health-consciousness. Nurturing trees is so vital a tradition in Judaism that Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai (who lived from 30-90 A.D./C.E.) is quoted as saying: “If you should be holding a sapling in your hand when they tell you the Messiah has arrived … first plant the sapling, then go out and greet him.”
According to MyJewishLearning.com: “The Bible expresses a great reverence for fruit trees as symbols of God’s bounty and beneficence. Special laws were formulated to protect fruit trees in times of war and ensure that the produce of trees would not be picked until the trees were mature enough and tithes were given from them. In order to calculate the age of trees, both for determining when they could be harvested and when they were to be tithed for the Temple, the Talmudic Rabbis established the 15th day (Tu) of the month of Shvat as the official ‘birthday’ of trees.”
As opposed to many Jewish holidays where it’s traditional to eat cholesterol-laden challah or latkes fried in oil (which is, of course, half the fun!), this is a party where you’re actually encouraged to eat nutritious fruits. So whether you eat a savory meal like the chicken dish I offer below, or enjoy fresh fruit out of hand, join me in celebrating Tu B’Shvat as we wait through the frigidly cold winter until all those beautiful trees bloom again in spring ….
Braised Chicken Thighs in Lemony Olive Sauce
3 tablespoons oil
3 pounds chicken thighs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small onion, halved, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons shawarma spices (available at Middle Eastern markets; substitute a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, cardamom, and garlic powder if needed)
1/2 teaspoon ground sumac (available at Middle Eastern markets)
1/3 cup Sicilian Lemon Balsamic Vinegar (available at Fustini’s Oils and Vinegars, a fine Michigan-based franchise)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup green olives with pimientos, chopped
Heat oil in a large, deep-sided skillet over medium heat. Season both sides of the chicken with the salt and pepper, and place into the skillet skin-side down.
Cook for 10 minutes until nicely browned. Turn the chicken over and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken to a plate.
Saute the onion and the garlic until the onion is translucent. Sprinkle in the spices and cook for 1 minute.
Combine the vinegar and the broth; pour into the skillet and bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet, skin-side up.
Cover the chicken, then turn heat to “medium-low” and cook for 35 minutes. Place the chicken on a serving platter and boil the sauce down to reduce it until it has thickened. Stir in the olives.
Pour the sauce over the chicken, and serve hot.
Makes 4-6 servings.
“floo·zie \ˈflü-zē\: a usually young woman of loose morals.” Thus a Food Floozie is not a woman who can be seduced by virtually any man, but rather a woman who can be seduced by virtually any food (other than sushi).
For more blathering about recipes, restaurants, beverages, ingredients, and anything else even tangentially related to food, please come visit me Monday through Friday at Food Floozie or check out my mostly-regular Tuesday posts on AnnArbor.com.
Pumpkin Curry
Simmering
First Post, and I am not the chef! So I will keep it simple.
Roasted pumpkin
Sauteed onions and chicken
Can of coconut milk
Can of curry
Not enough curry, so a can of chicken broth
Simmered potatoes
Salt and pepper
Served on rice.
Not in the above order. I had to walk away after the second serving. I was going to hurt myself. It sure was good for something that seems deceptively simple.
Adventures of a College Foodie
In an attempt to prove that not all college students survive solely on macaroni and ramen, I managed to find a few people crazy enough to let me cook for (and experiment on) them.
Recently I decided that three things I love separately would be doubly great together: chicken breast, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes. Of course, I now realize that several recipes for this can be found on the internet, but I maintain that what I came up with was at least as good, if not better, and certainly a great deal simpler to make.
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast (the number you need will depend on the size of the breast and the number of people you’re attempting to feed- I shop at Sprouts, which has the most gloriously enormous single breasts I’ve ever seen. Just one was enough for three people!)
2 oz. Goat Cheese (I recommend some without added herbs, but it’s all to your taste)
1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes, packed with olive oil, sliced/shredded
2 tsp Olive Oil
Salt
Black Pepper
Basil (depending on your taste)
There are two different ways to do this- pockets or folds. The pockets are easier and slightly less messy, but the folds allow the mixture to brown a bit too- melted goat cheese? Yummy!
First, mix the goat cheese, tomatoes, and basil into a thick paste mixture.
For the pocket:
Cut a slit into the chicken breast creating-you guessed it!- a pocket. Stuff the pocket with the goat cheese mixture.
For the fold:
Slice the chicken horizontally, creating two thinner pieces. Split the cheese mixture and place on each piece of chicken, so that it can be folded over to create a sort of chicken sandwich. Pin closed.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chicken. Cover and cook for approximately 6 minutes on each side or until done. (For the folds, remove the pin before flipping- this is where it gets messy!) I found that covering the chicken while it was cooking kept in a lot of the moisture and it stayed very juicy. We even poured the remaining oil- now infused with herby, tomato-y, cheesy goodness- over the chicken.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Posted in Dishes, Recipes | 
Tags: chicken, goat cheese, raman, Recipes, sun-dried tomatoes | 
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