spreading my wings

​I am always on the search for new chicken recipes as we eat so much of it. Leading up to the Passover holiday, Joan Nathan, a renowned cook and cookbook author of Jewish cuisine, wrote about a recipe she acquired while attending a dinner party where the guests were sharing Passover recipes. This recipe, from the late Esther Soussan Berman who grew up in Morocco, was shared by her daughter-in-law.
 
The flavors are wonderful together and a bit unexpected if, like me, you haven’t tried Middle Eastern cuisine. For the recipe you’ll need, lemons, artichokes, chicken thighs, an onion, garlic, fresh parsley, saffron, cinnamon and chicken broth. I used frozen artichoke hearts that I had in my freezer. I did have a tiny amount of saffron on hand. [Just a note, during the Christmas holidays, my local Costco carried tiny jars of saffron for approximately $15.] Instead of chicken thighs I used chicken breasts.

The recipe came together quickly as I didn’t have to go through the cleaning of the artichokes. First I browned the chicken breasts on both sides then set them aside. Next, I sautéed for approximately 5 minutes the onion, garlic, parsley and saffron. Once the onion was translucent, cinnamon was added and incorporated into the ingredients. It released a warm, wonderful aroma. Chicken broth was added to deglaze the pan and then the chicken was returned back to finish cooking. After the chicken, was done, I missed a step. I didn’t thicken the sauce with the chicken removed nor add the lemon juice…ugh! When I went over my list of ingredients to confirm I used them all, minus the step of prepping the artichokes, I didn’t read the part about setting aside a bit of lemon juice. However, despite my shortcoming, we did enjoy this dish. I’m sure the bit of lemon juice would have brightened the flavors.
 
To go along with the chicken, I made Pierre Franey’s rice pilaf recipe. To dress up plain white rice, you’ll need butter, chopped onion, a bay leaf, 2 sprigs of parsley and either fresh or dried thyme. The rice was wonderful, flavored enough to bring it out of blandness, but not overpowering. This was nice change to the ordinary.  Overall these are two great recipes that take ordinary chicken and rice to a new level of enjoyment.
 
On another note, I recently purchased two Berkshire pork chops ($19.99/lb.) at my local Wegmans. As I was checking out, the cashier wondered if they were worth their price. Well, after having them last night for supper, a resounding yes! I applied Williams-Sonoma dry brine to the chops for approximately three hours. Next, I rinsed, patted dry the chops and cooked them outside on my grill, about six minutes per side.  The chops were fabulous! The meat was tender, succulent and was infused with just the right amount of seasoning from the brine. If the conditions were different my husband could have ordered these in a restaurant for about $30. Last night it cost me just under $30 for the two chops. Well worth the extra cost.