Fesenjan, or chicken with walnuts and pomegranates

Serve with white rice, a salad shirazi and some crunchy radishes on the side. In place of chicken, you could use duck or butternut squash. I often make a delicious vegetarian version with aubergines, which I’ve included opposite.

Moroccan-Spiced Chicken Cutlets with Chickpeas and Dried Fruit

from Mark Bittman

Photo: Daniel Meyer

Makes: 4 servings
Time: 30 Minutes

It takes forever to make a tagine, but you can infuse all the same warm Moroccan flavors into this simple two-step sauté and get it done in a flash.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 1 teaspoon coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

• Salt and pepper

• 2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas (one 15-ounce can)

• 1 cup dried apricots

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• Several sprigs fresh parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.

• Cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally to make 2 thin cutlets for each breast. Press down on each with the heel of your hand to flatten.

2. Combine 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 teaspoon coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over the chicken.

3. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the cutlets to the skillet (you’ll need to work in batches). Cook the cutlets, rotating them occasionally and adjusting the heat so they sizzle but don’t burn, until the spices are nicely browned, 3 or 4 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side until the chicken is cooked through, another 3 or 4 minutes.

4. As each piece is done, transfer it to the oven to keep warm; continue cooking the remaining cutlets, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.

• If you’re using canned chickpeas, rinse and drain them. Chop 1 cup dried apricots.

5. When all the cutlets are cooked and warming in the oven, add 1/4 cup red wine vinegar to the skillet, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Add the chickpeas and apricots, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally until warmed through, 3 or 4 minutes.

• Strip the parsley leaves from several sprigs and chop.

6. When the chickpeas and apricots are warm, stir in most of the parsley, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Serve with the chicken, garnished with the remaining parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

Orange Chicken

By Chef Jet

Persian Pomegranate Chicken (Fesenjan)

• where did I get this?

Gift of a casserole

link   another link

Cheesy Chicken Casserole

• 3 cups shell noodles uncooked
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup red bell pepper diced
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 10 3/4 oz cream of chicken soup condensed
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 3 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese divided
• 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 4 oz mild green chiles
• 3 cups cooked chicken
• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Cook shells al dente according to package directions.
• Cook onion and red bell pepper in butter until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in salt and chili powder.
• In a large bowl combine soup, onion mixture, milk and 2 cups cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese.  Mix well. Stir in chicken, pasta and green chiles.
• Spread into a 9x13 casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
• Bake 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Homemade cream of mushroom soup

• 1 can of evaporated milk (you can use regular milk in a pinch, it just won't be quite as creamy)
• chicken broth (I used reduced sodium)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 4 tablespoons of corn starch
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup of mushrooms

• Pour the can of evaporated milk and add chicken broth to total 2 cups.
• Add all ingredients except the mushrooms into the blender and give it a quick whirl to mix.
• Add in the mushrooms and blend again until mushrooms reach desired size. This can be a couple of seconds for chunks of mushrooms or longer if you'd like to puree (& hide) the mushrooms.
• Place in a saucepan on medium high heat. Stir continuously with a whisk until thick.
• Remove from heat and cool.
• Can be stored in the fridge for 1 week

Spicy Coconut Marinade

• Inspired

Spiced Coconut Chicken and Rice

Inspiration

Chicken Dinner Winner - originally posted on Jun 3/12

I found this marinade recipe for chicken in a recent issue of Cosmopolitan.  Yes, I read Cosmo, don't judge me.  The recipe calls for roasting the chicken with cherry tomatoes and red onions, which sounds wonderful, but I didn't have those veggies on hand.  I had regular onions, baby potatoes and asparagus.

Roast Chicken satay...sort of - originally posted on Jul 15/12

It's been too hot to cook for the last week and I've been craving real food.  This recipe inspired me, but I had a whole chicken hanging out in my freezer.  Since it's  overcast and rainy today, I don't mind turning on the oven.  All the stars  aligned.  Besides, the temperatures will soar again soon and it will be good to have some leftovers on hand.

Wings - originally posted on Oct 20/12

I wanted buffalo wings but I didn't have any blue cheese dressing on hand so I used the Google.  I stumbled on this recipe.  I love the technique of simmering the wings because you can walk away.

Honey Sriracha Wings - originally posted May 9/15

I found two recipes that sounded good, put them together, added my own spin and here's what I ended up with;

Butter Turkey - originally posted May 16, 2010

Butter Turkey doesn't sound right. It sounds like turkey and butter. Everyone knows the famous Indian dish; Butter Chicken and they know it's not just butter and chicken, but...well. So I had a turkey breast and I wanted to try this recipe. Of course if you want to use chicken, go ahead.

Butter Chicken Naan pockets - originally posted July 30, 2013

File this under "why didn't I think of that?".  I love butter chicken with a side of naan.  Tuck some butter chicken inside a naan and you have a meal you can eat with your hands.  Wouldn't it be great for a picnic?  Or on the road?  What about the days when you have to run off somewhere after work with no time for dinner.  Avoid the drive through this one time.  Can you imagine making them bite sized for an appetizer platter? Inspired by this, I used thisrecipe for butter chicken, but as the inspiring posts says, you could totally use your favourite sauce from a jar.  I made the butter chicken yesterday and only used about half of the recipe.  When I assembled them today, I made 8 pockets just because it made sense to me.   If you make the filling the day before, the mixture will be cold and easier to work with.
Also, I under baked them slightly because my plan is to freeze them.  Since they're under baked, they won't get too dark when I re heat them.

Enjoy!

Butter Chicken - re-written Feb 8/20 - original post April 23, 2013

My friend gave me this recipe months ago.  In fact, it's been sitting on my kitchen counter so long that I fear it will be unreadable soon.  Also, I had a whole chicken in my freezer that has been speaking butter chicken to me.  It's a grey, grim day outside, yesterday was grey and grim and my mood is grey and grim.  When grey and grim is the prevailing spirit, something that simmers for a long time and fills my home with a warm, soothing fragrance is in order. Of course, I didn't follow the recipe exactly.  I didn't have all the ingredients, so I made do.

Moroccan Chicken with green olives and lemon

INGREDIENTS

2 Meyer lemons or regular lemons

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 4 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin removed

1/2 cup green olives

PREPARATION

Cut 1 lemon into 8 wedges. Squeeze enough juice from second lemon to measure 2 tablespoons; set

wedges and juice aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sprinkle with

salt and pepper; sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add

broth; bring to boil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Add lemon wedges. Cover,

reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally, 25 to

30 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter. Add olives and 2 tablespoons lemon juice to skillet. Increase

heat to high; boil uncovered to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour

over chicken.

Thai Chicken with coconut lime rice

I needed a recipe that did call for anything I didn't already have on hand, so I combined a couple of recipes I found and added my own touch. Here's roughly what I did;

Chicken Shwarma

I don't recall where this came from

Chicken Shawarma

I wonder where I got this from?

sesame chicken

 

Chicken Paprikash

This delicious recipe came from my former roommates sister, Marion, who loves to cook and is a very good cook. I love any recipe the contains sour cream. It's what's for dinner tonight.

Chicken Paprikash
2 onion-chopped
2 T. paprika
1 cut up chicken
1 c. sour cream

Saute onions with paprika until soft.
Place chicken in oiled pan, cover with onions and paprika, bake at 350 F for 30-45 minutes or until chicken is done.
Remove from oven, stir in sour cream.
Serve with spaetzle or buttered noodles and peas and carrots.