Braised Chicken with Tomatoes and Honey
|
| |
| this dish is a specialty of the moroccan jews. the sweetness of the honey |
| and the cinnamon strengthens the heady aroma of the saffron, which colors |
| the sauce bright orange rather than red like the tomatoes. i use skinless, |
| boneless chicken breasts rather than a whole chicken in this recipe, which |
| is nontraditional. |
| |
| preparation time: 1-1/4 hours |
| servings: 8 |
| |
| 4 Tbsp | olive oil |
| 8 | skinless, boneless chicken breasts (4 chicken breasts halved, about 2 |
| lb. | |
| 1 large | onion, peeled and finely chopped |
| 1/2 cup | chicken stock |
| 10 | large, meaty tomatoes, peeled and seeded or two 24-ounce cans good |
| | quality tomatoes |
| 1/4 tsp | saffron threads dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling chicken stock |
| 1/3 cup | thick honey (citrus honey is best) |
| 2 stick | cinnamon |
| 1 | oneinch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled |
| 1/2 cup | toasted slivered almonds |
| |
| \heat 4 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat in a deep, wide saute pan |
| that has a tight-fitting lid. brown the chicken breasts on both sides and |
| set aside. |
| saute the onions in the same oil until soft and translucent (5-7 |
| minutes). reduce the heat and deglaze with 1/2 cup chicken stock, scraping |
| up browned bits with a wooden spoon. |
| add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to soften, stirring every once |
| in a while. add the saffron and honey. stir well to dissolve. add the |
| cinnamon sticks and gingerroot. |
| return the chicken breasts to the pot, making sure they are covered with |
| sauce. turn the heat down to simmer and cover the pan with foil. then |
| cover |
| it with its lid. cook 50 minutes. test for doneness by inserting a skewer |
| or toothpick into the meat. if juice runs yellow meat is done. |
| while the chicken is cooking, toast the almonds by cooking them in a dry |
| cast-iron skillet over medium heat or on a cookie sheet in a pre-heated |
| oven |
| at 350 degrees until nicely browned. |
| |
| remove the cinnamon sticks and gingerroot before serving. the tomatoes |
| will have dissolved into a nice sauce. pass the sauce through a sieve to |
| smooth it out before serving. if you used canned tomatoes, this has the |
| added advantage of removing the seeds. serve one chicken breast per |
| person, covered with some of the sauce and sprinkled with toasted almonds. |
| |
| serving suggestions: |
| |
| serve this dish with couscous or saffron rice pilav. precede it with a |
| selection of moroccan salads and appetizers. sweet carrot salad, roasted |
| eggplant salad arabic style, roasted pepper salad with simple lemon |
| vinaigrette and buleymas filled with spinach are good choices. |
| |
| |
| -- |
| (ID: 2926) Mirror: rec.food.recipes: Tue, Apr 12, 2005 |