Archive for the 'Middle Eastern' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Apple Chicken Curry

I know this one sounds like an odd combination, but somehow, innocent, autumnal kind of ingredients (apple, apple cider, cinnamon, white wine, dijon, golden raisins) come together to produce a curry that could stand up next to any other traditional chicken curry flavor-wise. And so today, we have apple chicken curry.

Apple Chicken Curry

I wanted to make chicken that somehow went with apples, but I had a tough time coming up with something that appealed to me. I wrote down a long list of things that I thought would go well with apple and then started whittling it down until there was a collection of things that seemed harmonious together. From there, I just took all of those ingredients out and just sort of went with it–since ginger and cardamom were involved, why not try to do something with some Indian flare to it? And so I started working in other Asian flavors, such as kasoori methi (a.k.a. fenugreek), and that is…
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Posted by mike on January 22nd, 2008 under Asian, Chicken, Fruit, Indian, Main course, Middle Eastern | 9 Comments »

Apricot Date Stuffed Chicken Poached in Saffron Cream Sauce

This dish was really rich and tasty. The chicken was juicy and soft (on account of being poached) while the filling was a bit more honeyed and crunchy in texture, being filled with apricot, dates, and almonds. The sauce was also the poaching liquid: a creamy spiced broth teeming with saffron. All of these individually strong flavors paired together in a surprisingly harmonious way.

Chicken Poached in Saffron Cream Sauce topped w/date & fig, served w/cranberry rice

This dish was kind of a hodgepodge of ingredients–after making rugelach, I had some ingredients on hand that I normally don’t (apricot preserves, dates) and I just felt compelled to use them for something completely different. Once I got out of the dessert frame of mind, I came up with this. Describing the dish to my wife ahead of time was greeted with skepticism: there were a lot of flavors and many of them were sweet (she has a thing against sweet and meat). I was also feeling a little nervous, but it still seemed oddly…
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Posted by mike on December 20th, 2007 under Chicken, Fruit, Middle Eastern, Sauce | 6 Comments »

Kaddo Bourani (Afghani Pumpkin w/Yogurt & Beef Sauce)

This dish is a change from the norm, but ’tis the season to show off pumpkins. Today’s dish is kaddo bourani, which originates in Afghanistan.

Kaddo Bourani (Afghani Pumpkin w/Yogurt & Beef Sauce)

Now I’m going to guess that you’re in one of two crowds in your reaction to this dish: (1) I’ve never had Afghani food before and have absolutely no idea what its like or (2) I’ve had Afghani food before from some amazing restaurant called Helmand and they had something just like this!

Well to the number oners, Afghani food is really tasty. My impression of it is sort of like Indian food as far as flavor and style goes, but “drier” (compared to the more stew-like curries that we all know and love). Definitely worth trying if the opportunity ever presents itself. To the number two folks out there, my first (and sadly only) exposure to Afghani food was at Helmand in the Boston area, and yes, that place was excellent and I had a…
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Posted by mike on November 7th, 2007 under Beef, Middle Eastern | 4 Comments »

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