Apricot Berbere Chicken and Veggies

Apricot Berbere Chicken and Veggies
With Salad and Millet pilaf

Berbere apparently means "hot" in Amharic.  They aren't lying.  The Ethiopian chili and fennel mixture makes a delicious - and hot - spice package.

I decided to cut the heat by mixing North African cuisine with East African.  The mix produced a delicious and remarkably easy cuisine.

Ingredients
1/4 lb Dried Unsweetened Apricots
Water
3 Chicken Leg Quarters
5 Carrots
1.5 lbs Asparagus

Marinade
4 Tbsp berbere spice
2 tbsp unsweetened Apricot preserves
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Instructions
1. Boil tea kettle of water
2. Cut Apricots in half and put in a bowl
3. Pour boiling water over the apricots and set aside
4. Cut Leg Quarters into leg and thigh put into large mixing bowl
5. Add chopped carrots and asparagus
6. Whisk together marinade (I like to do this right in the measuring cup)
7. Once the apricots have softened put in with chicken and veggies.
8.  Pour marinade over the chicken and veggies.  Take a large spoon and stir so that everything is coated in the berbere mix.
9.  Place in Roasting Pan and put in the fridge.  Marinade for 5 hours.
10. Bake for 50 min - 1 hour at 375F.

Berbere

mmm.....berbere

Fennel Black IPA Pulled Chicken: Slow Cooker Tuesday

Pulled chicken with Potatoes and Brussels sprouts

Tuesday is Urvi's and my crock pot night.  This week I tried something a little different.  Based on the beer can chicken.

Fennel Black IPA Pulled Chicken is a new favorite that will be added to the rotation.

Crock Pot Chicken
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breats
- 3 tbsp roasted fennel seed
- tbsp salt
- tbsp pepper
- 1/2 cup homemade veggie broth
- 12 oz can of Back in Black Black IPA
- 2 tbsp olive oil

1. put the chicken in the slow cooker on low
2. add oil and spices
3. stir around until chicken is coated
4. add broth and beer
5. slow cook on low for 6 hours

Hefeweizen Gravy
Based on my hefe/witte gravy I do for Carbonades.  I wanted it to be earthier to match the fennel so I used buckwheat flour.

- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp buckwheat flour
- tbsp salt
- tbsp pepper
- bottle of Konig Ludwig Weiss

1. melt butter and flour on medium
2. add salt and pepper
3. turn down to low
4. mix in half a bottle of beer stirring until gravy
5. drink other half of bottle

Kotopoulo Stifatho: Crockpot Tuesday

Stifatho is a dish that the Ionian Islands love to make.  Usually it is made with rabbit or hare.  Here I tried to recreate the Rabbit Stifatho by using Chicken.  Stewed in the slow cooker for 6 hours and served with a Greek Salad of tomatoes, onions and cucumbers

1 whole chicken - cut up into breasts, thighs and legs
2 tbsp oil
3 small-medium onions
12 oz of baby bella mushrooms stemmed and halved
6 oz of Malbec
1 1/2 cups of veggie broth
14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
oregano
celery salt
black pepper
3 cloves of garlic


Put it into slow cooker
cook on low for 6 hours

Berry Skorthato: New England Summer Twist on a Greek Favorite

Skorthato is a traditional Greek Chicken and Potato dish. In a flavorful explosion of Mediterranean flavor, one mixes lemon, garlic and oregano over chicken and potatoes. Only the Ionian favorite, Stifatho, can challenge as my most loved Greek dish.

However, the use of the lemon seems incompatible with New England Summer for me. In Kefalonia, we had a lemon tree outside out house and in Corinth, lemon and orange trees lined the main roads and the town square. The use of lemon and the dish are distinctively tied to the area. So I asked, what New England summer flavor can challenge this. Blackberries and raspberries are the answer!

Berry Skorthato

Ingredients
1.5 lb of Gourmet Red Potatoes (These PEI perfect sized potatoes replace the Greek yellow finger potatoes
Half pint of raspberries
Half pint of blackberries
3 Tablespoons of Pomegranate molasses
1 Tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup of Shiraz
1 shot Sour Cranberry Schnapps
1 Medium red chili pepper - chopped
2 lbs of chicken - in pieces
1/2 - 1 lb chopped vegetables - chopped

1. Bring potatoes to a boil; continue to boil for 15-20 minutes
2. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)
3. In a bowl grind together blackberries and raspberries
4. Add molasses, balsamic, Shiraz, schnapps and chili pepper to berries
5. Lay pieces of chicken about a 9x13 baking pan
6. Rub chicken with half of berry mixture
7. Halve potatoes and place about the chicken - filling up the pan
8. Place chapped vegetables atop chicken and potatoes
9. Pour remainder of berry mixture evenly over the top of potatoes
10. Cover in tin foil
11. Bake 35-45 minutes