Turkey Time!

T-minus 3 days until Turkey Day! This is our first Thanksgiving in California, and we are hosting a small group of refugees who are not heading home (the Midwest, the East Coast) for Thanksgiving.  Everyone will be bringing a favorite dish and an alcoholic beverage, of course! I am really excited because, even though we won’t be with our families on this holiday, we will be sharing our family traditions. I love experiencing other traditions, especially those that are related to food! There will be plenty of food, wine and there’ll even be games!   I have been spending a lot of time preparing for the big day:  I reserved my turkey, I organized all of my recipes, and I bought all of the groceries. I have even picked up some great table linens in gorgeous Thanksgiving colors.

 

 

While all of this planning is going on, I still have a hungry husband to feed so yesterday I made one of my favorite Moroccan dishes.  With the Moroccan flavors and the nutty couscous, this dish is just perfect for a Fall meal.  This recipe makes a lot of food, so plan on eating the leftovers for lunch the next day.

 

Moroccan Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Salt and pepper
• Flour for dredging
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 red chile peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large (or 2 small) zucchini cut into half moons
• 1 large (or 2 small) squash cut into half moons
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon zest plus juice of 1 orange or ripe lemon

Directions
Flatten chicken breasts using a meat mallet and waxed paper. Sprinkle the meat with half of the spices (cumin, coriander, chili, cinnamon, salt and pepper) and then dredge in flour. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil smokes, add the meat and brown all over. Remove cooked chicken breasts to a plate and cut into small pieces. Reduce the heat a bit and add more oil, the chiles, onions, bay leaves and the remaining half of the spices. Cook to soften, 5 minutes and then add zucchini and squash. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, stock, zest and juice. Once the liquid comes to boil simmer for 10 minutes and then add the chicken back in. Reduce the heat to thicken it a little. Serve with cous cous.

 

Pistachio, Mint Cous Cous

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup couscous
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves

Directions
Toast the nuts in a saucepot suitable for rice. Remove to a food processor and finely chop. Reserve.

Add the oil and garlic to the pot and stir 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover the pot, turn off the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse-chop the mint in food processor very fine. Stir the mint and reserved ground nuts into the couscous as you fluff with a fork.

 

 

Recipes adapted from Rachael Ray

 

Happy Thanksgiving!  More to come on that!