Oh home sweet home.  For some reason I get the most homesick during the spring and fall.  Probably because there’s such a disconnect here in LA from actual seasons.  So to hold me over until my Christmas visit, I pull out some classic Robson family recipes.  My papa is a master of concocting beautiful one pot dinners… goulash, chicken ala king, stirfrys, and this marvelous orange curry.  I learned from him at a young age about creative freedom in the kitchen:  the joy of experimenting with unfamiliar cuisines and exotic spices and being bold and fearless in your cooking.  This recipe has all of these things with a couple minor Gwen tweaks, like swapping in fresh herbs, whole spices, and toasting the nuts pre-cooking for maximum flavor.  It’s a great dish to cozy up with particularly on a chilly fall evening.  Or at least as chilly as LA can get.  Happy November everyone!

Keith’s Orange Curried Chicken over Rice
Makes 4 dinner servings

A whole chicken (3-4lb), cut up
1 sweet onion, diced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup cashew pieces, toasted
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 1/2 tsp curry powder
A touch of freshly grated nutmeg
4 fresh sage leaves, finely minced or 1/2 tsp dried sage
1 packet chicken bouillon
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, defrosted or 2 cups OJ simmered over low heat until reduced to 1/2 cup
2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/8 cup reserved broth
3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1.5 cups jasmine or basmati rice
4-5 cups reserved broth

Start by breaking down the chicken.  Place in a large stock pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer over medium-low for 7-10 minutes, until chicken is just cooked through and broth is gently flavored.  Remove chicken and reserve broth.    Allow chicken to cool 20-30 minutes, then shred the meat by hand into bite-sized pieces, discarding bones and skin.

In a large saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups rice with 3 cups reserved broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and allow to steam for 20-25 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.  Turn heat off and allow rice to stand covered for at least 10 minutes.  Fluff with a fork before serving.

While rice is cooking, return your broth pan to the skillet over medium-high heat.  Melt butter, then saute onion until tender, about 7 minutes.  Add in apples, raisins, cashews, chicken, curry powder, nutmeg, sage, bouillon, and season generously with salt and pepper.    Saute 5-6 minutes until the fruit starts to get some color.

Pour in 1 1/2 cup reserved broth and the orange juice concentrate and bring to a simmer. Add the cornstarch slurry and cook 1-2 minutes, allowing the sauce to thicken.  Remember to taste again at the end and adjust your salt and pepper seasonings accordingly.  Right before serving, stir in fresh parsley.

Serve in a bowl over the warm rice and dig in.

Tonight, Firat and I were craving something simple and delicious. I’ve also been spending more time learning about Turkish dishes because I know he misses the flavors of home. I’ve been especially attached to the cookbook “Turquoise: A Chef’s travels in Turkey” by Greg and Lucy Malouf. It’s part travel memories, part photo-journal, mostly killer cookbook. What’s impressed me most about this book, is that the chefs have created recipes that replicate true Turkish flavors, while still using easy-to-find ingredients. So tonight I decided to make tomato pilaf, which has a special place in my heart, because it was the first Turkish dish Firat cooked for me when we started dating.

This recipe is crazy yum. It makes a spectacular side dish for 4 people, or, much like a risotto, can stand alone as well as a generous entree for 2. Its incredibly flavorful, considering most of the ingredients come out of your pantry. Here’s the Malouf’s recipe with just a couple tiny adjustments on my end.

Tomato Pilaf

1 cup basmati rice
3-4 very ripe roma tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped (don’t forget the trick of blanching tomatoes in boiling water for an easy peel job)
3/4 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
4 tbsp butter
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp lemon juice
1 sprig of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
Wash the rice in a bowl under cold running water. Work your fingers through it to loosen the starch off the rice. Once the water is clear, drain and set aside.

Pulse the tomatoes into a rough puree (like a salsa) in the food processor. You should get about 1 1/4 cups of tomato puree. Add enough stock to make 2 cups of liquid. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and keep at a low simmer.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the shallot and saute over medium-low heat until the shallots become soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the tomato paste, lemon zest, and thyme and stir to combine evenly (the tomato paste likes to be difficult here, so make sure there’s no lumps).

Add the rice to the pan and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, allowing all the grains to be coated in the butter. Stir over medium heat for just a couple minutes, allowing the rice to toast. Pour in the simmering tomato stock and stir to combine. This should come to a boil almost immediately since you kept the liquid hot. Cover, and cook over the lowest heat setting for 15 minutes. The grains should be plumped up and the surface will be dented with little steam vent holes. Remove the pan from heat, then slide a clean, folded tea towel under the lid and leave it to stand for another 15-20 minutes. When ready to serve, fluff with a fork, and savor the yum.