Chicken Epiphany
I’ve always been more of an “artistic” cook than a “scientific” one. When it comes to recipes, I favour those which I can adapt to the ingredients I have on hand and my own taste for flavours rather than those which require steadfast rule-following in order to turn out. Naturally, this results in the occasional how-shall-we-say… dud dish? But for the most part, it makes the daily task of making meals way less stressful, and more like an act of creation than of re-creation.
Tonight, I dusted off an old “recipe” that we hadn’t had in a while, one that I named “Chicken Epiphany” on a whim when my friend Leanne asked for me to share it. I remember flipping through a culinary magazine at a doctor’s office years ago and finding a very complicated recipe for an Indian-inspired dish. I memorized the ingredient list and then tried out a much simplified variation of it at home. It was a great success, so I thought I might share it with you here, as once again I am miserably sleep-deprived and it’s either this or nothing for a post today. I’ll try to include some actual measurements for the more “scientific” of you chefs. 😉
Chicken Epiphany – a blend of sweet-salty-spicy served on Basmati.
Chicken Epiphany
- 1-ish tbsp. oil (canola or vegetable or even olive is fine)
- chopped onion or leek (enough for about 1/2 – 1 cup, depending on your taste)
- 2 cloves crushed garlic (or more/less, to your taste)
- 2-3 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized cubes
- salt and pepper (~1/2 tsp. each, or to taste)
- 1-ish cup shredded carrot (I use the large holes on my box grater)
- 1-ish cup shredded zucchini (see above)
- 1 cup strong apple cider (add two pkgs. of mix to 1 cup of boiling water OR use 2 cups fresh apple cider, but reduce it – i.e. boil it down – by half ahead of time OR use 2 cups reduced apple juice and add 1/2 tsp. each of ground clove, cinnamon, and ginger OR use 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate + 1/2 cup water + spices… see what I mean about adapting to what you have on hand?)
- 1-ish cup raisins
- 1-ish cup shelled pistachios
- 1 spoon (you choose the size, to your taste) spicy garlic paste – I’ve used both “Kashmiri Masala” and “Tandoori Curry” with success… If you haven’t got anything on hand like this on hand, you’ll have to check out the Indian section of your market
Put some rice on to cook – I like to use Basmati for this, but I’m sure anything you have on hand will work. Mix the garlic paste/curry into the hot apple cider, add the raisins, and set aside. In a big skillet, warm oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion/leek and saute until softened. Add crushed garlic and cook for half a minute more. Push off to the sides of the pan and add the chicken. Cook until no longer pink inside and starting to turn golden all over. Mix the chicken with the onion/leek and garlic in the pan, and add the salt, pepper, shredded carrot, and shredded zuchini and stir. Mix in the apple cider-curry-raisins and let cook until the liquid is nearly gone, stirring every so often. Mix in the pistachios. Serve over rice.
Voila. Complicated flavours without a complicated recipe. I can hardly wait for left-overs tomorrow!
