Tingly Spicy Stir Fry

I know these are not the most appetizing photos, but I made this in a hurry and it smelled so good that I wanted to get around to eating it as soon as possible. This is an easy way to use up veggies that need to be cooked. I had some string beans and an eggplant on hand, but other things would be delicious in this too-- broccoli, kale, spinach, chard, bok choy, etc. 

Unfortunately I've been a bad blogger lately, and I didn't write down what went into this. But it was something along the lines of 1/2lb ground beef, 1/2lb ground lamb, cubes of roasted eggplant, green beans cut into halves or thirds, shittake mushrooms, garlic and ginger; all that cooked in a sauce of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and garlic chili paste. When I took it off the heat, I mixed in some toasted ground szechuan pepper for its delicious tingly spice.

Chicken in Smoky Pomegranate Sauce

This sauce is insanely delicious-- spicy and smoky from the chipotles, and tangy and sweet from the pomegranate molasses. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients; it's ok to leave some out, and this is really easy once you have everything chopped and the chicken cleaned.

You'll need:

chicken thighs, bone-in (2 per person; I made 6)-- remove the skin & all visible fat
2 thick slices bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 anchovies, chopped
1/2 head garlic, peeled & sliced
2T tomato paste
1T fresh thyme, chopped (or 1t dried)
1t herbes de provence
2 chipotles in adobo, roughly chopped
2T soy sauce
1c red wine
1/2-1c chicken broth
1/3c pomegranate molasses

Prepare all ingredients first (chop, clean, etc).

Put bacon pieces in a cold pan. Turn the heat to low and slowly render the fat. When the pieces are crispy, remove them with a slotted spatula and set aside.

Salt and pepper chicken thighs. Dust well with flour. Turn up heat so bacon fat is hot; add chicken thighs, former skin side down. Brown well; this will take about 7-10 minutes. Turn them and briefly brown the other side. Don't burn the pan; add more oil if you need. Remove browned thighs and set aside.


Turn down heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, anchovies, salt and pepper. Stir until soft and the bottom of the pan is clean, about 10-15 minutes.

Add wine and cook until you can't smell the alcohol anymore. In the meantime, add tomato paste, thyme, herbes de provence, soy sauce, chipotles with their sauce, and return the bacon to the pan. When the alcohol has burned off, add the chicken, former skin side up, and add enough broth to come halfway up the thighs (their tops should not be covered). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook about 45 minutes, until chicken in tender.

Remove chicken and add pomegranate molasses. Stir and reduce if necessary. Return chicken to sauce; serve over quinoa.

Quinoa Risotto with leftover chicken

(Quinoa is kosher for passover-- it's a grass, not a grain!)

Heat olive oil and saute 1 small diced onion. When onion is translucent, add 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 cup quinoa. Saute, adding more olive oil if necessary, 3 minutes. Deglaze with 1/2 cup white wine. When wine is almost absorbed, slowly add 2 cups beef broth, stirring constantly, for about 20 minutes. When quinoa is cooked (should look sprouted) but still saucy, add 1 grated carrot and lots of thinly sliced shittake mushrooms; stir and cook until mushrooms are done. Add leftover chicken (I used chicken in tarragon cream sauce, recipe by Jacques Pepin), and stir until heated. Turn off heat. Add 3 cups kale, torn into small pieces (I used two different kinds-- any green would work). Add zest and juice from 1 meyer lemon, chopped fresh tarragon, and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese.