Chicken with Dates for Rosh Hashanah

Welcome to the first ever Jewish Holiday Blog Party, hosted by Jessie of Taste and Miriam of Overtime Cook, and sponsored by Kitchen Aid! As you may know, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year is coming up and Jewish bloggers from all over the world are celebrating with all kinds of twists on traditional Rosh Hashanah foods.

I also want to share how special today is. 8 years ago today we swam in a shallow ocean in Kona, Hawaii, my true home. It was Labor Day weekend that year as well and the sun was just about to set. I had no idea what was going to play out but I knew something was “fishy” to say the right words. Joe had been acting funny days prior and I honestly could not grasp onto why. Boy am I naive. Just like any other day when we still lived in Hawaii, we kept our towels in the back of the car and always had our bathing suits handy. We changed right by the open car doors before dunking ourselves in  for a sunset dip and I figured it would be just like any other beautiful day in Paradise. Joe said “Why don’t you swim over there?” And me acting coy and silly I hesitated wondering why. I turned and there it was, glistening.  My ring sitting in a black velvet box propped onto rocks. Water slowly cascading and the sun setting. Yes…it was beautiful.

And even though I didn’t make him chicken with dates 8 years ago today, I thought this would be a perfect way to start the New Year, with something sweet and celebratory. 

Giveaway!

Chicken and dates was born last week when I wanted to find a way to use the opened jar of date syrup I have leftover. I have been dieing to use it and thought a savory/sweet dish would be fun, especially since I never combine the 2. I browned the chicken and then stewed it with red wine, chicken stock and date syrup. The outcome was a tender and moist chicken with hints of smokey sweetness. A Ferraro creation that will for surely keep.

Method:

1) Pat chicken dry and season well with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and remove excess. In a large dutch oven or pot, drizzle with enough olive oil to coat bottom and brown chicken on each side. Reserve chicken to plate.

2) Add carrots and onions and saute in same olive oil until onions brown, cover. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add garlic, turmeric, cumin, red pepper and saffron and cook for another 2 minutes.

3) Place chicken back into the pot and add 2 cups of chicken stock, 1 cup of red wine and 2 Tb of date syrup. Bring to a boil and reduce to a constant simmer. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through and tender, about 40 minutes.

4) When chicken is done, remove to a platter and add dates to soften. Bring sauce to a rapid boil to reduce, about 5-7 minutes. Plate chicken with sauce on top and garnish with fresh parley.

Challah and Bread: