The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah is just a few days away! A time when…
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!
To kick off the celebration, Levana Kirschenbaum is giving away a copy of her fabulous new book, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen to three lucky winners. To enter, leave a comment on this post. Limit one entry per reader per blog so click over to the other participating blogs below for your chance at additional entries! Giveaway ends 5 am eastern time on September 11th, 2012.
Prize is sponsored by Levana and available to readers from all blogs participating in the Rosh Hashanah Blog Party. Prize can only be shipped within the US.
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 the sauce soften. Bring sauce to a rapid boil to reduce, about 5-7 minutes. Plate chicken with sauce on top and garnish with fresh parley.
Chicken with Dates for Rosh Hashanah
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken legs and thighs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 onion sliced
- 1 cup carrots chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cummin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Pinch of saffron
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup red wine
- Fresh parley for garnish
- 1/2 cup dried dates cut in half
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
This is the first of hopefully many exciting Holiday Blog Parties, so if you would like to join in the fun, please email holidayblogparties@
Stop by and check out some of these amazing Rosh Hashanah themed recipes on the following blogs:
Challah and Bread:
Marlene of The Jewish Hostess made Apple Challah
Amanda of The Challah Blog made Pomegranate Challah
Shelly of The Kosher Home made Apple, Honey and Pomegranate Challah!
Sides, Salads and Starters:
Sarah of Food, Words, Photos made Tzimmes (Rosh Hashanah Carrots)
Tali of More Quiche, Please made Roasted Beets and Butternut Squash
Roberta and Lois of Kosher Eye made Simanim Salad
Chanie of Busy In Brooklyn made Pomegranate Coleslaw
Rivki of Life in the Married Lane made Super Salad
Hannah of Cooking Manager made Beets Marinated with Ginger and Garlic
Sina of The Kosher Spoon made Pomegranate, Almond and Raisin Couscous
Shulie of Food Wanderings made Rosh Hashanah Salad
Hindy of Confident Cook-Hesitant Baker made Warm Roasted Beets with Farro
Sarah of Kosher Street made Sweet Potato Apple Tzimmes
Main Dishes:
Jessie of Taste made Smoked Salmon
Samantha of The Little Ferraro Kitchen made Chicken with Dates
Michele of Kosher Treif Cooking made Coconut Chicken Strips with two dipping sauces
Melinda of Kitchen Tested made Key Lime Glazed Duck
Stephanie and Jessica of The Kosher Foodies made Chicken Braised in Pomegranate
Liz of The Lemon Bowl made Beef Brisket
Estee of Anyone Interested? made Easy Breazy 5 Minute Brisket
Desserts and Drinks:
Miriam of Overtime Cook made Mini Apples and Honey Tarts
Laura of Pragmatic Attic made Fresh Ginger Honey Cake
Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen made Honey Caramel Apple Galette
Danielle of Hugs and Cookies xoxo made The World’s Best Rugelach
Amy of What Jew Wanna Eat made an Apple and Honey Cocktail
Nick of The Baking Process made Apple and Date Honey Squares
Lisa of The Monday Morning Cooking Club made Honey Chiffon Cake and Traditional Honey Cake
Leah of Cook Kosher made Pomegranate Ice Cream
Nossi of The Kosher Gastronome made Non-dairy Key Lime Cheesecake Bar with Key Lime Caramel
My husband is a date fiend. He would LOVE this!
This looks soooo good! Thanks for participating!!
This might be just the use for the dried dates I have in my pantry!! Yum!!! PS: Can you update the links? Mine is wrong..thanks sista!!
Awwwww…. Great story! And great recipe! Us Foodies use Elul as a time to study, reflect, and find Rosh Hashanah recipes! So happy you shared and created this beauty!
This sounds so deliciously simple, it’s a definite contender for Rosh Hashana lunch! Thank you for the suggestion, I’m loving this blog party.
What an awesome story! Congrats to both of you…I love one pot meals and this chicken looks mighty tasty!
Great idea! I love dates.
This looks fantastic! I love the use of dates in this recipe!
Such a sweet story and a great sweet recipe to start the new year!
That looks so delicious!
What a great recipe. Love the step by step photos.
thanks for this post!
Mahalo Gail! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your engagement story, what a beautiful setting to mark the start of your lives together!
This dish looks fabulous! We are a mixed family, a little of everything, and we try to celebrate all sides of our family with food. It is the one thing that unites EVERYONE!!
Cheers!
Eileen
I am definitely going to try this recipe. I am always looking for new chicken recipes! Thanks.