Goose with Shallots and Clementines

We had a lovely long holiday weekend  which ended with celebrating my birthday. For Shabbat, I made a lovely, fragrant meal of slow cooked goose legs with shallots and clementines, which have just started showing up in the market. This dish is rich and fork-tender. I served it with a herb roesti that Mr BT made and steamed Brussels sprouts. A perfect dish for a sweet new year.

Goose with Shallots and Clementines

Goose with Shallots and Clementines
Ingredients
  • 4 goose legs
  • 200 g shallots peeled
  • 6 whole cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 tablespoon ras el hanout
  • 400 ml 1/2 quart vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon clear honey
  • Juice 1 lemon or lime
  • 4 small firm clementines , peeled
  • 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 190C (375F). Place the goose legs on a raised grid in one layer in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 45 minutes. Remove the goose legs and set aside. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the goose fat or olive oil into a large, wide pan (reserve the remainder of the goose fat).
  2. Add the shallots and saute until just starting to colour. Add the ras el hanout and the garlic cloves and mix well. Add the stock, honey, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Add the goose legs, cover tightly and cook over a gentle heat for 45 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the goose fat or olive oil in a frying pan, add the clementines and fry until they are glistening and starting to brown. Add to the pan with the duck and cook for a further 25 minutes until the goose is fork tender. Sprinkle the goose with sesame seeds before serving.

Chicken Hamin with Israeli Couscous and Butternut Squash

As the weather get warmer here, I like to start lightening up the dishes. My husband just returned from a two week trip where he only had fish, so I had to make a chicken dish before he started growing scales and gills. After the first successful attempt at making a hamin, I decided to try a summer recipe from Sherry Ansky’s Hamin cookbook.

This recipe just calls for chicken legs, israeli couscous, onions, and water, which sounded too bland for our taste, so I kicked it up a notch and added garlic, slices of butternut squash, Hungarian paprika, and ras el hanut. The dish was delicious and the sweetness of the butternut squash was a perfect addition. This dish can be made overnight or you can cook it for 4 hours and serve it on Friday night like I did. The best part of this dish is that you line the pan with parchment paper, so there is easy cleanup; no muss and no fuss.

Chicken Hamin with Israeli Couscous and Butternut Squash
Adapted from a recipe in Hamin (in Hebrew) by Sherry Ansky
Ingredients
  • 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
  • 1 small butternut squash
  • 1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
  • 2 large onions coarsely chopped
  • 6 whole cloves garlic
  • 2 rounded tablespoons Hungarian paprika
  • 1 rounded tablespoon ras el hanut
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 500 g 1lb Israeli couscous (ptitim)
  • 4 cups of water and another 1/2 cup
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 100C (200F) for overnight cooking or 150C (300F) for 4 hours cooking.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan that has a lid over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute until lightly brown. Add the whole garlic, paprika, ras el hanut, salt and pepper; stir for a couple of minutes. Add the Israeli couscous and lightly toast it, stirring constantly. Add the water, cover, and cook the couscous for 8 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.
  3. Meanwhile, cut the butternut squash in half vertically, keeping the peel on, and seed it removing all of the stringy parts. Then, cut the squash horizontally into 6mm (1/4 inch) slices. Set aside.
  4. Line a large clay pot, or other large roasting dish that has a cover, with parchment paper. Place half of the couscous mixture in the bottom of the pan, patting it down to make sure you have an even layer, and then add a layer of butternut squash slices. Add all of the chicken on top of the butternut squash, and then layer with rest of the butternut squash. Place the rest of the couscous mixture on top and add the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the pan and cover tightly with the lid.
  5. Place in the oven and cook overnight or for 4 hours at the higher temperature. Invert on a platter for presentation.

Spring Has Sprung

The weather is so strange; I know… global warming. I experienced 30C (86F) in Germany last week without air-conditioning and I come back to Israel and it is 22C (72F).


Spring is in full bloom here in Israel. The bougainvillea are in bloom and the wildflowers are showing their beauty. There are about 2,800 different species of flora in Israel. A great place to see some of this flora is at Ramat Hanadiv (the Hill of the Benefactor) in Zichron Yaacov. Founded by the Rothschild family, it has been open since 1954. Baron Edmond de Rothschild and his wife Adelheid are buried there.

Friday before last I decided to make a variation of a favorite of ours, Nigella Lawson’s Georgian Stuffed Chicken. This dish calls for dried cherries and rice, but I decided to add dried blueberries and substitute couscous for the rice. It was delicious. I also added a few other goodies, such as ras el hanut and pomegranate molasses.


But before I started preparing the meal, we began the late afternoon with a cocktail of Campari and freshly squeezed Jaffa orange juice.

Ingredients: I didn’t have enough pinenuts, so added some sliced almonds

Georgian Stuffed Chicken
Adapted recipe from Nigella Lawson
Ingredients
For the stuffing
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 small onions finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup couscous cooked according to the package
  • 1/4 cup dried sour cherries roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup dried blueberries
  • 1/4 cup pinenuts
  • 1 tablespoon ras el hanut or cinnamon
For the chicken
  • 1 2 kg approximately 4 lb chicken
  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Process or finely chop the onion and garlic, and add to the pan, frying over a medium heat until the onion softens and begins to color.
  2. While the onion mixture is cooking, preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
  3. Berry Mixture
  4. Add the chopped cherries, blueberries, pinenuts and ras el hanut or cinnamon and mix well. Add the fruit and nut mixture to the precooked couscous and combine well.
  5. Couscous Stuffing
  6. Spoon the fruit-studded couscous into the cavity the chickens. Place the remaining stuffing under the chicken or around the sides.
  7. Ready for the Oven
  8. Drizzle the pomegranate molasses all over top and sides of the chicken.
  9. Georgian Chicken
  10. Roast in the oven for approximately 1-1/2 hours. The skin should be golden and crispy and the meat cooked through; test by piercing the bird between thigh and body and if juices run clear, the chicken's ready.

If you do not have access to a Middle Eastern market, you can make your own ras el hanut.

Ras el Hanut
This recipe is from Paula Wolfert's "Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco". Because these spices are quite strong, Paula suggests that you grind some sugar cane in your blender after making this to get rid of the strong smell.
Ingredients
  • Recipe #1 is for those of you that have access to an excellent spice shop.
Recipe #1
  • 4 whole nutmegs
  • 10 dried rosebuds
  • 12 cinnamon sticks
  • 12 blades mace
  • 1 tsp aniseed
  • 8 pieces tumeric
  • 2 small pieces orris root
  • 2 dried cayenne peppers
  • 1/2 tsp lavender
  • 1 T white peppercorns
  • 2 pieces galangal
  • 2 T whole ginger root
  • 6 cloves
  • 24 allspice berries
  • 20 white or green cardamon pods
  • 4 black cardamon pods
Recipe #2:
  • 1/2 oz allspice berries
  • 1 oz black peppercorns
  • 1/2 oz galangal
  • 1/2 oz mace blades
  • 1-1/2 whole nutmegs
  • 10 cardamon pods
  • 1-1/2 oz dried ginger root
  • 1/2 oz stick cinnamon
  • 1/4 oz tumeric
  • 3 dried rosebuds
  • 1 clove
Instructions
  1. Place all the ingredients of either recipe #1 or #2 in a blender and grind until fine. Sift the mix and place in an airtight jar.


I served steamed artichokes and roasted cauliflower with the chicken.


For dessert, I served Iraqi date biscuits called Baba Beh Tamur. I purchased these parve biscuits at a fruit and vegetable market in Ra’anana. The sweetness comes from the date filling. I will definitely buy them again or try to make them myself.