Chicken and dates: this is uglyducklingbakery
A friend and I were texting about the Brussels sprouts grain bowl, and she said to me, “The dish tonight was perfect, but maybe almost too perfect for your tag line.” That tag line – Tastes delicious. Looks homemade – is what my cooking and this blog is all about.
You’ll never see me on the Great British Bake Off. But I hope I can share my love of food and provide inspiration for easy weeknight meals or all-day baking adventures. Either way, food shouldn’t be fussy.
Tonight’s recipe for chicken and dates is the perfect illustration of food I hope to share here. Dates in the pantry, leftover from this weekend’s cake baking, led me to Claudia Roden’s Book of Jewish Food. I have ~20 of my mother’s cookbooks, this being one, including her volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Marcella Hazan’s Classic Italian Cooking, and Craig Claiborne’s NY Times Cookbook from 1961. Claudia Roden’s cookbook is a masterpiece, showing the influence of different cultures and local ingredients as they are shared around the world.
This chicken and date recipe is also easy, perfect for a beginner cook or weeknight dinner when your kiddo distracts you with multiple games of Uno. Claudia Roden’s recipe calls for browning the chicken, which you can do if you want to, but we didn’t notice the difference. We had this over Israeli couscous, although it is traditionally served over regular couscous in Morocco. The hazelnuts just happened to be what I had on hand.
So please forgive me when you don’t see highly stylized photos in my blog. Dinner often smells too good to not to eat it immediately.
Chicken with dates
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 shallots, chopped or sub a red onion
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ginger powder
- 1 ½ cup chicken broth or water
- 6 dates, pitted
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- ¼ cup chopped nuts almonds are traditional here
Instructions
- Optional: saute the chicken until lightly browned, then remove from pan.
- Saute the shallots on low heat until soft.
- Add spices and toast until fragrant (30-60sec).
- Add the chicken broth, chicken, and some salt and pepper to the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes until internal temperature reaches 165F.
- Add dates and lemon juice and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over couscous or rice, and sprinkle with nuts.
If you make this, please comment and share a pic!
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