chicken thighs – Simply Splendid Food

Once you experience the delight of this savory sweet and sour flavor combination, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. Where pomegranate and walnut trees grow in abundance, you will see Persians lining up to have their favorite stew …still today! ( Note: Mamma Persia’s recipe uses plums instead of cane sugar or other subtitute sugars for sweetness !!!)

This is not a Tuesday night after work stew. Its for Saturday or Sunday afternoon when you can savor the flavour (especially with the 2 hour cook time). You will not find this recipe online. I looked. It came from a Persian woman. HER FAMILY’S FACES LIGHT UP when they hear ..dinner is ‘Fesenjoon‘. Have an early dinner with family and friends! The No#1 popular meal today is Fesenjoon!!!

Fesenjan~Fesenjoon Stew Recipe

Servings: 8
Time: prep time:20 mins cook time: 2 hrs
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients
▢ 3 ½ cups chopped walnuts (300 gm)
▢ 8 (2 pounds) bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed ( you may use ground meet (a mixture of beef & lamb) 300 gm.
▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
▢ 1 medium onion, finely diced
▢ 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
▢ Fine sea salt to taste
▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
▢ ½ teaspoon saffron threads, ground
▢ ¾ cup pomegranate molasses*, plus more as needed (one cup)
▢ Dried plums ( 8) plus more as needed [this is your sugar substitute]
▢ Pomegranate seeds, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
1.. Grind the Walnuts: Finely grind 3 ½ cups of walnuts in a food processor until they start to look like sand that clumps together. Do not over process. You don’t want to end up with walnut butter.
2.. Toast the Walnuts: Place dry non-stick skillet over medium heat. Lightly toast walnuts, stirring continuously for a few minutes until you can smell the aroma from the ground nuts, making sure not to burn them. Pour toasted ground walnuts into a bowl and set aside until ready to use.
3.. Cook Onions: Take a large stockpot or Dutch oven with a lid and set over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When olive oil glistens, add 1 finely diced onion. Cook onions until they start to caramelize and turn golden brown. Then add 1 teaspoon turmeric (to taste) and stir into onion mixture.
4.. Cook Chicken Thighs: Add chicken thighs and sear for a few minutes on each side. Pour in 3 cups water and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low to allow stew to simmer for 10 minutes. Then remove chicken and set aside.
5.. Add the Ground Walnuts: Pour ground walnuts into the simmering cooking liquid and stir. Place the lid back on the pot and simmer the walnut mixture for 1 hour. Stir occasionally throughout to make sure walnuts don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. After the cooking time the walnut sauce should have thickened, darkened in color until its deeply golden like tahini or honey and there will be a layer of walnut oil on top.
6.. Bloom Saffron, add Pomegranate Molasses: In a small bowl add 1 tablespoon of water. Using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder add the ½ teaspoon of saffron threads and grind. You should end up with about ¼ teaspoon ground saffron. Add the ¼ teaspoon of ground saffron to the 1 tablespoon of water. Into the pot with the walnut mixture, add ¾ cup of pomegranate molasses and bloomed saffron. Stir to combine.
7.. Add Chicken, Simmer and Season: Add chicken back into stew. Add plums here. Simmer for 45 minutes or until the meat is falling off the bone. The stew will be a rich dark brown and the oil from the walnuts will form a layer on the stew. Stir, season and taste. Adjust sweetness, sourness and seasoning to taste.
8.. Serve the Fesenjan: Ladle the fesenjan into a serving dish and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds to garnish. Serve with rice, Greek yogurt and a side salad.
*Directions for Pomegranate Molasses
1. Fill a saucepan with the juice and bring it to a low boil. Reduce the heat so the liquid will stay at a low boil, and let the juice cook down until you have a scant cup of thick, syrupy liquid. This will take about an hour, and it will thicken up more if you cook longer.

*What’s in Pomegranate Molasses?

Despite the name, pomegranate molasses does not contain any added sugar, and is made by naturally reducing pomegranate juice down to a thick syrup. That’s it! No other ingredients! Nice and healthy! Some people add sugar…don’t be fooled!

Wild ducks roamed in abundance. In ancient Persia, ducks and pomegranates were symbols were a perfect pairing. Makes sense when you look at this gorgeous stew! Persian princes ate this dish regularly. Those jeweled pomegranate seeds play a vital role in numerous Iranian dishes. The most popular and enticing dish for many Persians (and me) is fesenjan!

“Joanna’s Vegan Corner”

The classic Iranian sweet-sour sauce works as well with veg as it does with poultry. Instead of chicken use: * optional -mint leaves garnish

* 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks
*1 large floury potato, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks
* ½ celeriac, cut into 4cm chunks
* 400g brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved *fresh mint leaves (optional)

A Meal Fit For A King and Persian Princes!

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MEMORIES OF THAILAND
There are many recipes for chicken and chicken thighs. I really liked Linda’s “Honey Thigh Recipe” from the Fabulous Fare Sisters. Linda wrote that she would like to see my version of her Honey ~”Thai” Thigh Recipe” after I commented on Linda’s Yummy honey Thai chicken recipe. . . .from LINDA: Thank you! Hope you give it a try – would love to see your version! Being a lab rat, I enjoyed experimenting with this chicken recipe; originating from Thailand. I prepared Linda’s wonderfully tasty chicken thigh dish. The selection of spices was too good! I did not adjust the original recipe. The great flavours of Turmeric, chives basil, ginger and soy sauce were so good already. You don’t want to change something that is already spectacular. The only variation I made was in the added honey; used for sweetness and caramelization.

Memories of Thailand!

MY TEST KITCHEN
I made 3 versions of this “dish” by altering the method of adding sweetness to this dish. I wanted to see if there was any change in the flavour and the caramelization.
I made my first version almost the same as the original Fabulous Fare Sisters recipe. (on March 10, 2016). In my version I used green onions instead of chives. I doubled up on the turmeric, basil and ginger since I am fortunate to live near “St. Lawrence Market” where I am able to get fresh ginger and turmeric along with fresh basil all year round. I grow my basil in the summer. The fresh turmeric is not as common as fresh ginger from local supermarkets here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I was very generous with the cilantro. I used 1/4 cup of cilantro instead of a few leaves since I like it so much!
I made the second version and added the honey at the end, with one tablespoon of soy sauce glazed on top to see if the flavour and caramelization was affected. I assumed that the caramelization would be less.
I made a third version with two tablespoons of stevia substituted for the honey and used chicken legs.

All Natural, Healthy Stevia read more from godshalingplants.wordpress.com

All versions were marinated for 24 hours. I shared my Thai chicken with my friends, neighbour and the concierge in my building. The concierge is very please that I include him in my test kitchen.
RESULTS
The results surprised me a little. The first version was good. I had thought that the second version would have less caramelization. It did not. It was the same as the first. If the caramelization is too much and carbon is formed then this is not very healthy. The third version with the stevia was just a little too sweet. I would perhaps change it to 1 tablespoon of Stevia instead of two tablespoons.
THE VOTE WAS UNANIMOUS!
All the critics favoured the version that had the honey and soy sauce glazed on top at the very end. The sweetness of the honey was enjoyable but it did not permeate through the entire dish. This gave a pleasant contrast between the sweet and the savory. It was the winner with everyone here!

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RECIPE
HONEY THAI THIGHS
INGREDIENTS
6-8 bone-in skinless chicken thighs ( or bone-in or legs)
1 tablespoon chopped green onions
1 teaspoon grated fresh turmeric (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon grated ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 limes
1/4 cup honey (or 2 tablespoons stevia)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves.

Ingredients for the chicken thighs on the left and chicken legs with stevia on the right

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Season the chicken with the chives, turmeric, basil, ginger, salt, pepper, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce,
2. Zest the lines and squeeze the lime juice over the chicken.
3. Drizzle with the honey and add cilantro.
4. Allow to marinade for 10 minutes(up to 24 hours).
5. In a large skillet over medium high heat, cook the seasoned thighs 6-10 minutes on each side until cooked through.
6. If using bone-in or legs cook 2 more minutes on both sides.
7. Test to an internal temperature of 165 degrees away from the bone. Serve and garnish with more cilantro leaves.

Chicken thighs that had honey glaze on the left and chicken with honey in the marinade on the right

Chicken legs in stevia marinade cooking

Chicken thighs and legs garnished with cilantro

I would like to thank the talented Fabulous Fare Sisters for their delicious recipe . The challenge was truly interesting and made me consider all options to improvise and test this recipe. The recipe was wonderful. Everyone enjoyed it. The version that had the same amount of honey as in the original recipe but used as a glaze was the winner with my group of taste testers. Many thanks to them as well and I hope that everyone keeps cooking happy and healthy.