Nicole’s Shabbat Service Siddur
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Poulet au Citron et Tarragon Lemon Tarragon Chicken
Wish you could smell the aromas!
- One free–range chicken, or several boneless chicken breasts. The chicken should ideally brine for one to two days. See Let’s Talk Salt post for instructions: https://open-heart-open-hands.com/2014/03/05/lets-talk-salt/
- 1–2 lemons
- olive oil
- curry powder
- tarragon (fresh is best, but dried is okay)
- tamari/or salt
- several potatoes, sliced in half
- 1–2 onions sliced into four quarters each
- yams cut into thick rounds or quarters
- whole Shitake mushrooms
- fennel bulb cut into wedges
- carrots or other veggies can be substituted or included, all vegetables should be chopped into large sections, not fine little pieces.
Prepare/Brine Chicken and then wash surfaces with bleach water or very hot water and soap, afterwards that came in contact with the chicken. Preheat the oven to 375°–400 for a whole chicken.
In a large casserole dish or cast iron pan, place the potatoes and onions (or other veggies) in the bottom of the pan underneath and around the chicken. Put one of the onion quarters inside the chicken cavity. Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken and place one of the lemon halves inside the cavity, then sprinkle with olive oil and tamari or salt (if you didn’t brine the chicken, no salt is necessary if you brined your chicken in saltwater), curry powder and tarragon. Do a healthy amount of each and spread the herbs around the chicken to insure coverage of the whole bird. Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes–1.5 hours depending on the size of your chicken. Brush the chicken with the juices that escape three or four times during the cooking. Serve with rice and blanched veggies and a salad.
For breasts, don’t put any vegetables under the chicken, just cook the chicken breasts. Put the herbs/lemon, oil and tamari on both sides of the breasts . It’s better to marinate breasts if you can in this sauce for at least an hour or many hours, but you can make it without marinating as well. You should have some extra sauces leftover in the pan from this once cooked, just place in the oven, whether you’ve marinated or not. Cook in the oven at 375° for 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. You should turn the breasts once about halfway through cooking time. Do not cover.
Asian Cabbage Salad with Cilantro, Black Sesame Seeds,Ginger, Peanut Butter and a few other ingredients!
Ingredients: Always use organic for everything or locally sourced from your area
- one to two Asian cabbages (Sliced very thinly)
- about two inches of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or chopped very fine
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 rice wine vinegar
- splash of Mirin (Japanese Rice Wine), if you don’t have this ingredient or can’t find it, this marinade will still be good. I use Mirin in many recipes, and it’s got a great flavor. You can often find it in the alcohol section of your market or in the Asian Food Area (if your store has one).
- one tablespoon peanut butter (you can also use fresh roasted peanuts for a crunchy flavor and texture addition).
- 1/4 cup toasted black sesame seeds or white, but the black ones look much prettier
- a bunch of cilantro chopped finely
- five to six Shiso leaves chopped finely (this is a harder ingredient to find). I grow my own and love this flavor. It’s unlikely you will have this, but you may find a dried variety. I’ve never used it dry though, so I couldn’t tell you how much to use.
- juice of one to two limes or lemons
- one to two tablespoons of tamari
Combine in a small bowl or jar the sesame oil, vinegar, mirin, lime juice, tamari and ginger and mix well or shake up in the jar. Add the peanut butter and make sure it gets dissolved or blended in well. Put the chopped cabbage, chopped cilantro, chopped Shiso leaf and the toasted sesame seeds in a large bowl and mix well, then pour the dressing over this and toss well. This salad is good the next day. The flavors are a marinade for the cabbage, so it will get less crunchy as time goes by. You can garnish with fresh roasted peanuts or more cilantro. You can also experiment if you don’t have all of these ingredients and just do some combination. Enjoy!
Maren’s Summer Bean Salad
I learned this easy simple recipe from my beloved Mother in Love Maren Frank. She and I don’t like the terms “mother-in-law, daughter-in-law.” They often have negative connotations and the relationship the two of us have is one of loving kindness, shared values and supporting each other in our differences. Much like a good bean salad, the different ingredients make a great combination of flavors. I’m a spicy pepper and she’s a good tomato, or perhaps she’s a nice sharp white onion and I’m the ripe tomato. I’ll let you decide!
Ingredients: Combine all of the ingredients below in a nice glass bowl and mix gently with a spoon and then refrigerate until you are ready to eat. This dish is better served at room temperature, in my opinion, so you can always take it out 1/2 hour before your meal or make it before you are about to eat.
- One large 16 oz can of good organic garbanzo beans, my brand preference is Westbrae. If you have time and want to make garbanzo beans from scratch, that’s always better, but this salad is good with canned beans and much quicker to make this way
- Three to four good tomatoes, this time of year, I’m getting mine from Neukom Family Farms and they are incredible. Slice up the tomatoes into small squarish pieces
- One white onion, chopped very fine
- Three to five garlic cloves, pressed or chopped very fine. Remember to always take out the center part of each clove
- Sliced black olives, 1/2 a can or more depending on how much you are making
- Fresh oregano and flat leaf parsley (you can use dried oregano if you don’t have fresh, but don’t use dried parsley). Chop up finely
- Salt and Pepper to taste. Maren prefers white pepper, so when she is here I use white pepper, but when she isn’t visiting I use black pepper. This salad will taste different depending on which pepper you use.
- 1/4 cup good organic red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar or some combination of these.
- 1/2 cup or less of good organic virgin olive oil, don’t use cheap stuff for this, the salad needs a really good olive oil.
- 1/4 cup or so of pickled sliced banana peppers (these are not spicy, similar to pepperoncinis, but less piquant). My husband doesn’t like this ingredient so sometimes I leave it out, but otherwise, I think it is essential and love the little tang it gives this summer salad.
You can eat this plain or throw it over a green salad. It’s a great dish to bring to a potluck, although nobody is having those right now with Covid-19. This recipe is probably the quickest recipe in my repertoire. It takes fifteen minutes to make and if you let it sit for a half hour before serving the flavors are perfectly blended, but you can eat it right away too. It’s wonderful and keeps for two or three days in the fridge.
Thank you Maren! Enjoy!
Open Heart Open Hands 