6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 to 1 1/4 lb)
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. turmeric
dash allspice
1/4 to 1/3 c chopped figs
Arrange thighs in a single layer in a slow cooker; top with spices (adjusting all quantities to taste) and fig pieces, stirring to coat. Cook on medium about 2 to 2 1/2 hours; stir and reduce heat to lowest setting. Serve over rice, coucous, or noodles.
Adapted from: Healthy slow cooker cookbook / American Heart Assoc. (9780307888020) (although so freely it might be more accurate to say "inspired by...")
Notes and comments
The food bank often has boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which happen to be my favorite type of chicken, so I'm lucky. I particularly like them in paella, but that's enough work that it's more of a company dish, so I watch for other recipes.
This was my first experiment with this recipe, and it's a lot of cumin. It's kind of bland otherwise, so I think if I make it again I'll halve the paprika, omit the cumin, double the cinnamon, and add a small amount of ground cayenne pepper. And maybe add more figs. And some garlic and ginger -- I add garlic and ginger to just about everything. At that point it's practically Orange Cinnamon Chicken, so I'll probably just make that instead. But if you really like cumin, here's your new chicken thigh dish.
One problem, not the recipe's fault, was that one of my spices was not ground finely enough; the dish ended up slightly gritty. Maybe changing spices would fix this, or maybe you should re-grind your spices before adding them.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
18 March, 2019
03 March, 2019
Slow-cooker turkey with cranberries
skinless turkey breast half or 2 turkey breast tenderloins (1 1/2-2 lbs)
up to 1 Thsp vegetable or olive oil
up to 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced, to taste
2/3 cup port (optional)
2 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 Tbsp cornstarch
8 oz. dried cranberries
1 stick cinnamon or 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 orange or tangerine, peel on (but washed and blemishes trimmed off), thinly sliced
Trim fat from turkey if needed; place turkey in slow cooker and start it warming while you make the sauce.
Cook onions in oil until lightly browned, about 10 min. Combine port or some of the broth with cornstarch, mixing to remove lumps. Add to onions and stir well. Add remaining stock and simmer, stirring, about 7 min., until sauce thickens and becomes translucent. If using ground cinnamon, stir it into sauce now.
Pour sauce over turkey. Cover with cranberries and orange slices; add cinnamon stick if using that form. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hr., until turkey is done and sauce is thick.
Adapted fom: The gourmet slow cooker, vol. II : regional comfort-food classics / Lynn Alley. Ten Speed Press, 2006. 9781580087322
The rest of the story
Our local food bank often has turkey -- especially ground turkey, but larger chunks are frequently available. They also have a lot of chicken, but I've been trying to get more protein and iron and it seems turkey is the thing for that. So I dug around and found this turkey recipe.
Not too surprisingly, it turned out pretty similar to cinnamon orange chicken, a little less bland with the cranberries and not quite so much in need of rice or noodles under it. I wonder how it would come out with cranberry juice (real juice, not that flavored sugar-water "cranberry juice cocktail" stuff) instead of some or all of the broth. Hmm, and maybe ginger, cardamom, and/or grains of paradise with the cinnamon. When cranberry season comes around next year I'd also like to try it with fresh cranberries (by the time I finish this batch, get another suitable package of turkey, and want to make it again this season will be over). In the meantime I've got quite a lot of chopped figs....
Possibly it was supposed to be more oniony. I only used 1/2 cup of pre-chopped, frozen onions, since I consider onions more of a seasoning than a vegetable.
The food bank tends to have lots of onions in the late fall and winter, but like supermarkets they usually only have fairly large ones, much bigger than I'm going to use in one dish. I've read that it's not healthy to keep an onion once it's been cut, so I could potentially waste a lot of half onions here. So instead, I bring home several onions, chop them up while I'm hanging about the kitchen watching something cook, and stick them in the freezer. This way I have actual onions ready to go, no more bother than onion powder but a lot nicer. I'm unlikely to make stuffed onions or use the things in huge honking wedges, so that pretty much covers my onion needs. If I did decide to use larger pieces of onion, I could always start again with a new onion; the frozen ones will keep.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
up to 1 Thsp vegetable or olive oil
up to 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced, to taste
2/3 cup port (optional)
2 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 Tbsp cornstarch
8 oz. dried cranberries
1 stick cinnamon or 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 orange or tangerine, peel on (but washed and blemishes trimmed off), thinly sliced
Trim fat from turkey if needed; place turkey in slow cooker and start it warming while you make the sauce.
Cook onions in oil until lightly browned, about 10 min. Combine port or some of the broth with cornstarch, mixing to remove lumps. Add to onions and stir well. Add remaining stock and simmer, stirring, about 7 min., until sauce thickens and becomes translucent. If using ground cinnamon, stir it into sauce now.
Pour sauce over turkey. Cover with cranberries and orange slices; add cinnamon stick if using that form. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hr., until turkey is done and sauce is thick.
Adapted fom: The gourmet slow cooker, vol. II : regional comfort-food classics / Lynn Alley. Ten Speed Press, 2006. 9781580087322
The rest of the story
Our local food bank often has turkey -- especially ground turkey, but larger chunks are frequently available. They also have a lot of chicken, but I've been trying to get more protein and iron and it seems turkey is the thing for that. So I dug around and found this turkey recipe.
Not too surprisingly, it turned out pretty similar to cinnamon orange chicken, a little less bland with the cranberries and not quite so much in need of rice or noodles under it. I wonder how it would come out with cranberry juice (real juice, not that flavored sugar-water "cranberry juice cocktail" stuff) instead of some or all of the broth. Hmm, and maybe ginger, cardamom, and/or grains of paradise with the cinnamon. When cranberry season comes around next year I'd also like to try it with fresh cranberries (by the time I finish this batch, get another suitable package of turkey, and want to make it again this season will be over). In the meantime I've got quite a lot of chopped figs....
Possibly it was supposed to be more oniony. I only used 1/2 cup of pre-chopped, frozen onions, since I consider onions more of a seasoning than a vegetable.
The food bank tends to have lots of onions in the late fall and winter, but like supermarkets they usually only have fairly large ones, much bigger than I'm going to use in one dish. I've read that it's not healthy to keep an onion once it's been cut, so I could potentially waste a lot of half onions here. So instead, I bring home several onions, chop them up while I'm hanging about the kitchen watching something cook, and stick them in the freezer. This way I have actual onions ready to go, no more bother than onion powder but a lot nicer. I'm unlikely to make stuffed onions or use the things in huge honking wedges, so that pretty much covers my onion needs. If I did decide to use larger pieces of onion, I could always start again with a new onion; the frozen ones will keep.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
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