Thanksgiving dinner has always been my most favorite holiday meal to cook, as well as eat.
For me, a traditional meal that includes a delicious variety of carbohydrates all at once is heaven! On a more meaningful level, the abundance of food that we share with those we love makes us more mindful of how much we have to be thankful for.
On Nov. 4, I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful event held at a private home on Mercer Island, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle through its partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI).
The Jewish Federations of Tucson, Ariz., Phoenix, Seattle and Israel have formed a partnership called TIPS, which has had a committed and rewarding relationship with two small and often neglected areas of Israel: Kiryat Malachi, a development town of 22,000 immigrants or children of immigrants; and Hof Ashkelon, a rural area of 12,000 residents on the Gaza border stretching north.
Kiryat Malachi is a hard-working, ethnically mixed community and one of Israel’s most economically challenged regions.
In May, TIPS began a project working with a group of women from diverse cultures living in Kiryat Malachi. These Moroccan, Tunisian, Yemenite, Iraqi, Kurdish, Ethiopian and Bukharan women are all connected by their passionate love of cooking.
Throughout a 14-week course, the women were mentored in business, how to cook communally, and public speaking, forming close, trusting relationships in the process. The hope and vision of this project is to empower these women to develop a cooperative food business in Israel, enabling them to better financially provide for their families.
At the event that I attended, which was one of eight held from Nov. 1-8 throughout Seattle, I met three of these remarkable women: Sima from Morocco, Rina from Iraq, and Chilot from Ethiopia. Communicating through their translators, they touched and inspired us as they shared their extraordinary life stories and delighted us with an abundant variety of delicious dishes that they had spent the entire day preparing.
It was a profoundly moving experience for all who attended, as it reinforced our awareness and deepened our gratitude for all our blessings. To learn more about this project and other supportive work that TIPS is doing, please visit www.JewishInSeattle.org.
Prior to leaving the event, we were all given a cookbook named after the project, “Ethnic Flavors of Israel.” It contains the personal stories of seven women from the group who traveled to the United States for these community events.
Because most of us are always looking for new and interesting ways to serve chicken, I’ve chosen this Ethiopian recipe that is uniquely flavorful and easy to prepare. To make it easier to follow, I’ve added some instructions that might have gotten lost in translation; otherwise, this is the exact recipe.
Ethiopian Chicken in Lemon Sauce
Serves 8 (by U.S. standards, it serves 3-4)
2 ½ pounds of chicken legs
Lemon juice from one whole, fresh lemon
3 onions, sliced
1 whole head of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon, sliced
Salt, ground chili pepper, ground black pepper, ground white pepper and ground turmeric. (Because no measurements were given, I just sprinkled these spices liberally over both sides of the chicken.)
¼ – ½ cup water
Instructions:
Wash the chicken under cold water and pat dry. Marinate the chicken in the lemon juice for at least 15 minutes, turning each piece at the halfway mark. In a pan large enough to hold all the chicken, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil on medium high until softened; lower heat to medium-low. Sprinkle the chicken with the spices to cover thoroughly on both sides and rub in. Place the chicken, one teaspoon of the lemon juice, and all the lemon slices in the pan with the onions and garlic. Add just a small amount of water, about ¼ to start, to cover the bottom of the pan and prevent sticking. Cover the pan and cook for about one hour or less on medium-low, turning the chicken several times while adding very small amounts of water, if needed, to prevent sticking. As it slowly cooks, the onions, garlic, juice from the lemon, and the spices all blend together beautifully to make a delicious light sauce that is not overly spicy, despite the amount of ground peppers. The chicken steams in the covered pan, making it juicy and fall-off-the-bone tender.
The Thanksgiving meal is where the turkey is no doubt the main star, but the ensemble cast of yummy side dishes really does carry the whole show. Due to the variety of heavier dishes such as mashed potatoes, yams, and — at my home — two kinds of stuffing, I look for opportunities to lighten up a dish without taking away its pizzazz. One way to do that is leaving the cream sauce out of the green beans and substituting the fried onion topping with sautéed shallots and toasted almonds for extra flavor and texture. I’ve added some Japanese Sake cooking wine, called Mirin, to enhance the flavor with a little sweetness. Here’s a favorite all year-round recipe that is great served at Thanksgiving. If you can’t find the smaller French beans, called haricots verts, the regular ones work perfectly well.
String Beans with Shallots and Toasted Almonds
Serves 6
1 pound fresh French or regular string beans
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium whole shallot, sliced
¼ cup Mirin (found in the grocery section)
¼ – ½ cup almonds, slivers or slices, toasted
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Toast almonds in a non-stick sauté pan on medium and stir until light brown, or purchase them already toasted. You can do this step a week ahead and store in the refrigerator.
Wash the string beans and remove their tough ends. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the beans or steam them: 1 ½ minutes for haricots verts and 3 minutes for regular size. You want them to be crisp, tender and still bright green. Do watch this step carefully because even the shortest amount of extra time can over-cook a vegetable and ruin its fresh taste. Be sure to drain the beans right away, then immerse them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. This step can be done a day or two ahead; store in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature when ready to prepare.
Heat the butter and oil in a large pan and sauté the shallots for about 5 minutes on medium to medium-high until they soften and start to turn light brown. Stir in the mirin, covering all the shallots and cook for another 2 minutes or until the mirin cooks down to a sweet glaze. Add the string beans, tossing well, careful to coat the beans and not cook them more. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss with toasted almonds.
In my opinion, the most important side dish of the Thanksgiving meal is, hands down, the stuffing. Traditional bread stuffing is my son’s favorite part of the meal, so year after year I prepare it the same way that he loves it. Because I have a few cousins who are allergic to wheat gluten, I also serve a delicious cornbread stuffing. I’ve found gluten-free boxed mixes at QFC, but stores such as Whole Foods, P.C.C. or Madison Market in Seattle typically have a larger variety. If you don’t have an intolerance to gluten, use any cornbread, which you can purchase already made.
Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing
Cornbread from an 8”-by-8” baking pan (cut up in small cubes)
2 large leeks or about 2 – 2 ½ cups (small slices cut in half, using the white and light green part only; discard the darker end)
¾ cup celery, sliced into small pieces
1 cup corn kernels (frozen is fine)
¾ cup toasted, shelled pumpkin seeds (I purchase mine at Trader Joe’s)
½ cube butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth (warmed on stove)
2 eggs, beaten
¼ teaspoon ground chili powder
¼ to ½ teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
In a large bowl, place the cut-up cornbread. In a 12-inch pan, melt the butter, add the oil and sauté the celery and leeks on medium to medium-high until the leeks are soft and tender. Mix the corn kernels, pumpkin seeds and seasoning into the pan and stir well for about a minute. Add this mixture to the bowl of cornbread and blend thoroughly. Add the warm chicken broth: ½ cup to begin with. It needs to be moist enough that it begins to stick together. Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste preference, then stir in the beaten eggs. Place in a greased baking dish, cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for half an hour, then uncovered for another 15 minutes. If you find that it’s too moist, bake a little longer. If it’s too dry, add some more chicken broth.
Enjoy! May you have a wonderful and meaningful Thanksgiving.
Cynthia Shifrin can be reached by e-mail at cyns0117@aol.com.
