Two members of the Temple Ahavat Achim decided to collect all of the favorite family recipes to create a cookbook in order to help raise money to rebuild their temple. It is also a way to preserve and share their favorite recipes. This recipe is one of the ones that co-editor Irma Cohen decided to cook for Food Columnist Heather Atwood. The traditional spring ingredients are enhanced with turmeric to give it a Persian flavor.
1 cup coarsely chopped dried apple rings
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup hot water
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup matzoh meal or flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. canola oil, separate
1 onion, chopped
1 cup fresh chives, chopped
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1. Combine dried apples, cranberries, and hot water. Let stand 20 minutes. Do not discard water.
2. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.
3. Place matzo meal or flour into a large baggie. Add chicken and shake to coat. Discard meal or flour.
4. In a soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium high heat. Add half of chicken and cook, gently turning until golden. Remove from pot. Repeat with remaining chicken.
5. Afterward, in same pot, add 1-tablespoon oil, onion and cook until onion is translucent.
6. Add chives, parsley, mint, and turmeric. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
7. Add broth, apples, cranberries, and soaking water from cranberries and apples.
8. Bring to a boil, then simmer 5 minutes.
9. Return chicken to pan; simmer 10 minutes more.
Serving suggestion: Serve with basmati or your favorite rice.
Recipe courtesy of Our Best Recipes, Temple Ahavat Achim Cookbook, 2009.
Irma is Co-Author and Co-Editor along with Connie Ross, "Our Best Recipes," produced by Temple Ahavat Achim, Gloucester, MA. Irma, like many others, always thought it would be a good idea to create a cookbook of treasured and traditional Jewish recipes for all to share. Everyone is always asking for recipes anyway, she reasoned. "We all think of ideas," said Cohen. "But these meals are so spectacular and I thought we've got to share these recipes. "After we eat, we always say 'isn't that a great recipe?' One day I said to my friend, we've got to make a cookbook. "It's not so easy to do," she conceded. "It took about a year to get everybody's recipe. But we're excited with the result."
When Cohen, a retired occupational therapist, raised the idea, Connie Ross immediately offered to help. The duo became the co-authors and co-editors of the book, which contains 290 recipes in its 160 pages.
