New beginnings
are hard. I should know, trying to start again, one time more than I care to
count! But this time, there is much more hope. I'm now settling in a beautiful
place, Arcata CA, where I have a long term job at a university I'm really
enjoying, meeting and getting to know really nice people. Since I'm
Palestinian, and love cooking, I've been trying to host people here for
dinner.
Initially, it was hard, since I moved here shortly after I
dislocated my elbow in a bicycle accident in Montreal. One-armed cooking is not
easy!
But now, as my arm is doing better (can't wait to be done with
the brace!) I'm ready to resume what I love. Don't get me wrong, can't live
without cooking. So in the meantime, I have made things like Tacos, Rama noodles, sort
of cauliflower frittata, Zahra ma‘ Bied,
lasagna, Moghrabieh http://leenaskitchens.blogspot.com/2014/05/moghrabieh-palestinian-couscous-and.html,
apple cake, tomato paste, and other yummy
things. Sean kindly put up with trying most! J
So last night, I had new colleagues/friends over for dinner and
made Friekeh, a great Palestinian dish, healthy and oh so flavorful. Instead of
having to explain what that means every time, I decided it is time to blog
about it, and that way I can say, read all about it in my blog!
Friekeh is wheat that is harvested green, burnt, dried and then
cracked. It is cooked like rice (in fact, it used to be used in many dishes
that now use rice when rice was much more expensive in the Middle East).
I get my friekeh from home, made by my amazing aunt Zubieda, who
grows the wheat in her field in the Battouf Valley, picks it by hands and prepares
it like no one else can!
So although you can’t have that amazing friekeh, lucky
for you, Friekeh is the new hipster food
http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/food/move-over-quinoa-freekeh-is-the-new-wholegrain-superfood-and-its-middle-eastern
So you could easily find it in places. Amazon has several
options (one actually called hipster freekeh!). Now that you have it, here is
the recipe!
Ingredients
2 cups Friekeh.
2 lb chicken – whole cut chicken or parts you
like, preferably red meat
(a very long-lasting argument in my family is
whether it’s better with chicken or lamb- I obviously think it is chicken, most
others in my family disagree. You can try it both ways, follow the same steps,
only cook the lamb for longer).
Mixed Spices (
1 stick cinnamon
Unground/whole spices (5 allspice and pepper, 2
cardamom, bay leaf)
1 Carrot
1 celery stalk
Olive oil
Salt
Preparation
1.
Heat 2-3 ts of olive oil, and brown the chicken
2.
Add some mixed spices and the carrot and celery.
3.
Add water, cinnamon stick and whole spices (my
trick is to put them in a tea steeper so you don’t have to pick them out one by
one).
4.
The amount of water to use depends on whether
you are using a pressure-cooker or not.
For pressure cooker, cover the chicken and add
about as much. For regular pot, probably double, but keep an eye and add water
if needed.
5.
Bring to boil and let cook. If you are using a
pressure cooker, once it comes to boil let cook for 12 min. Regular pot, cook
for 45 min.
6.
Rinse the Friekeh.
7.
Separate the broth from chicken. Get rid of the
spices and vegetables.
8.
Add about 5 cups of the broth the friekeh and
cook.
Again, cooking time and amount of liquid depend
on whether you are using a pressure cooker (and the grains you have) as well as
personal preference. We like the friekeh very cooked and soft, some like it to
have a bit of a crunch. 5 cups were enough with the pressure cooker, and it
took about 8 minutes. Regular pot would take more water and about 25 minutes,
but you’ll have to keep an eye on it.
9.
Add the chicken while cooking, to give it some
of the friekeh flavor!
10. I
recommend you serve it with yogurt, goes great with it!
(http://leenaskitchens.blogspot.com/2013/09/yogurt-labaneh-and-kindness.html)
Bon Appetite صحة وهنا
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