Chickpea and Chicken Stew for Purim

A boisterous weekend is promised with the arrival of Purim! Purim is a time of merriment, the holiday celebrating Queen Esther and Mordecai’s victory of saving the Jews of Persia from the wicked Haman. Children and adults alike dress in costumes and festivities abound.

While hamentaschen are a popular cookie to bake for Purim (when I was cooking at Hillel UW I was baking hundreds of hamentaschen at this time each year!), chickpeas are also traditional to eat. According to the Purim story, while Queen Esther lived in the court of King Ahasuerus, she ate mostly legumes so that she could maintain a kosher diet. For this reason, it is customary to eat chickpeas on Purim. As a simple snack, chickpeas are often warmed and sprinkled with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Over the past fifteen years or so, I’ve been making a chickpea and chicken stew that has become a favorite in our family. In the spirit of Purim, I include a blend of Persian-inspired spices with cinnamon, saffron and cardamom.

I begin by soaking dried chickpeas the night before I want to make the stew. Once this step is done, though, the stew is quick to prepare. The chickpeas cook along with the chicken, making it a one-pot meal (and even a possible weeknight dinner). After dicing a couple of onions and sautéing them in olive oil, I stir in the spices and chicken, followed by the soaked chickpeas, some chicken broth and a squeeze of lime. At this point, you can leave the stew to simmer while you chop a salad, steam some rice (or my new favorite, cauliflower “rice”) and open a bottle of wine.

The fragrant spices mingle together as the stew bubbles, taking you to far-away lands and filling your house with a delicious aroma. The chicken is tender and velvety, the chickpeas add a soft pop of texture and the onions melt into a luscious sauce. A bowl of stew energizes us for the Purim carnivals and hamentaschen eating yet to come. Chag Purim Sameach (Happy Purim)!

Chickpea and Chicken Stew
Serves 6

1 cup dried chickpeas
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large onions, diced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
A pinch of saffron threads
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3-4 pound organic chicken, cut into 6 serving pieces
3 cups organic chicken broth
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
Steamed rice for serving

The night before you plan to make this stew, cover the chickpeas in a bowl with water and let soak overnight.

In a large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot (I use a 5 quart size), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 7-8 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, saffron, salt and pepper and after a stir let cook for a minute. Add the chicken pieces and allow the chicken to cook and brown for a few minutes. Drain the chickpeas and stir them in. Pour in the chicken broth and lime juice and gently stir to mix. The chickpeas should be covered but the chicken may not be completely submerged – this is ok.

Bring the stew to a boil, partially cover the pot and lower the heat. Let simmer for about 45-50 minutes, until the chickpeas are soft and the chicken is tender. The stew can be prepared ahead and rewarmed before serving. Just before eating, stir in the chopped parsley and taste for additional salt and pepper. Serve with bowls of steamed rice.

Lemon Pistachio Sambusaks

It appears I have stuffed pastries on my mind this week ... not a bad thing, mind you. In fact, anything involving pastry is sublime to me, especially when filled with something scrumptious. Stuffed foods are traditional to eat for Purim (in addition to triangle shaped) so Lemon Pistachio Sambusaks are ideal for the holiday.

These savory crescents are Iraqi in origin. It seems like each culture has its own delightful stuffed pastry (such as calzones, samosas, empanadas and borekas – just to name a delicious few). Sambusaks have been enjoyed in the Middle East for centuries. They are quite a popular snack or appetizer in Israel – I once savored amazing ones at Abulafia Bakery in Jaffa.

Samusaks are filled with ground meat, chick peas, potatoes, hard boiled eggs or cheese and can include a variety of spices, herbs or seeds. They can be made with dough, puff pastry or phyllo, deep fried or oven baked.

I prefer to bake sambusaks using a pastry dough with some whole wheat flour in it. This dough is simple and easy to work with and allows you to get creative with fillings. I am rather crazy about feta cheese (my favorite is Pastures of Eden) and it’s typically the cheese for sambusaks. I like to create unique fillings so I zested and juiced a lemon to stir into my feta and yogurt mixture and finely chopped some pistachios. Topped with sesame seeds, they are pretty as well as tasty.

Sambusaks can be prepared ahead and frozen (either unbaked or baked), making it easy to bake or warm them just before serving. Served with some spicy zhoug, these flaky turnovers are crispy, cheesy, tangy and satisfying – a welcome addition to your appetizer repertoire.

Lemon Pistachio Sambusaks
Makes 20

Dough
1/2 cup olive oil (plus 1 tablespoon, if needed)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

Filling
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons plain, thick yogurt
1 lemon, zested and squeezed to yield 2 tablespoons juice
1/8 cup pistachios, finely chopped
A few grinds of black pepper

Topping
1 egg, stirred to brush on top
3 teaspoons sesame seeds (black or white)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oil, butter, water and salt. Slowly stir in the flour, stopping to incorporate fully a few times. If the dough feels a little dry, add the additional olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap while you prepare the filling.

In a medium sized bowl, mash all of the filling ingredients together until well mixed.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half, keeping one half wrapped in the bowl. Divide the half into 10 equal portions. Roll each ball of dough out into roughly a 3 inch circle. Place a generous teaspoon of filling on half and fold over to create a crescent shape (a spatula can help with lifting the dough). Pinch to seal and crimp the edges with a fork to decorate (it helps to seal, too).

Place the 10 sambusaks on the prepared baking pan. Brush the tops of each with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 25 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Serve the sambusaks warm with zhoug or za’atar to dip.

**If desired, prepare and freeze the sambusaks up to a month ahead of time (do not brush with egg). Wrap the baking pan tightly and freeze. When ready to bake, brush the tops with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Hamantaschen: Purim Is Just Around the Corner!

Get out the masks and groggers (noise makers)! Purim is a merry holiday celebrating Queen Esther and Mordecai’s victory of saving the Jews of Persia from the wicked Haman. In synagogue, we gather to hear a lively telling of the story of Esther during which we sound groggers every time Haman’s name is mentioned. It is a noisy, joyous time filled with costumes, carnivals and exuberance.

Purim also means it’s time for hamantaschen baking. Hamantaschen are scrumptious pastries stuffed with various fillings such as fruity jam, chocolate, prunes or poppy seeds (our favorite is apricot jam). Apparently Haman wore a tri-cornered hat which is why hamantaschen are shaped like triangles.

There is a lovely tradition of sharing gifts of shalach manot with others – little baskets or bags filled with fruit, nuts, candy and, of course, hamantaschen. Baking dozens of hamantaschen also gives us the chance to use up our flour before Passover begins next month.

The classic recipe for hamantaschen is much like sugar cookie dough. For the past fifteen years, though, I’ve been baking flaky, light hamantaschen using a simple dough recipe I found in our local Jewish newspaper. It contains only three ingredients - cream cheese, flour and butter - and yields a rich, flaky pastry similar to rugelach, a favorite cookie of mine.

Since the dough does not have any sugar, it balances nicely with the sweet fillings. This tender dough tends to pop open easily when baking, so be sure to pinch the corners tightly when you seal them. In fact, I may go sneak a couple of popped ones myself right now ...

Chag Purim Sameach (Happy Purim)!

Hamantaschen
From Naomi Arbit via the Jewish Transcript (now the JT News)
Makes 40 cookies

1/2 pound cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
Your favorite fruit jams and/or chocolate discs for filling

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. On low speed, slowly beat in the flour a little at a time until a dough is formed. Shape the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour a surface to roll the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut off 1/4 portion of it.

Have a small bowl of water ready. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to roughly 1/8 inch thickness. Using a drinking glass or round cookie cutter, cut the dough into 2 1/2 inch circles. Place a few chocolate discs or a teaspoon of jam in the center of each circle. Dip your finger in the water and run it around the perimeter. Bring the edges of dough together to form a triangle around the filling and pinch the 3 corners together tightly to seal.

Place 10 or so cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and just starting to look a little golden. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool before indulging in them. Repeat baking until all the cookies are done.