What do you Eat?

Here is question we get often. Main foods here are: Rice, rice and chicken, rice and lamb with yoghurt sauce, kebbeh, falafel, shawerma (Turkish), kebab (Turkish), and then there is Circassian Chicken. Not what you are used to really, and not something you find often, but a great dish which you can make in the West if you like.

Here is the recipe:

This dish is one of the classical masterpieces of Turkish cuisine, and is served on special occasions. You can substitute olive oil for the walnut oil if desired, although the taste will be slightly different. Serves 4-6

For the chicken stock and chicken:
2-3 lbs chicken thighs and legs (or 1 whole chicken, cut up)
4-5 cups water
1 onion, quartered
1 medium stalk celery, leaves and stems removed
1 medium carrot, peeled and quartered
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 sprig parsley

2 cups uncooked rice

Walnut sauce
2 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed
2 Tbl unsalted clarified butter
1 sm Spanish onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbl paprika
1 tsp ground red pepper (AKA cayenne, pure red chile powder)
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Salt


Finishing touches
2 Tbl walnut oil
2 tsp paprika
2 Tbl fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
Walnut halves

1. Place chicken, vegetables, salt and pepper in water in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about an hour. Remove chicken and let cool. Meanwhile, strain the broth and discard vegetables (and neck, if applicable). Reserve about 2 cups of the chicken stock and set the rest aside for another use.

2. Make rice according to package instructions.

3. To make the walnut sauce, soak the bread in a little bit of the chicken stock (maybe 1-2 Tbl), then sqeeze to dry and crumble into a small bowl. Set the bread aside. In a small saucepan or skillet, heat the clarified butter over med low heat, add the onion, and cook gently for about 3-5 minnuted until onion is soft but not brown. Add the garlic, paprika, and ground red pepper. Remove the saucepan from heat and set aside.

4. In a food processor or blender, finely grind the walnuts. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock, the onion mixture, and crumbled bread. Season with salt and blend to make a smooth sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more of the cooking liquid (I usually end up using the 2 cups of chicken stock).

5. Remove skin from the chicken and de-bone. Place shredded chicken into a large bowl and add the sauce; mix well (you might need to add a little more chicken stock at this point too). Place cooked rice on a serving platter and top with the chicken mixture.

6. To prepare the garnish, warm the walnut oil in a small saucepan and stir in the paprika. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and decorate with the walnut halves.

From this rather obscure blog.