I love attending Oraynu events. Magically a community dinner was transformed into a meaningful feast allowing me to connect with my Jewish ancestry. For this Tu B-shvat dinner I made a  new recipe that  will definitely be appearing on some of my clients’ menus over the coming weeks.

The event was punctuated by spoken word, song and a sense of connection. Here are some photos of the event and of course the recipe for my Chicken Tagine with Figs, Dates and Pomegranate.

Chicken Tagine wth Figs, Dates & Pomegranate for 8 - Serves 8

Ingredients

2    tbsp    Oil, Sunflower
4    lbs    Chicken, Thigh, Skinless, Boneless
1    lbs    Onions
2    cloves    Garlic — large, minced
¾    tsp    Cinnamon, Ground
¾    tsp    Allspice
¾    tsp    Oregano
1/3    cup    Figs — chopped
1/3    cup    Dates — chopped
1/4    cup    Raisins
1    cup    Wine, Table, Red
1/2    cup    Stock, Chicken
1/2    cup    Pomegranate juice

Instructions

On high heat, in a large frying pan, heat oi.
Brown chicken pieces on both sides, remove from pan and allow to cool slightly.
When cool enough to handle cube chicken thighs and set aside in fridge until sauce is done.
To make sauce use a large soup pot. Heat oil and sweat onions, add garlic, cinnamon, allspice and oregano and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Do not allow onions or garlic to brown. Add chopped figs, dates and raisins. Deglaze with wine, stir up bits from the bottom and reduce by about one quarter.  Add chicken stock, pomegranate juice and simmer for about 15 minutes or until dried fruits are very soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Using a blender or an immersion blender grind up about 3/4 of the sauce so that the sauce thickens and has lots of body. You should adjust the sauce consistency to your own personal taste.
Return cubed chicken to sauce and simmer for about 15 minutes until chicken is cooked. Check for seasoning (salt and pepper) and adjust to taste.
This recipe freezes well.

Sweating is sauteeing without allowing the onions to brown, they should remain pale but opaque.
Reducing is simmering or boiling to allow water to evaporate and for the flavours in the sauce to concentrate.
Blending the solids (onions, dried fruits) into the liquids allows the sauce to thicken. You should blend it up to your own taste.

Recipe Notes

Tu-B’shvat recipes traditionally include the seven species (shivat haminim): wheat, barley, grapes, fig, pomegranate, olive and date.

This chicken dish goes well served over couscous.

Tajines in Moroccan cuisine are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. They are traditionally cooked in the tajine pot, whose cover has a knob-like handle at its top to facilitate removal.

If you have a tagine simply move all of the recipe ingredients to the tagine for the last step when the chicken is returned to the sauce.

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