Mark's Mo'Rockin' Chicken Stew

4# chicken thighs, skinned
olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 eggplant, big cubes
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 cans diced tomatoes
garlic
smoked paprika
turmeric
coriander
marjoram
crushed mint
fennel
cumin
ginger
cilantro
seasoned salt
rice

In a large soup pan, cook the chicken thighs in the olive oil until brown. Throw in the onion and cook for a few more minutes. Layer on the eggplant and almonds and half the spices; add the tomatoes and the other half of the spices. Don't mix as you want to keep the chicken on the bottom to cook most thoroughly. Turn it down to a simmer, cover, and let it go for an hour or so. Turn on the fan, this is VERY aromatic! (I came back from the store and could smell it in the driveway!) Serve over rice.

Note on the spices: depending on your taste, you can use a lot of spice in this one. Mark probably put in a teaspoon of each. Don't worry if you don't have all the spices here, as long as you use many, you'll be fine. More spices just makes it complex taste-wise. Serves 6-8.

This "Mo'Rockin'" recipe sounds very interesting!!! Our quick blast of Indian Summer ended very abruptly, and we expect another four rainy days, so this sounds like just the ticket to warm up. Thanks for sharing!

MMMmmmmm Good!! This sounds YUMMY. Tell Chef BoyOhBoy thanks for us, Deb!

And in return for your lovely recipe, I'll post one of our favorites for this time of year:

Pumpkin-Leek Soup

1 leek, rinsed of grit and thinly sliced
2 Tbs. butter: melt in heavy skillet on medium heat & saute leek until soft.
1 C chicken broth and sauteed leek: puree in blender & return to heavy skillet on medium heat.
1 pound (455m) canned pumpkin
12 oz heavy cream (or half & half)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 C chicken broth
Whisk remaining ingredients together. Heat to simmer, then cook for 5 minutes to blend flavors.
Salt to taste.

1/4 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese: Sprinkle a little cheese on top of each serving.

If any one is interested, I also have one for Pumpkin-Coconut Bisque which has a mor exotic flavor.
Enjoy!

Oh, man, that "Mo'Rockin' Chicken Stew" - I am just sitting here DROOLING! And, if you can smell it from the driveway, that much better! My DH's passion is cooking and if he finds out we're trading recipes, he's gonna be on the BB!

And, Catherine, the soup sounds wonderful - I love "pumpkin anything" (so if you want to post the pumpkin-coconut bisque, fine by me )

That sounds luscious...we are big leek nuts. I think Mark would use soy milk instead of cream.

quote:

Originally posted by DebLindsay:
That sounds luscious...we are big leek nuts. I think Mark would use soy milk instead of cream.

That'll work, or coconut milk - the bisque recipe is quite similar:

Pumpkin-Cocunut Bisque (serves 8)

2 Tbs butter
2/3 C chopped onion (or leeks for milder flavor)
3 garlic cloves, minced
29 oz. can pumpkin
29 oz. chicken broth
4 Tsp. sugar or Splenda
1/2 tsp gorund allspice
1/2 tsp dried, crushed red pepper flakes
13 1/2 oz. can cocnut milk

Melt butter in large heavy pot over medium heat. Saute onion & garlic until golden, about 10 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients (except coconut milk), bring to slow boil, reduce heat & simmer 30 minutes to blend flavors.

Puree with hand blender, bring to simmer, add coconut milk, and season to taste with salt & pepper.

Very subtle flavors. Freezes well.
Enjoy!

Ohhhh, coconut milk, our new fave (until I look up how bad it is )...yesssss, and garnish with a few shreds of coconut. (Or eat an Almond Joy before/after )

Those recipes sound so yummy. I could probably have the Mark Stew on my diet.

Deb, don't believe everything negative you hear about coconut milk and coconut oil. I've researched it extensively and there's a lot of false data out there perpetrated by big agro/processed food types to mislead the consumer. (I'm a biologist with a family tendency toward diabetes, so nutrition is one of my "hobbies", and the technical details are interesting to me.) The real story is that coconut oil is similar in makeup to human breast milk, in that both contain MCFAs (medium chain fatty acids) and lauric acid and is used as a major component in infant formulae. Don't take my word for it - here are a few references which I found fascinating:

Dr.Mary Enig was a researcher around at the beginning of the food industry conspiracy to replace healthy, natural shelf-stable oils with cheap manufactured replacements, such as trans fats:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3D...=mary+enig&x=14&y=20

Dr. Bruce Fife is a certified nutritionst and ND
http://www.amazon.com/Coconut-Miracle-Previously-publis...id=1225483228&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/Coconut-Cures-Preventing-Treating...id=1225483228&sr=8-8

Bottom line: enjoy your coconut milk, guilt free. Coconut oil is very healthy to cook with and even has slightly lower caloric value than other fats. The body readily processes both for energy, rather than for fat storage. IMHO, having read the books...

Almond Joy for all!!

(thx)

quote:

Originally posted by DebLindsay:
Almond Joy for all!!

Mmmmmmmmm... <drool> Or Mounds....

'Cause sometimes you feel like a nut
Sometimes you don't.

Sorry I got carried away above, but misinformation spread by high profit margin industries that dangerously impact our health definitely presses my hot buttons. Could you tell???

For another interesting view on a related topic, watch KING KORN...
http://www.netflix.com/Search?v1=King%20Corn&search_sub...t.y=0&lnkce=acsEnhCk

or better still, read Dr. Michael Pollan's books:
http://www.amazon.com/Omnivores-Dilemma-Natural-History...id=1225493193&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/...id=1225493193&sr=8-1

Just FYI, stepping off my soap box and shutting up now...

King Korn was shown at the Hollywood Theatre, next to RRC. Sure opened my eyes about high fructose corn syrup...now I really look at labels and I'm amazed where it shows up. We try to avoid it if possible, and were surprised to actually see a trade group ad promoting/defending it the other night.

quote:

Originally posted by DebLindsay:
King Korn was shown at the Hollywood Theatre, next to RRC. Sure opened my eyes about high fructose corn syrup...now I really look at labels and I'm amazed where it shows up. We try to avoid it if possible, and were surprised to actually see a trade group ad promoting/defending it the other night.

HFCS is ubiquitous in most processed foods. It turns off the satiety center in the brain, so has been quite useful to fast food industry in terms of super-sizing our orders and our population. They even add it to lunch meats and prepared hamburger patties! Diabetes rates increased at the same time it was introduced into the food chain. Coincidence? I think not.

We'd all do well to check the food labels - time consuming, but necessary. I even found HFCS in a jar of grated ginger which I was going to use to save a little time in Thai cucumber salad. Had to get out the microplane and grate my own...

It's unfortunate that so many of our $$$$$ health care issues can be directly traced back to the convenience food industry.