The Global Kitchen

This Turkish dish is from Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon by Claudia Roden. I love this cookbook. It's beautifully photographed, the recipes are easy and the ingredients are readily accessible at any grocery store or Middle Eastern market. The recipes are also appealing if you're cooking for someone who isn't really adventurous.

This dinner went together easily. Minimal chopping and 2 pots. I cut the recipe in half so I'd have dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. I used thighs. I just cut the skin off, trimmed the fat and cut the meat off the bone. I also cheated and didn't use butter and oil for the chicken. I just used a little bit of butter. And I didn't use as much butter in the rice as the recipe indicated. I also sprinkled it with Zatar and lemon juice.

I had a Japanese eggplant that needed to be used so I brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper and served it on the side.

Chicken With Tomato Pilaf (Tavuk Ve Domatesli Pilav)
From Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon by Claudia Roden

Serves 4
Pilaf
1 1/2 cups Basmati or long grain rice
1 lb ripe tomatoes, peeled (I didn't peel mine)
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 tsp sugar
salt and black pepper
1/2 stick butter cut into pieces

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1 tbs sunflower oil
2 tbs butter
salt and black pepper
2 tbs chopped parsley
quartered lemon or sumac

Soak rice in cold water for a few minute and drain and rinse.
Cut tomatoes into quarters and cut off stem. Puree to a liquid in a food processor. Add enough water to the tomato to make the mixture 2 2/3 cups.

Put the tomato in a sauce pan with crumbled bouillon cube, sugar, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add rice, stir, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile stir fry chicken in melted butter and oil until browned.

Remove rice from heat and stir in butter pieces until melted.

Pile rice on plate and top with chicken and cilantro. Sprinkle with sumac and lemon juice if desired.