In all the cookbook presentations I've attended in the last few years, I never heard a dish get so many raves as Faye Levy's fesanjan.
This Persian dish of chicken in walnut and pomegranate sauce (at the top) appears in two of her cookbooks: "Feast from the Mideast" and "1,000 Jewish Recipes."
It was one of seven dishes set out for tasting when Faye appeared at Melissa's Produce to talk about Middle Eastern cuisines. Although the chicken stole the show, the others were very good too. They were:
Cauliflower baba ghanoush, a version of a dish usually made with eggplant.
A spinach, yellow squash and grilled pepper dip with yogurt, which had a wonderful smoky taste.
Matbuha, a roasted pepper and tomato salad/dip.
A diced vegetable salad with sumac, pine nuts and olives.
Majadra, or lentils and rice with sautéed mushrooms.
And a citrus-yogurt cake with honey and walnuts, which evoked almost the same rapture among tasters as the chicken. A recipe from "Feast from the Mideast," the cake was turned into cupcakes for the lunch at Melissa's.
No wonder the food was good. I've watched Faye in action on many occasions, and I've never met anyone who digs so thoroughly into how a dish is prepared, no matter how ordinary it may be.
She has written 23 cookbooks, some of them in Hebrew and French, plus zillions of articles for Bon Appétit, The Los Angeles Times, The Jerusalem Post and other publications. And this is only a small part of her achievements.
Her husband Yakir (above) works with her, photographing and recording her appearances and the events she attends.
Faye met Yakir in Israel and learned to cook there. Having lived and traveled in the Middle East, she knew how her audience could duplicate some of the same experiences in southern California, where she now lives.
They could, for example, eat a tremendous variety of Middle Eastern food in Anaheim's Little Arabia, where restaurants offer sumptuous feasts to break the daily fast during Ramadan. And she suggested visiting Persian bakeries to try breads such as sangak and barbari.
And, of course, they can cook from "Feast from the Mideast," the book on which her presentation was based. It's at the right in the photo.
Then they watched her demo two of her recipes, first the wildly popular dish of eggs in tomato sauce, known as shakshuka (above).
Followed by sabich, an eggplant and egg sandwich that is eaten with a spicy, sour and salty mango relish.
Versions of both are in "Feast from the Mideast" and "1,000 Jewish Recipes."
So far, I have collected seven of Faye's 23 cookbooks. And I am already congratulating her on book No. 24, which I hope is not far off.
Here is the recipe for the chicken dish that aroused such an uproar at Melissa's.
It's easy to make because you can buy packaged pomegranate arils (seeds) rather than having to dig them out of the fruit yourself.
CHICKEN IN PERSIAN POMEGRANATE WALNUT SAUCE
From "Feast from the Mideast" by Faye Levy
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter
2 1/2 pounds chicken pieces, rinsed and patted dry
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 to 2 cups walnuts
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (optional)
1 1/2 to 2 cups pomegranate juice, or 1/3 to 1/2 cup pomegranate paste
1/2 cup water or chicken broth (if using pomegranate juice), or 1 1/2 cups water or broth (if using paste)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste, or 3 to 4 tablespoons tomato sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
1/3 to 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley (optional)
A few toasted walnuts (optional)
Heat oil in heavy wide casserole or Dutch oven. Add chicken in batches and sauté over medium-high heat until brown. Remove chicken to plate. Discard fat from pan, leaving 1 to 2 tablespoons.
Add onion to pan and saute over medium heat for 7 minutes, or until golden. Meanwhile, finely chop walnuts with pulsing motion of food processor. Reduce heat under onion pan to low. Stir in flour, then walnuts, and cook over low heat, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in pomegranate juice and 1/2 cup water, or pomegranate paste and 1 1/2 cups water, and bring to a simmer, stirring.
Add chicken and any juices on plate to pan. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat about 35 minutes for breast pieces or 40 to 45 minutes for leg and thigh pieces, or until chicken is tender, stirring occasionally.
Remove chicken from pan. Add tomato paste, if you like, and cardamom to sauce and simmer until thickened to your taste. Taste, adjust seasoning, and add lemon juice and sugar if needed. If you like, whisk in a few more teaspoons pomegranate juice or paste. Return chicken to sauce and heat through. Serve hot, garnished if you like with pomegranate seeds, parsley, or walnuts, or all three.
Makes 4 servings.
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