January 30, 2009

Caribbean Chicken Fricassee and a Blackeyed peas Rice

My healthy and low fat Caribbean Chicken Fricassee goes to Meeta's "Monthly Mingle" event. Michelle of "What's cooking?" is guest hosting MM event this month with a theme of "Healthy family dinners". Thanks to both of you, enjoy my slightly spicy, healthy and tasty Fricassee! :))

Here is a tasty and healthy fricassee of chicken with typical Caribbean flavors added like Allspice, Thyme, and not to forget Scotch Bonnet peppers if you can handle it! Well...I can't handle it, so I chickened out and used half of a Jalapeno which is more my style! :D

There are various recipes for the Fricassee of chicken and here I chose to make a Caribbean style Chicken Fricassee. Allspice is a unique berry (click
here to see the photo and info, allspice is not Garam masala!) which has a distinctive aroma and taste, which is used in savory and in desserts as well. Since Caribbean cuisine has a little bit of Indian influence too, this would be a perfectly healthy brunch or dinner for any family, specially fit for a Winter meal with a little warmth of Jalapenos and peppers in the throat. Here is my version, hope you enjoy it too! :))

Caribbean Chicken Fricassee:
I used my own fresh herbs from my herb pot for this dish, which I moved into my garage when the Winter chill started. They have survived beautifully although garage is pretty cold place too! Nothing like the aroma of fresh herbs when it hits the heat but you can use dry herbs as well. You can also add carrots and celery to it, I didn't. Make it with thicker sauce for noodles or thinner sauce like I did here to serve with rice, it's up to you.

You need:
1 tbsp olive oil or Canola oil,

1 tbsp butter,

2 lbs of chicken,
white and dark meats,cut into big chunks,

1 tbsp plain flour,

1-2 cup chicken stock,

salt to taste,
1 small onion, minced,

2 garlic, minced,
1" ginger, minced,
1/2 Jalapeno, sliced,

1/2 cup Tomato sauce,

2 tsp Vinegar, malt or cider vinegar or any you have, even Worcestershire sauce,
1/2 tsp Paprika,

1 tbsp fresh Thyme or 1/2 tsp dry Thyme,

1/2 tsp Oregano,
few sprigs of Parsley,
2 tsp minced fresh Mint,

1 tsp Allspice powder,

1/2 tsp coarse black pepper.


Save some more herbs and 1/4 tsp Allspice pd to add at the end of cooking.


How to:

1. Take a pressure cooker or a deep dish, add 1 tbsp oil and heat. Then add chicken and stir fry until whitish. Sprinkle the flour on top, mix well to coat, stir for a minute and take the chicken out into a plate.

2. Add 1 tbsp butter, fry onion until translucent, add Jalapenos, ginger and garlic, stir for a minute. Add tomato sauce, saute for a minute. Now add all the spices, vinegar and chicken stock to the pan, mix well.

3. Add in the chicken, and pressure cook gently on low heat for mins or cover and cook in the pan until chicken is cooked through, doesn't take much time.

4. Open the lid, add all the saved herbs and pepper and allspice, simmer for 2 mins. Adjust the thinness as you desire adding water or stock and adjust the salt. Tastes better the next day.

Serve with either Blackeyed peas rice or Noodles. Serving this on a bed of mashed potatoes will surely please the kids! ;D

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Blackeyed peas rice/Pulao goes to Sudeshna of "Bengali Cuisine" blog's "Harvest-The festival of Rice" event. Thanks for hosting Sudeshna, have fun. Looking forward to the yummy rice round up! :))

Blackeyed peas are my favorite beans, specially those brown ones. Any rice dish made with these beans are extra healthy and tasty, a mild tasting dish for kids too who don't like spicy food. This Pulao goes well with either vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes and is very easy and quick recipe to make if you use a microwave and canned Blackeyed peas, enjoy! :)

Blackeyed Peas rice/Pulao: Usually when I open any can of beans, I drain all the water and rinse the beans once before adding it to the dish. But here, I used all the water which comes with canned Blackeyed peas to make the Pulao more flavorful, delicious and it also gives a earthy color to this rice dish too.

Ingredients:

First, open a 8 or 12 oz can of Blackeyed peas, drain the juice and save the juice another bowl. Add enough water of stock to this bowl to make 3 1/2 cups of liquid and keep aside. We use this to cook rice later. Keep the drained Blackeyed peas aside for later too.

Keep these handy:
2 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter,
1" ginger and 2 garlic, minced, ground or grated,
2 cloves and 1 Bay leaf,
1 tsp Cumin seeds powder,
1 tsp or more salt,
1 tsp crushed peper,

2 cups long grain rice,
3 1/2 cups of liquid (stock or water combined with beans juice),
1/2 tsp dry mixed herbs or 1/2 tsp each of dry Thyme and Parsley,
Drained Blackeyed peas.


To make Pulao:

1. In a microwavable bowl, add 2 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter, heat it for a minute or 2 until hot.
2. Add 2 cloves, 1 Bay leaf, 2 garlic and 1" ginger paste to it, stir well and MW for 2 more mins.
3. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp crushed pepper, 2 cups long grain rice, mix well to coat with oil and butter mixture.
4. Now, add 3 1/2 cups (this is my rice to water proportion, rice you use might have different proportion of water) water or vegetable stock or Chicken stock, including the drained Blackeyed peas water, dry herbs and mix well.
5. Microwave uncovered for 16 mins on high (100%). Now, add Blackeyed peas to it, mix well.
6. Cover the bowl with a plate this time and microwave at 50% for 6 mins.
6. Take out and fluff the rice with a fork to mix beans well, adjust the salt and pepper. Cover and serve when needed.

Enjoy the Super Bowl Sunday, see you all next week! :))

41 comments:

lubnakarim06 said...

Yummy 4 tummy recipes. Makes me drool.

Priya Suresh said...

Caribbean chicken fricasse looks colourful, wat a bright colour..nice twist with blackeyed peas with rice,U always rock Asha...love ur eyecatching clicks..Great Job as always!!!!nice entry for the events..

Daily Meals said...

Hi Asha! Caribbean chicken fricassee looks colourful and spicy...Blackeyed peas rice looks yummy and healthy...

Finla said...

I love the look and sound of this chicken dish. And it looks so yumm. Bookmarking to make them once.
Never made rice with blackeyed beans too , will try them also as my rice tends to be always with peas.
Have a wonderfull weekend.
Tommrow we are having inlaws and ,a uncle and aunty, so i am doing meat foundue. Hi hi i know no work, just have to do dalade as i order the meat in the butchers :-)

krystyna said...

Hi Asha!
What a great idea you have your own herbs in winter. Fresh is much better. I have little but in kitchen. Parslay, onions, basil.
Thanks for sharing!

Have a great weekend!

Pavani said...

Both the dishes look healthy and yum Asha.. Have a great weekend.

FH said...

Thanks KF, we enjoyed them too!:)

Fricassee was so good with lighter spices and herbs, Priya.

Thanks Vijaya. I love canned Blackeyed peas, so easy to use and yummy too.

Ashwini said...

Caribbean Chicken looks yumm and spicy...I too can handle only Jalepeno not above that.My daughter loves spicy food only in the dishes she likes like chicken or baths...If it is usual sambar or anything else..then she will tell it is spicy and she does not want that....Everytime I visit you blog, there will be something new for me to learn..The rice looks amazing..Nice Entry..

FH said...

F, enjoy the Meat fondue girl. I am making cheese and chilli fondue on Sunday too, I think it's the same as you too. Fricassee was good, bet Hans and S will it! Enjoy, see you next week, busy Sunday for me! :)
(Btw, getting a new dining room set delivered today afternoon, can't wait!)

Hi K, I know, it's wonderful to use fresh herbs! Somehow my herb pots have survived Winter cold, I kept them in the garage!

Thanks Pavani. You too girl, enjoy the weekend! Hugs.

Jaishree Iyer said...

Both the dishes look healthy and yum. Blackeyed Peas rice sounds good to me. ... mmmm wish i could taste some,.. Yum, looks great :)

Trupti said...

I never tried Fricassee ..looks very delicious Asha.

Enjoy the weekend !!

sunita said...

Both the dishes look so colourful.

Enjoy your weekend Asha, and your new dining set too ;-)

ranji said...

Oh wow what fabulous dishes..i love caribbean cuisine...especially the jerk chicken...chicken fricassee is new to me sounds delicious..i have cooked with scotch bonnet peppers..love them..i do remove some of the seeds though :)...and bean rice is one of my other favorite rice dishes...i use black beans most of time..would love to try it with black eyed beans...
am definitely looking fwd to the weekend..superbowl yes but mostly australian open men's final-federer and nadal :)..have a fun weekend!!!

Cham said...

Love the thin gravy u made, it should go well with the blackeyed peas rice! U made a carribean feast! Did ur herb pots survived in garage (is it bright with windows?)

FH said...

Ash, kids know what they want to eat, we parents are the one who push them a little! :D
Yes, this is very mild, kids will love it. Do try! :)

Jaishree, I love the flavor of that peas too, enjoy!

Try it, Trupti. We can add any spice really, doesn't have to be Allspice if it's not available, make it Indian style.

Hahaha! Thanks Sunita, Yeah, I can't wait until this afternoon, old is out and new is in! :D

FH said...

Ranji, I bought Habenaro once and tried making Chitranna. It was so hot, my fingers started burning! :D
Oh, Federer is on too, cool. Enjoy. We are excited too, will be a fun Sunday either way! :))

Cham, I made them together since both are Caribbean dishes, it was so good.
Yes, garage has 3 huge windows and lot of light although it gets very cold. Only Basil dried out but all the others are doing okay. It smells so good every time you pass by the herb pots too. I will put them on the deck in March! :))

Adlak's tiny world said...

lovely pulao dear and yr chicken pic is colorful.

sra said...

I saw a packet of allspice in the store the other day and resisted picking it up. Still have many new ones that I need to finish in the pantry, you see!

Laavanya said...

The blackeyed peas rice is very interesting... sounds mild & delicious.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

oh that is one aromatic rice with the italian herbs.. very nice.. different from the usual rice.

and thanks for your lovely comments on tomato pic and the article.

FH said...

Thanks Adlak, both go well together!

sra, I do understand! You should see my pantry girl!! :D
Allspice is great spice to have, subtle and sweetish. Add one more to your "new" collection as the "newest"!!

Laavanya, I love it's juice which comes in the can, such a nice color and earthy flavor. Only canned beans liquid I don't rinse off! :)

Mahimaa, I am still haunted by that photo of your's, ethereal!!
This rice dish is also from Caribbean region, they like Thyme and I do too! :))

AnuSriram said...

Carribean rice looks so colourful and delicious! Recently got a chance to know about this recipe! Here you are ready with the recipe! Its on my "try it out" list.

FH said...

Hahaha!! Anu, i have a looong list of recipes to try too, try and will catch up someday! :))
Hope you try this, Thyme is very flavorful, fresh herbs are always better.

Vibaas said...

Blackeyed peas rice looks yummy. Simple and nice.

Yasmeen said...

Scotch Bonnet peppers are one of the hottest peppers,I don't think I can take its heat either.The Caribbean style gravy looks spicy perfect with hearty peas rice :)

KonkaniBlogger said...

Hey Asha, never tried Caribbean cuisine. So everything here is a learning for me. Just looking at the rice pic, didn't give me an idea, but looked at the ingredients, and then imagined how flavorful it might be, garlic, pepper,etc etc..I will try the rice for sure. Have a great weeknd.

FH said...

Thanks V, give it a try! :)

Yasmeen, I just can't stand the heat if it hits the throat right away, scary! :D

Maya, looks bland indeed but flavorful and with peas in there, very tasty. Try it, great with Kurma too! :)

Raaga said...

I have to try the rice for sure. :-) It looks so divine.

Unknown said...

I use balck eyed peas in my rice too..have posted one inmy blog too..this one looks wonderful

FH said...

Raaga, do try, it's nutritious! :)

Sowmya, dosen't it tastes yummy? Rice and Peas is popular rice in Caribbean, Thyme makes the difference! :)

Sig said...

Hey Asha, are you watching Super bowl today? Having a big party? Have fun, and looking forward to the super bowl post!
That chicken fricassee is a new one for me, looks good!

FH said...

Yes, we are Sig! Go Steelers!! Jennifer Hudson sang so brilliantly, I was in tears!!
I will post a pic of food on Wednesday. Enjoy the game!:)

Preety said...

love the rice combination..cool

Raks said...

I would love to try the blackeyed peas recipe! Sounds good! Have a nice day:)

Deepthi Shankar said...

i would love to the the blackeyed peas pulao sometime, I am a sucker for one pot meals

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Asha my sweet, you know although I love the sound of that fricasse, it the black eyed peas rice that is intriguing me. Thanks for the lovely entry. We've missed you at the mingle!

FH said...

Thanks Preety, Raks, Deesha. Hope you try it girls, One pot meal indeed! :))

Hi Meets, glad to be part of MM again too, it has been long! Rice and Peas is a classic Caribbean, fresh herbs makes it very aromatic, do try! :)

We are a bit exhausted today, too much excitement last night watching the game, it was fun! :D

Unknown said...

blackeyed peas rice is new to me will try and let you know and thanku so much for the suggetion asha will send it to EC

FH said...

You are welcome, Rekha. Mooli Parathas are from Haryana and Punjab, so fits RCI perfectly. Enjoy! :))

Snooky doodle said...

sounds delicious :)

FH said...

Thanks Snooky, trying one of these? :)