Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist and the
author of the terrific Inspector Green series, featuring a quixotic, exasperating Ottawa
Police inspector with a passion for justice and a love of the hunt. Her novels
have twice won the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis award for Best Novel.
Please join us in welcoming Barbara back to Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen with one of
Inspector Green’s recipes for a warm family celebration.
Rosh Hashanah with Inspector Green
On top of all the back-to-work and school activities, September is a busy month for Jewish holidays. Some are solemn, others lively, but food is always centre stage. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts the ten-day period of penitence and self-appraisal with a feast of sweet festive foods reflecting the wish for abundance, good health, and a sweet year to come.
Because
crime doesn’t take time off, Inspector Michael Green, head of Major Case
Investigations for the Ottawa Police, faces a constant fight to juggle work and
family life, holidays and obligations. But now that he finds himself the
unlikely father of two (soon to be three), he is trying to foster family
traditions and values that will carry them into the future. As the only child
of fearful Holocaust survivors, he had very little heritage to build on, but he
has taken the traditional foods – roast chicken, honey, raisins and almonds –
to create his own version of the sweet festive dish. His busy wife Sharon is
happy that it makes minimal mess, is almost impossible to ruin, and can be
mastered by a husband with little culinary talent or time.
The
recipe below feeds his family of four, but can easily be doubled, tripled,
quadrupled… You get the idea. Like any good hand-me-down recipe, the amounts
are approximate; you can substitute a “pinch” or “handful” if you prefer!
Inspector Green’s more-or-less
foolproof Honey Orange Chicken
Four to six chicken
breasts, bone and skin on
1 to 1 ½ cups
orange juice
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. ginger
½ cup raisins
¼ cup sliced
almonds
½ cup thin slices
of orange or mandarin orange
garlic clove
salt and pepper to
taste
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts skin side up on a flat cooking sheet
or shallow pan. Lining it with aluminum foil will save clean-up aggravation.
Rub the skin with raw garlic, half the ginger, and salt and pepper to taste.
Place in oven and roast for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile,
in a glass bowl, whisk together the orange juice, oil, honey, cornstarch and 1
tsp. ginger (plus salt and pepper if desired). Microwave until mixture just
thickens, stirring frequently.
Remove
chicken, baste with drippings, and sprinkle with raisins, almonds, and orange
slices. Pour the sauce evenly over top and return to oven for about 30 – 40
minutes, or until golden brown.
To
maintain the traditional touch, serve this with potato or noodle kugel, carrot tsimmis, and greens
Enjoy! But make sure you save some time to read.
Barbara’s latest (and ninth) book, The Whisper of Legends, finds the very urban
detective searching the northern wilderness for his missing daughter.
The tenth in the series, None So Blind, is in the
works. Find out more about Barbara and her terrific books at www.barbarafradkin.com You can order The Whisper of Legends through
your favorite bookstore or by clicking here. www.tinyurl.com/pqmlyts
Check out the whole series!
Welcome Barbara, I love meeting other psychologist/writers! And the chicken looks delish. Hope you had a happy new year!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lucy! It's a great blog site with lots of recipes.
DeleteI can't wait to try this, Barbara. It looks fabulous and I feel I can taste it!
ReplyDeleteMJ
This looks delicious, and I bet my husband would love it--add a little sweetness to a dish and you get his attention! I love the concept of a ten day period of self-appraisal. Maybe the world would be a better place if we all took the time to do that. Thanks for joining us on MLK!
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me! And I agree, 10 days of self-appraisal and reflection on where you've been and where you're going (indeed even one day) might solve a lot of problems.
DeleteThis chicken recipe sounds delicious. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteA sweet new year to you and yours! This looks lovely. I must try it.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely delicious, Barbara. With a dish like that, the new year has to be sweet and happy. And it's beautiful, too, with those festive colors. I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDelete~Krista
Thanks, everyone! I have varied this recipe with different fruits - apples, cranberries, peaches, for example. Anyone for pears?
ReplyDelete