MADDIE DAY here, on a rainy spring morning. Our New England weather has been ping-ponging from hot to cold to rainy to whatever this spring. Last week it was downright chilly, and I wanted to make something warm and delicious for dinner.
Years ago I visited a professor friend in Baltimore. Ellen Contini-Morava cooked up her version of Chicken Ezekiel. It was so fabulous I demanded the recipe. She used whole chicken parts, but for only two of us I went with two boneless chicken thighs, and I added mushrooms because they needed to be used.
What I didn't know until last week was that this is a dish Italian Jews made, according to Joyce Goldstein's Cucina Ebraica, a cookbook about the cuisine of Italian Jews.
Then I remembered I included a mention of the dish at the start of When the Grits Hit the Fan, the third Country Store Mystery, but I didn't include the recipe.
I'd love to send a commenter a copy of the book! And without further ado, I present:
Chicken Ezekiel
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 big garlic cloves, minced
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
Pinch of sugar
1/2 pound rotini or other shaped pasta
Preparation:
Saute the mushrooms in one tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven or large, heavy skillet with a lid over medium-low heat.
Remove to a plate.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add more oil to the same pot and brown the chicken pieces for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and saute for one minute.
Return the mushrooms to the pot and add tomatoes, olives, pinch of sugar, wine, and rosemary. Stir together until the tomatoes begin to bubble and smell fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Cover and cook 25 to 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring at regular intervals.
The chicken will be quite tender. Add freshly ground pepper; taste and
adjust the salt, if necessary (the olives are salty). Garnish with more rosemary if desired. Serve hot over rotini, with freshly ground parmesan on top.
Readers: How do you like your pasta? I'll send one lucky commenter (who includes an email address) a copy of When the Grits Hit the Fan.
