Istanbul, not Constantinople: Saffron Scented Chicken Pilaf

If you haven't noticed by now, I love Nigella Lawson's recipes. When piled up on a giant platter, this delicious rice dish evokes the experience of dining cross-legged on a carpeted floor somewhere in Turkey. (No, this is not authentically Turkish/Middle Eastern. Just authentically yummy.) When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it because it combined so many of my favourite ingredients: basmati rice, pine nuts, almonds, and saffron. I added a handful of raisins to the rice because I love how they plump up and sweeten the rice.

This is a very aromatic dish. The warmth of the spices in the chicken and the rice mingle with the buttery nuttiness of toasted nuts and the fresh resinousness of cilantro. It made me hungry just smelling it.

I have not tried marinating chicken in yogurt before making this, and I must say that it really works. The yogurt tenderizes the chicken and keeps it moist while cooking, and its natural sugars caramelize in the pan without the use of excessive oil.

If you'd like to take an express mid-week vacation, here's the recipe for:

Saffron Scented Chicken Pilaf:

500 g boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
200g Greek yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1 L chicken broth
15 g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
500 g basmati rice
(A handful of raisins, optional)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
50 g flaked almonds, toasted
25 g pine nuts, toasted
Large handful of cilantro, chopped

1.	Marinate the chicken pieces in the yoghurt, lemon and cinnamon for about an hour. Soak the saffron threads in the chicken stock.
2.	Over medium heat, in a large pan with a lid, melt the butter along with 1 tablespoon oil and add the rice, stirring it to coat until glossy. Pour in the saffron and chicken stock, add the cardamom pods, lemon juice and zest and raisins and bring the pan to the boil, then clamp on a lid and turn the heat down to very low; a heat diffuser, if you’ve got one, would be good here. Cook like this for about 10–15 minutes, by which time the rice should have absorbed the liquid and be cooked through.
3.	While the rice is cooking, shake the excess yoghurt marinade off the chicken using a sieve. Then fry the meat in a hot pan with the remaining spoonful or so of oil, and do this in batches so that the chicken colours rather than just pallidly stews to cookedness.
4.	Use a fork to fluff up the rice. Add toasted nuts to pilaf and a strew chicken and cilantro over the top.

Serves 6.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson-Forever Summer

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Breakfast for Dinner...and Lunch: Asian-Spiced Kedgeree

Nigella Lawson is an absolute domestic goddess and my hero. She exudes a calm confidence in the kitchen and her recipes are always as comforting to eat as they are to make. However, as a true believer in "full fat=full flavour," she often creates recipes that are more indulgent than I would make (eg. Doughnut French Toast and Caramel Crossiant Pudding). So when I came across this recipe that looked absolutely delicious and healthy, I couldn't wait to try it.

Kedgeree is traditionally a British breakfast dish, made with fish (smoked haddock), hard boiled eggs, and rice. Apparently, it was popular during Victorian times to make use of the fresh fish caught early in the morning.

Frankly, I can't really imagine eating rice in the morning, but whenever you choose to eat it, this recipe is amazing. It took a little faith to just throw the rice and the broth in a pot and let it sit for 20 minutes without stirring it but it really worked. The golden curry scented basmati rice is perfectly balanced with the salt of the fish sauce, the tang of lime juice, and freshness of cilantro. This breakfast dish (which I made for dinner) is also great cold for lunch the next day.

Asian-Spiced Kedgeree

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups cold water, for poaching the fish
  
• 2 lime leaves, torn into pieces
• 4 salmon fillets (approximately 1-inch thick), preferably organic, skinned (about 1 1/2 pounds in total)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon oil
  
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves, plus more, for garnish
• 1 lime, zested and juiced plus lime segments, for garnish
• Fish sauce, to taste (recommended: nam pla)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

This is because the easiest way to poach salmon for this dish is to do it in the oven. So: pour the water into a roasting pan, add the lime leaves and then the salmon. Cover the pan with foil, put in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes, by which time the salmon should be tender. Remove the pan from the oven and drain the liquid off into a pitcher. Keep the fish warm simply by replacing the foil on the pan.

Melt the butter in a wide, heavy saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid, and add the oil to stop the butter burning. Soften the onion in the pan and add the spices, then keep cooking till the onion is slightly translucent and suffused with soft perfume of the spices. Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon so that it's all well coated. There's not enough onion to give a heavy coating: just make sure the rice is fragrantly slicked.

Pour in the reserved liquid from the pitcher, about 2 1/4 cups, and stir before covering with the lid and cooking gently for 15 minutes. If your stove is vociferous you may need a flame tamer.

At the end of the cooking time, when the rice is tender and has lost all chalkiness, turn off the heat, remove the lid, cover the pan with a dish towel and then replace the lid. This will help absorb any extra moisture form the rice. It is also the best way to let the rice stand without getting sticky or cold, which is useful when you've got a few friends and a few dishes to keep your eye on.

Just before you want to eat, drain off any extra liquid that's collected in the dish with the salmon, then flake the fish with a fork. Add to it the rice, egg, cilantro, lime juice and a drop or 2 of fish sauce. Stir gently to mix - I use a couple of wooden paddles or spatulas - and taste to see if you want any more lime juice or fish sauce. Sprinkle over the zest from the 2 juiced halves of the lime and serve. I love it served just as it is in the roasting dish, but if you want to, and I often do (consistency is a requirement of a recipe but not of a cook), decant into large plate before you add the lime zest, then surround with lime segments and add the zest and a small handful of freshly chopped cilantro.

Credit to Nigella Lawson

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