Chicken Pilaf With Pine Nuts And Currants Recipes

RICE AND CHICKEN PILAF WITH DRIED CURRANTS AND TOASTED ALMONDS

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large deep skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and garlic to skillet; sauté until chicken is no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in rice, currants, and cinnamon sticks. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook until rice is tender and most liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Discard cinnamon. Sprinkle with almonds.

RICE PILAF WITH PUMPKIN, CURRANTS AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Warm olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot with a lid or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin, season with salt, and cook, stirring, until pumpkin begins to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove and set aside, leaving oil in pot.
• Add onion and cook, stirring, until quite brown, about 5 minutes. Add pine nuts and let them brown a bit. Add currants, pepper, allspice and cinnamon.
• Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, making sure rice is well coated with oil. Add broth or water and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to a bare simmer. Taste broth and adjust for salt - it should be quite well seasoned. Add reserved pumpkin, cover with a lid, and cook over very low heat until all liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Turn off heat, and let rice steam with lid on for 10 to 15 minutes. Add butter and fluff rice gently with two wooden spoons.

PASTA WITH ROAST CHICKEN, CURRANTS AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange thighs in a large roasting pan, preferably nonstick. Thickly sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika, and dot with butter. Bake until just cooked through and skin is crisp (if oven has a convection feature, use it), about 35 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When chicken is done, let cool slightly, then use hands (rubber gloves are helpful) to pull meat and skin from bones, making bite-size pieces. Reserve meat and skin in roasting pan; discard bones.
• Meanwhile, add pasta to boiling water and cook just until tender but not mushy. Reserving 1 cup cooking water, drain pasta and add to roasting pan with chicken meat and skin. Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water to roasting pan on stovetop and turn heat to low.
• Add rosemary, currants and pine nuts to roasting pan and toss, adding more salt and black pepper to taste, and more cooking water if mixture seems dry. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately in shallow bowls.