Shabbat Chicken

Caryn Gale's Note:

We were staying with friends during Passover and this was the main course at the seder. The smell was wonderful, the color beautiful, and the meat literally fell off the bone. It is called "Shabbat Chicken" because religious Jews do not cook on Shabbat/Sabbath and this is meant to be prepared right before the start of the Sabbath and then placed on a warming tray until the men arive home from the synagogue. You will want to serve this with couscous or rice to get all the wonderful juice.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small onion
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon sticks or 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
• 1 chicken, cut in sixths, skin removed and reserved

Directions:

1. In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium-low heat and brown onion.
2. Add cloves, salt, turmeric, ginger, and garlic.
3. Add chicken parts and a few pieces of skin (this helps prevent sticking).
4. Raise heat to medium to brown meat.
5. Mix/turn the chicken parts frequently.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover, cook until tender about 30-45 minutes.
7. Check it frequently and mix/turn chicken.
8. There will be a lot of juice.
9. At this point, the reason it is called Shabbat chicken (Religious Jews do not cook on Shabbat) is to place the pot on a warmer/hot plate until the men arrive home from synagogue and then serve over couscous or rice.
10. I have found that this can be served immediately, simmered for longer, and tastes great heated up.
11. I also usually make 2 chickens and double the spices.

Reviews

[Chef #1525500]

Great combination of readily available seasonings and ingredients. I used chicken breast cut into chunks and cooked it all in a skillet on the stove top.

[petlover]

This is so similar my mothers recipe ( she called it "gebrunte chicken-" only she used powdered spices= this is better with the fresh garlic and ginger. Thanks for this great recipe

[LawyerMom]

My chicken came out a bit dry, perhaps I overcooked it. But otherwise, I followed directions pretty closely. There was a lot of juice in the pan, so it surprised me that the chicken was that dry. I wanted to try something different, and this recipe certainly delivered. But it was okay and didn't wow me. My husband liked it, though, and I'll probably make it again. What was nice was that it was easy to make and kept well for shabbos.