Shabbat Hanukka chicken and potatoes

Over the years cooks have developed countless ways to combine chicken and spuds.

By FAYE LEVY
chicken and potatoes_521 (photo credit: (Photo: David Bishop/From 'Jewish Cooking for Dumm)
chicken and potatoes_521
(photo credit: (Photo: David Bishop/From 'Jewish Cooking for Dumm)
When it comes to planning a menu for Shabbat Hanukka, roast chicken with potatoes seems a fitting choice. After all, for Shabbat many take a break from latke making but still want to match the vegetable most associated with the holiday, the potato, with the quintessential Shabbat entree, baked chicken.
Over the years cooks have developed countless ways to combine chicken and spuds. Roasting a whole chicken with whole or halved potatoes, as my mother often did, produces delicious results, as the chicken gravy that forms during baking moistens, flavors and enriches the potatoes. All that’s needed for this flavorful dish is a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, with a little paprika to help the chicken and the potatoes brown attractively.
Cooks in Italy prepare a similar entree, with olive oil and fresh rosemary added to the pan of chicken and potatoes to lend a distinctive aroma.
When I moved to Israel, a Yemenite cousin of my husband taught me another way to bake chicken with potatoes. She used chicken pieces and sliced potatoes, and added plenty of sliced onions, as well as a spice mixture of cumin, turmeric and black pepper to give the chicken and the potatoes a wonderful taste and a golden hue. The onions melted into a delicious sweetness that enhanced the dish.
A Jewish name for chicken baked with potatoes is “Shabbos in a bag”, as Rachel Hershberg called her recipe, which she contributed to The Kitchen KATalogue, published by Kehillat Ahavat Tzion in the Ramat Beit Shemesh area. She bakes chicken with potatoes, onions, mushrooms and other vegetables such as carrots and zucchini in an oven bag, with soy sauce and peeled garlic.
Peeled garlic cloves also flavor the baked chicken quarters and potato halves of another contributor to the book, Tamar Frei. Quartered tomatoes contribute moisture, flavor and color to her dish.
Sephardim fry the potato pieces before adding them to the chicken. You could say this makes their specialty “extra kosher” for Hanukka, the holiday of fried foods. A Syrian- Jewish formula calls for deep-frying potato wedges or cubes and then roasting them with a chicken; this gives them richness and a deep brown hue. Gilda Angel, author of Sephardic Holiday Cooking, seasons this dish with cinnamon and allspice.
Gracia Grego, author of Lebanese Cooking (in Hebrew), makes a more elaborate version, stuffing and braising her chicken before adding fried potato cubes. The bird is stuffed with cinnamon-flavored ground beef, rice and pine nuts.
Egyptian Jews add fried potatoes to chicken in sefrito sauce, flavored with turmeric and ground cardamom, wrote Levana Zamir in Cooking from the Nile’s Land (in Hebrew). These same spices, combined with grated ginger, garlic and whole cloves, appear in an Indian-Jewish entree of chicken baked with whole potatoes and whole small onions, giving the Shabbat chicken a flavor that to many of us would be exotic.
Although most Indian chicken dishes call for removing the skin, Mavis Hyman, author of Indian-Jewish Cooking, recommends leaving the skin on the chicken pieces for this dish. I also bake chicken with its skin for these types of recipes, to prevent the meat from becoming dry. To further ensure moist meat, I cover the chicken for part of the roasting time.
These chicken and potato entrees can be made in advance and reheat well. Use a medium oven (about 175º) and cover the chicken during reheating.
Faye Levy is the author of Jewish Cooking for Dummies.
GOLDEN BAKED CHICKEN WITH POTATOES AND ONIONS
This chicken, flavored with Yemenite spices, is cooked by a combination of baking and broiling. Baking keeps the chicken pieces juicy; broiling at the end turns them an appetizing deep brown. Serve the chicken with a green salad topped with nuts and dried fruit, such as the recipe below, and a medley of cooked vegetables, such as carrots, cauliflower and green beans.
4 tsp. ground cumin, freshly ground if possible 1 tsp. ground turmeric 1⁄2 tsp. ground black pepper 1.3 kg. to 1.5 kg. boiling potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1 cm. thick salt and freshly ground pepper 1.3 kg. to 1.5 kg. chicken pieces, with skin 450 gr. to 700 gr. onions, halved and sliced
Preheat oven to 230º. Mix cumin, turmeric and ground pepper. Lightly oil a large roasting pan. Add potatoes and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss so all are coated. Top with chicken pieces and season them on both sides with salt and spice mixture. Rub mixture into chicken. Top with sliced onions. Cover with foil and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until tender; juices should no longer be pink when thickest part of thigh is pierced; potatoes should be tender as well.
Shortly before serving, uncover and set pan in broiler about 10 cm. from heat. Broil about 8 minutes or until chicken is well browned.
Makes 6 servings.
GILDA ANGEL’S SEPHARDI CHICKEN AND POTATOES
Chicken and fried potatoes are seasoned with cinnamon and allspice, then baked together.
2 chickens (about 1 kg. to 1.3 kg. each), quartered 1 tsp. salt freshly ground pepper to taste Vegetable oil for deep frying (5-6 cups depending on size of skillet) 6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-cm. cubes 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1⁄2 tsp. ground allspice
Preheat oven to 175º. Season chicken with a little of the salt and pepper. Bake 1 hour, or until golden brown; juices should no longer be pink when thickest part of thigh is pierced.
In a large, deep heavy skillet or heavy stew pan, heat oil to 190º (use candy/deep-fry thermometer for correct temperature). Fry potatoes in hot oil until golden and crusty. Drain on paper towels.
When chicken is cooked, add potatoes. Sprinkle chicken and potatoes with remaining salt, cinnamon and allspice. Cover pan with foil and continue to bake chicken and potatoes for 20 to 25 more minutes, or until chicken and potatoes are very tender.
Makes 8 servings.
FESTIVE GREEN SALAD WITH GOLDEN RAISINS AND TOASTED WALNUTS
Adding fresh and dried fruit and toasted nuts is a great way to enhance green salads. For salad dressings, use a fruity olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice or wine vinegar, or, for a sweet touch, balsamic vinegar. Keep walnuts in the freezer, and taste them before using them in the salad to be sure they are fresh.
1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup walnuts or pecans
5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 or 2 Tbsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice or red or white wine vinegar salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
8 to 10 cups mixed baby lettuces, or mixture romaine and iceberg lettuce
1 or 2 tart apples, green or red
1 or 2 cucumbers, halved and sliced thin
1⁄4 to 1⁄2 red onion, cut in thin quarter-slices and separated in slivers (optional)
1⁄3 cup golden raisins
To toast nuts: Preheat oven or toaster oven to 175º. Toast walnuts or pecans on a tray in oven, shaking them once or twice, until aromatic and very lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
To make dressing, combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until blended. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Tear or cut lettuces in bite-size pieces or larger. Cut apples in very thin wedges, leaving peel on. Mix lettuces, apples, cucumber slices and onion in a serving bowl. Just before serving, whisk dressing again, add to salad and toss until greens are moistened. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve garnished with toasted nuts and raisins.
Makes 6 servings.