Rosh Hashanah Recipe Link Up

Photo Source: Mother Nature Network

Back by popular demand, I bring you my delicious Rosh Hashanah Fesenjan Persian Chicken with Pomegranate Walnut Sauce recipe.  I’m also adding a linky so we can all share our favorite recipes with each other.  Leave your recipes in the comment section below and I’ll coordinate another post with all the links!

A good friend introduced me to this chicken a few years ago, and it’s been a New Year staple of mine ever since.  To say that it tastes divine is an understatement.  As a matter of fact, my book club has me to bring it to our annual holiday party every year.  They think that I’m an outstanding cook.  Little do they know that this is one of the only dishes I make really well.

You don’t use real pomegranates in the recipe, rather you use pomegranate molasses.  This ingredient  isn’t as hard to find as it sounds. You might find it at your local Kosher shop.  I choose to drive to a wonderful Middle Eastern shop in White Plans called Yaranush (322 Central Avenue) so I can pick up other goodies like Israeli spices, tea, rice and other delicacies that I can’t get anywhere else.  I always look forward to the trip and do it every year.  Everything else in the recipe is straight forward and it’s very easy to make.

I always serve a special holiday salad with candied pecans and Persian rice.  It’s a sweet meal to bring in the New Year, and everyone should (hopefully) love it.  After you read this, please provide links to your favorite holiday recipes to share with everyone.

The recipe feeds about 6-8 people.  I usually double it and freeze what we don’t eat.  It’s good to have on hand for other occasions.

P.S. Be exact.  Don’t experiment with quantities of anything, especially the molasses.  You’ll thank me later.

All you need is:

2-1/2 cups of walnuts

2 large onions minced

1/4 cup oil

5 lbs. of chicken pieces

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. fresh black pepper

2 tsp. salt

1/2 can of tomato sauce (2-3 tbs.)

2 tbs. fresh lemon juice

4 tbs. sugar

2-1/2 cups of water

1/3 cup pomegranate molasses/paste.

Directions:

• Skin and bake the chicken pieces for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
• To make the sauce (which can be made the day before or the day of), grind the walnuts in a cuisinart until very fine.  Then roast them in an iron skillet, stirring constantly.  After the nuts turn brown and give off a nice smell, dump them in a bowl.
• Cut the onions very fine.  Saute them in oil over medium heat until they are clear (not brown).  Use a large, heavy pot.
• When the onions are cooked, add everything else to the pot, except the chicken.
• Cook this for an hour or so over low heat.
• Then add the chicken and cook it until you serve it (can’t be cooked too long).  Stir in occasionally so that it doesn’t burn.

Serve with Persian rice.  (If you want the recipe for this, just leave me a note.)