Our temps are back in the 80s this week so it’s off with the oven for the evening meal. This stove-top chicken dish is easy to fix and you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry or refrigerator.
The décor in the photo of the finished recipe is from my daughter. She helped me decorate last week’s recipe as well. She has a stash of international items from her travels to 30+ countries.
I try to vary the cookbooks chosen for each week’s recipe so it’s a coincidence that the recipe for Middle Eastern Chicken comes from Nashville Seasons Junior League Cookbook (1964), the same one featured last week for Scotch shortbread.
That’s OK. It just goes to show I use more than one recipe per cookbook which is a good value for my money spent to purchase the cookbook and the space it takes in my home.
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NEWS
This week I’m presenting a zoom program called ‘Cooking Through the 20th Century.’ It is for a group of senior-aged people who belong to Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) based in Fresno, CA.
I’ll present a recipe from each decade of the 20th century that I’ve tried and possibly improved on or at least made easier to understand. What is a moderate oven anyway? That is a term used often in cookbooks from the early part of the 20th century. I think from experimenting in my kitchen it means 350 degrees. But the recipes rarely include a length of bake time so that is entirely subjective. I give my preference so bakers can try that.
I’ll provide other clues and tips for enjoying these age-old recipes, some of which will be good to offer for the upcoming holidays.
My 1905 Soft Ginger Cake is delicious and makes the house smell good! I plan to share the recipes with the viewers via a Word document.
The recipes come from cookbooks I own (and can I say love?) because they are more than a century old! I probably should wear gloves to handle them but for purposes of the zoom show, I’ll use my bare hands, albeit lovingly turning pages to show viewers the actual recipes.
If you’d be interested in my presenting a similar program for your group, contact me at kayleenreusser at gmail dot com.
Enjoy the remaining days of summer and remember that cooking at home saves you money, offers knowledge of what you are eating, as well as skills in the kitchen that are valuable and improves self-confidence. Why not start with this delicious recipe today?
Take care,
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1964 Middle Eastern Chicken
6 teaspoons butter
3-1/2-pound fryer, cut up
1 cup onion, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup tomato sauce
1.5 cups chicken broth, heated
6 water chestnuts, sliced thin
*I added green pepper slices
Melt butter in Dutch oven.
Brown chicken.
Add onion. Cover and cook over low heat until onion browns.
Add salt, peppers, cinnamon, tomato sauce, and half of the chicken broth.
Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.
Mix in water chestnuts and remaining broth.
Cover and cook 30 more minutes or until chicken and chestnuts are tender.
Yield: 4 servings
Prepare: 1 hour
Vintage Eats of Kayleen Reusser 
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