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From The I Never Cooked Before Cookbook by Jo Coudert

Chicken Arab

This is a rather exotic recipe that a friend of mine brought back from North Africa. The dish is very interesting and very good, but it is an exception to the rule that casseroles improve on being warmed over. It is still perfectly edible but not nearly as good the second day, so try to cook only as many pieces of chicken as will be eaten.

Total cooking time: 2 hours (1/2 hour to prepare, 1-1/2 hours in the oven). Serve with rice, an absolute necessity in this instance.

Ingredients:
2 quartered chickens (for 6 to 8 servings) {use chicken breasts}
6 Tablespoons butter {substitute and reduce - see Cook's Notes}
1 onion
1/2 stalk celery
handful of seedless raisins
handful of almonds {I used peeled, slivered almonds}
2 Tablespoons honey
1 heaping teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 apples, cored, peeled, seeded, cut into large pieces
1 cup dry white wine
the peel from 1/2 of a lemon

Directions:
1. Melt 6 Tablespoons of butter in a flameproof casserole, and cook the pieces of chicken, a few at a time, until all are well browned on both sides. Set them aside.
2. In the same butter, adding more if needed, lightly brown 1 medium-sized onion cut into slices and 1/2 stalk of celery cut in pieces.
3. Put a handful of raisins to soak in a bowl with enough water to cover them, and a handful of almonds in another bowl, also in water.
4. Set the oven to 325 degrees.
5. To the casserole, add 2 Tablespoons of honey, 1 heaping teaspoon of curry powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, and 2 raw apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large pieces.
6. Drain the raisins, and add them to the casserole.
7. Drain the almonds, and squeeze them between the fingers to slip the skins off. Add almonds to the casserole.
8. Put the pieces of chicken in the casserole, and pour 1 cup of dry white wine over. Peel 1/2 of a lemon and add the peel.
9. Put the casserole in a 325 degree oven, and allow to cook for 1-1/2 hours. Before serving, taste to see if there is enough salt in the sauce.

Cook's Notes:

I use olive oil rather than butter and allow 1 teaspoon of oil for each piece of chicken. I imagine you could also use IBS-safe margarine or possibly even Pam.

When I make this for just two of us, I use 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and halve the other ingredients, so I end up with lots of sauce relative to the amount of chicken.

I've reduced the amount of curry powder and the recipe still comes out great.

I put this together in my non-stick skillet, then put it into a casserole to go in the oven. When I finish browning the chicken in the non-stick skillet, I put the chicken into the casserole. I then make the rest of the recipe up through Step 7 in the non-stick skillet. I transfer the contents of the skillet to the casserole, and proceed to add the wine and lemon peel.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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