Go with Grace

In today’s comparison of life to a gut-turning amusement park ride, I can’t help but think about the whiplash my digestive system has been through in the past 24 hours flavor-wise.

Starting with the idea of having my brothers and their respective fiancé and girlfriend over for a small family dinner while my parents were out of town, I quickly found myself spiraling down the recipe rabbit hole. In all fairness, it is a rabbit hole which I frequently find myself in and, quite honestly, do enjoy greatly. My personal favorite cookbook, a signed copy of “Antoni in the Kitchen,” is made better with pictures of the devilishly handsome “Queer Eye” star strolling the streets of New York City in inexplicably cool sunglasses and a tote bag filled with vegetables slung over the arm carrying his, most definitely overpriced, coffee. Regardless of my true intentions, I often find myself flipping through the pages when I need culinary inspiration.

I won’t bore you with more of my infatuation with Mr. Porowski, so, bada bing bada boom, I landed on the Pomegranate and Walnut Chicken Stew page. The picture looked delicious, and by skimming the instructions, I found the prep and cook time was relatively short and I was sold. What can I say, I’m an easy sell.

The recipe is inspired by Fesenjan, a traditionally Persian stew. It’s often served during the Winter solstice holiday, and in my opinion, is perfect for a cold dinner party night.

The sauce, made with pomegranate juice, chicken broth, turmeric, cinnamon, tomato paste, toasted walnuts, and pomegranate molasses, offers a sweet and tangy alternative the traditional salty Winter stew. I did not have pomegranate molasses and sure as hell was not about to spend my Saturday hunting down a jar of what is essentially, thick juice. (As aforementioned, we’re going for minimal time commitment, maximum flavor here.) As any amateur chef cooking an international dish does, I took to the internet. Chef Google said that balsamic vinegar or any red fruit jam could work as a substitute. I grabbed a jar of raspberry jam, and thought “good enough.”

In hindsight, I would have used less jam then I did. I used the same amount of jam as pomegranate molasses that the recipe called for, forgetting that it is probably sweeter than needed. I added a bit more of all of the dry seasonings and a heck of a lot of salt and pepper, and it was still delicious. The chicken was moist, and the sauce itself had a fun texture due to the toasted and crushed walnuts. The smokiness of the nuts paired with the sweetness of the fruit jam/juice and the savory chicken was quite the experience for my taste buds. We put it on top of some “jasmati” rice and garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds and parsley — a must if you want it to look as beautiful as in the cookbook.

I would give this recipe a 7.2/10. If I try it again, maybe I will put in the effort to get that pomegranate molasses. I owe it to Antoni. 🙂