For many years I led a program that brought Catholic School High School teachers to Israel to give them an opportunity to see the country outside of the very narrow focus that was available to them in the news. The hope was that it would give a more balanced and broader perspective to present to their students. I was fortunate enough to have kept up with some of the teachers even after I had retired. My husband and I hosted one of the teachers along with her husband for dinner last week and as food was always a highlight of the trip, I decided to make a Middle Eastern meal. I had homemade hummus, “burnt” eggplant with garlic, lemon and pomegranate seeds, kohlrabi salad, pita and this roasted chicken served with basmati rice. The chicken essentially is a sheet-pan meal, which is prepped the night before and then cooked an hour before serving. It comes from Jerusalem, A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi that was given to me as a gift by my niece. I made a few changes, mostly in proportions, but the biggest change was in the temperature that I used to cook the dish. Ottolenghi suggests cooking everything at 475 degrees F. but I found that was much too high and would have resulted in burnt skin and under-done chicken. I cooked mine at 400 degrees F. The other major change I made was that I did not cook my chicken in the sauce. I poured the marinating liquid into a saucepan and cooked it separately on the stove. It was much less messy than trying to pour off the hot sauce later to reduce and I knew that the chicken would be moist enough from the marinade that it didn’t need to cook in the liquid, which also allowed my skin to become truly crispy, which I like. The recipe can be made with Arak, Ouzo or Pernod, all of which have an anise base. Arak would be used in Israel, but I had Ouzo on hand and used that successfully. This dish definite qualifies as comfort food and can easily be increased for a crowd. Left-overs warmed in a 250 degree F oven were wonderful so don’t worry if this makes more than you need immediately.

Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Arak, Ouzo or Pernod

1/2 cup of EVOO

6 Tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

6 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup Dijon or whole grain mustard

6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

3 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into 8 wedges each

6 chicken thighs, bone-in with skin

4 chicken breasts, bone-in with skin

8 small clementines with the peel, cut horizontally into thick slices (usually 3 slices per clementine)

2 Tablespoons thyme leaves

1 Tablespoon fennel seeds

1 Tablespoon Kosher salt and 1.5 teaspoons Aleppo pepper or to taste

Directions

1. Mix together the first 6 ingredients. Add the salt and Aleppo pepper and whisk to combine. Using 2 sets of doubled freezer bags (no clean-up!) divide the chicken between the bags. (You can use a glass or stainless bowl if you prefer.) Divide the fennel bulbs and clementine slices between the bags. Pour half of the marinating mixture into each bag. Using your hand, carefully mix everything through, trying not to smush the clementines or break up the fennel wedges. Alternatively you can carefully seal the bags and holding it over the sink, gently massage everything in the bag. Place the sealed bags standing up in the fridge. Ideally this is done the night before, but it can be done a few hours before if that is all the time you have.
2. When you are ready to cook the chicken, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. and raise the oven rack to the next to top space. I used two pans and two ovens to make this much chicken but you can use one oven rotating the pans as needed.
3. I covered two sheet pans with heavy duty foil (again – no clean-up!) I liked that these pans weren’t super deep which allowed everything to get really good color and a crispy skin on the chicken.
4. I carefully opened a corner of the freezer bags and poured the marinating liquid into a small saucepan. I then places the chicken pieces, skin side up on the pans and placed the fennel wedges and clementines around the chicken, but not covering the chicken. I roasted everything for about 45 minutes or until the skin was crackling and everything had great color. This is one time when you really want to eat the skin!
5. While the chicken was cooking, I brought the marinating liquid to a boil, uncovered. I boiled the liquid down by about half and set it aside until I was ready to serve. when the chicken was ready, I brought the sauce to a simmer and spooned it over the top after plating. 

I came across this recipe on the Food52 website and it caught my eye. Lamb is my favorite meat and we eat a lot of it in our house.  Don’t get put-off by the seemingly long list of ingredients. This recipe came together fairly quickly although I did make some modifications from the original. I also added some Basmati rice to make what I considered a satisfying meal. If you prefer to simply serve it with a good pita or naan that would also work. Clean-up was minimal since the lamb and cauliflower cook on the same pan, lined with aluminum foil. And, if like me, you do a lot of Middle Eastern and Indian cooking, you should have the spices, tahini and pomegranate molasses on hand. The tahini-yogurt sauce makes more than you will need, but it is wonderful with any grilled or roasted meat or vegetables and thinned further can be used as a salad dressing.

Lamb Meatballs with Cauliflower by Emily C and modified by me

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For lamb meatballs

1.5 pounds ground lamb

1 teaspoon each: Aleppo pepper, ground cumin, fennel seed, Kosher salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1.5 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt (2% or full-fat only please)

2 teaspoons garlic cloves, minced or crushed

3-4 Tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

Olive oil or Grapeseed oil for greasing the pan

For cauliflower

1 large head of cauliflower (about 2.5 pounds), cut or broken into small florets

About 3 Tablespoons EVOO

2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses (available online and in Middle Eastern grocery stores)

1 teaspoon Kosher salt or more to taste

1.5 teaspoons ground cumin

For Tahini-Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup tahini

3 Tablespoons Greek yogurt (2% or full-fat)

Juice of 2 lemons

1 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses

Kosher salt and Aleppo pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Tap water for thinning the sauce (How much you use will depend on the tahini that you are using and your own personal taste as to how thin you like your sauce. Start with about 1/2 cup. The sauce will also thicken a bit over time so if you make this ahead, you may add more water before serving.)

2 Tablespoons of pomegranate arils (that’s the good stuff!)

1/4 chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro for serving

Directions

1. Heat broiler and place rack towards the top of your oven. If you don’t have a broiler, you can heat your oven to 425 degrees F. and it should still be fine. Line a large rimmed pan with heavy duty aluminum foil – unless you love doing dishes! Drizzle the foil with the oil.
2. In a large glass or stainless steel bowl (I always use these when dealing with raw meat.) combine all of the ingredients for the lamb meatballs with the exception of the oil. Use your hands to combine everything. Then shape the meatballs, using about 2 Tablespoons of mixture at a time. Place the meatballs on the greased pan. Gently roll the balls to lightly coat with the oil. Broil the meatballs, turning once, until they are browned and cooked through. This will depend on the temperature you use and the individuality of your oven. They should take about 10 minutes. Mine took a bit longer.
3. While the meatballs are cooking, toss the cauliflower with the flavorings and oil and set aside.
4. Remove the cooked meatballs to a platter that has cooked, hot Basmati rice on it (if using). Cover the platter with foil to keep hot while you cook the cauliflower.
5. Pour the cauliflower in a single layer onto the same pan, in the juices left behind from the lamb meatballs. Return to the broiler and cook for between 6-10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and has begun to brown. 
6. While the cauliflower cooks (although this can easily be made ahead and refrigerated) mix together the ingredients for the tahini yogurt sauce. Be sure to stir the tahini well before adding anything else to it. I find a wire whisk works best. 
7. When the cauliflower is cooked, add it to the platter with lamb meatballs and rice. Sprinkle the parsley or cilantro and the pomegranate arils on top and serve the sauce on the side.