Recipe: Holiday Honey Chicken and Simmered Black Eyed Peas with Tomatoes

When we heard about Marcie Cohen Ferris‘ book Matzoh Ball Gumbo we knew it was a perfect match for Good Food. The book marries the rich traditions of Southern Cooking and Jewish Food. With Rosh Hashanah on the horizon we thought we’d find out what’s going to be on Marcie’s table this Sunday to celebrate the Jewish New Year. Listen this Saturday for Evan’s interview with Marcie and keep reading for her recipes for Holiday Honey Chicken and Simmered Black Eyed Peas with Tomatoes.

Holiday Honey Chicken with Fruit

Huddy Horowitz Cohen, Blytheville, Arkansas

My mother, Huddy Cohen, prepares this chicken for Sabbath and High Holiday meals. In the past she made it in larger quantities to serve at congregational holiday dinners at our synagogue, Temple Israel, in Blytheville, Arkansas. Mom makes a dried-fruit compote that I love, so I decided to combine both recipes here, making a really colorful dish. As this cooks, stir it a few times so the fruit stays below the juices and doesn’t burn. This makes lots of juice, so you will want to serve it with fluffy white rice. (I’m partial to Carolina Gold Rice.)

• 2 cups orange juice

• 1 cup honey

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1 to 2 tablespoons grainy mustard

• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 8 5- to 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves, trimmed

• 1 cup pitted prunes

• 1 cup dried apricot halves

In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, honey, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper. Place the chicken breasts in a shallow glass dish or a large zip-top freezer bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken, or seal and squish the bag to coat it. (If using a bag, place in a bowl to guard against leaks.)

Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

To bake, preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a large roasting pan. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the prepared pan, and scatter the dried fruit over and around the chicken. Pour half of the marinade over the chicken, discarding the remainder.

Bake, basting the chicken and pressing the fruit down into the juices once or twice, until the chicken is no longer pink in the thickest part, about 45 minutes. Serve the chicken with the fruit and pan juices.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Simmered Black-Eyed Peas with Tomatoes

Congregation Or VeShalom Sisterhood, Atlanta, Georgia

This recipe is adapted from the sisterhood’s synagogue cookbook, The Sephardic Cooks. It is traditional to serve these peas with ‘‘pink rice,’’ Sephardicstyle rice cooked with a bit of tomato sauce. Miriam Cohen, a longtime member of the Sephardic community in Montgomery, Alabama, told me, ‘‘You know, when I cook pink rice, my son says, ‘This is Jewish soul food!’ It is, you know.’’

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 medium tomato, chopped

• ½ teaspoon dried thyme

• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 boxes (10 ounces each) frozen black-eyed peas; if you use fresh peas, add more water if necessary

• 1 ¼ cups water

In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the tomato starts to soften, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the black-eyed peas and water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the peas are tender, about 30 minutes. Taste and correct the seasoning, if necessary. Serve the peas hot or warm.

Makes 6 to 8 side-dish servings, 4 cups.

All recipes from MATZOH BALL GUMBO: CULINARY TALES OF THE JEWISH SOUTH. Copyright © 2005 by Marcie Cohen Ferris. Used by permission of the University of North Carolina Press. www.uncpress.unc.edu