Spicy Tripolitan Chicken and Vegetable Tbeha

One of the biggest sacrifices I've made during residency is the time apart from family and loved ones. Though we have a rather high level of baseline dysfunction, I adore my family and cherish the time I can spend with them. What I miss the most is definitely our weekly Friday night shabbat dinners. For those who have never celebrated, shabbat is a Jewish holiday that occurs every week, from Friday evening until sundown on Saturday. Like other holidays, religious or secular, there are lots of family traditions, many related to food. (Obviously...This is a food blog).

Shabbat Challah	Salmon in Chriameh Sauce	Matzo Ball Soup
Stuffed Artichoke with Peas & Dill	"Traditional" Beef Tbeha	Saffron Rice w/ Barberries & Pistachios

Before we move on, I need to give a shoutout to my beautiful mother.  Whether cooking just for herself and my father or for the times when a giant table needs to be set up in the foyer to accommodate everyone, she makes a lavish feast each and every week. My over the top approach to entertaining and the need to throw elaborate dinner parties certainly comes from my mother, though I take it to extremes that we won't discuss here.

Radiant inside and out

My lovely parents and a makeshift table set in the foyer

Anyone who attends a shabbat dinner, or really any holiday meal with my family will likely overeat, drink one (probably two) glasses of wine too many...perhaps even break out into spontaneous song and dance. We *always have a great time. (*That of course omits any memories of the many family fights, yelling matches, table flipping, and meltdowns. Nope, none of that in my sugar-coated fairytale family).

For me, what truly embodies shabbat, and can instantly bring me back home...sitting with my parents and siblings at the dining room table...is a bowl of my family's signature Libyan stew, better known as tbeha (pictured above). Tbeha is actually a broad term for many stews from Tripoli, where my family is from. But the version my family makes week after week (since before I was born) is made with flanken, sweet and white potatoes, and green beans cooked in a slightly sweet and spicy tomato sauce seasoned with baharat (Middle Eastern spice blend) as well as hot and sweet paprika. Served over couscous. It's amazing (and definitely a future blog post).

My sister doesn't eat red meat, so my mom make a second tbeha every week using chicken. She uses boneless chicken thighs that most butchers can prepare, but I just use thighs and legs still on the bone. The vegetables in the chicken version are usually the same as the beef tbeha, but during the summer I enjoy putting a seasonal twist on the dish. I made this tbeha with potato, zucchini, chickpeas, English peas, and haricot vert. Serve it over wholewheat couscous to complete this heart healthy, well balanced, and ridiculously delicious meal.

Chicken and vegetable tbeha	Shabbat feast

Tips/Tricks to Make the Perfect Chicken and Vegetable Tbeha:

• Make sure you have a good quality, large (at least 8 quart) pot with a lid. 
• If your pot is too small, the food won't cook evenly and the bottom may burn. 
• The stew may also overflow and spill all over your stove and counters. (Flashback to college..It's a huge mess).
•   You can find baharat online or at specialty markets, but if you have a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, it's really easy to blend yourself.
• The chicken on the bone tends to fall apart easily
•  Minimize stirring while cooking. Instead, shake the pot back and forth to mix. 
• Also, be careful while serving. To serve, you may find it easier to transfer the top layers of vegetables to a different bowl so that you can more easily access the chicken.
• If you prefer chicken without skin or bones, you can have your butcher cut you boneless, skinless chicken thighs. White meat will dry out. 
• The recipe as written is mild. I prefer it hotter.
• For a spicier dish, adjust the proportions of sweet to hot paprika.
• Add more hot and less sweet paprika for a nice kick
• Use fresh ingredients when possible
• It's okay to use frozen peas
• Don't use frozen haricot vert or green beans. Better to omit the ingredient. 
• I use canned chickpeas, but dried are also great. 
• To substitute canned for dried chickpeas:
• Soak dried chickpeas in water overnight. (~1/4 cup dried chickpeas to replace one 15.5 oz can).
• Drain and rinse.
• Place chickpeas in a pot, cover with plenty of water, add a pinch of kosher salt (about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp), bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
• Cook until softened, but not mushy. (45-60 minutes, but may take longer).
• Drain and set aside.
• Make plenty of couscous and pour generous amount of tbeha sauce on each plate. 

Chicken and Vegetable Tbeha Ingredients:

• 4 pounds chicken legs and thighs, fat trimmed
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste 
• 1.5 tablespoons (plus extra) sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons (plus extra) hot paprika
• 1.5 tablespoons (plus extra) baharat (recipe follows)
• 3 Yukon Gold or all-purpose potatoes, pealed, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise in halves or thirds
• 2 zucchinis, peeled and cut into chunks roughly the size of the potato pieces 
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black paper
• 1(15.5 oz) can salt free chickpeas, drained (or 1/4 cup dried chickpeas, cooked per instructions above).  
• May add up to 2 cans chickpeas, if desired. 
• 1 pound green peas (fresh or frozen)
• 2/3 to 1 pound haricot vert (or green beans), ends trimmed
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Couscous (for serving)

Baharat Spice Blend:
Ingredients: 

• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 small cinnamon stick, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 1/2 whole nutmeg, grated

Recipe:
Combine the baharat ingredients in a spice grinder and grind finely. Store in an airtight container.


Chicken and Vegetable Tbeha Recipe:
Heat olive oil in a large pot (at least 8 quart capacity) over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste followed by sweet paprika, hot paprika, and baharat. Add 2 cups of water, mixing until well combined. Layer the chicken on top of the tomato sauce. Next add the potatoes followed by the zucchini. Add enough water to just barely cover the the vegetables, about 4 cups. Add 1.5 tablespoon of kosher salt and a pinch of black pepper. Bring to a gentle boil and cook covered for 30 minutes.

Add the chickpeas, green peas, parsley, 1/4 tablespoon hot paprika, 1/4 tablespoon sweet paprika, 1/4 tablespoon baharat, and 1/4 tablespoon kosher salt. Mix gently by shaking the pot back and forth till combined. Taste sauce and add more salt as needed. Add a layer of haricot vert to the simmering stew, making sure each bean is at least partially submerged in sauce. Do not overfill the pot.

Bring the sauce back to a boil, then lower heat and simmer partially covered until the vegetables are soft, about 1 hour. Shake the pot occasionally to mix.  Carefully serve tbeha over couscous.  Avoid over mixing or digging deep into the stew to prevent breaking apart the chicken and making "chop suey" out of the vegetables.

Salmon in Chriameh Sauce

To start, I'm of Libyan-Jewish background and I grew up eating a dish called chriameh, which is fish cooked in a spicy tomato sauce.  I have fond memories of my Libyan-grandmother making mass quantities for Shabbat dinner to serve her 16 children (plus their spouses, children and grandchildren). It was astonishing.

On a whim, I tried Yotam Ottolenghi's version from his book Jerusalem. It has similar ingredients to my own family "recipe," but is different as ours is not written down anywhere and measurements are all eyeballed. I've had many friends request my chriameh recipe, but giving instructions on a dish with very imprecise quantities is challenging. But now, thanks to the brilliant Ottolenghi (you'll eventually realize I am slightly obsessed), I have found the perfect recipe to recommend to my friends, patients, and (blog readers? ha)... It's savory. It's spicy. It's the real deal!  Guaranteed to make you feel warm and happy inside. And it's also good for you!

[Tangent] Many (but not all) my dishes focus on heart-healthy, often Mediterranean style foods. If you couldn't guess from the blog name, I'm an Internal Medicine resident at Emory University with an interest in Preventative Medicine and Cardiology. Healthy cooking (without sacrificing taste) is right up my alley, so that's sort of the direction I plan to focus my blogging. Though I have some great..uhh..less healthy recipes that are too good not to share. Life's all about moderation, right?
  

Anyway, back to the chriameh...Though we usually serve this fish as an appetizer on Friday evenings, it most definitely can (and should) be made as a main course. Truthfully, it deserves all the limelight! It should be served with couscous, rice, challah bread, or even matzo on Passover. Really any vessel that allows you to enjoy every last lick of delicious red sauce is appropriate. It's traditionally served with white fish (sea bass, halibut, snapper, tilapia, etc), but I very much prefer making it with salmon. Salmon is my favorite fish (probably food in general), so many more salmon posts to come! You should cook the dish in a large, round frying pan with a lid. I used a 3 quart cast iron enamel paella pan, but any pan that distributes heat evenly is perfect.

Below is the recipe, but first here are a few tricks/tips to make the perfect salmon chriameh. 

1. Quality salmon is best enjoyed medium-rare (or rarer).
•  It's okay to prepare the sauce ahead of time, but the salmon should be cooked just before serving!
• I suggest only cooking the fish for 7 minutes as it will continue to cook in its sauce.
2. For those making this in advanced for Shabbat and plan to use a warming plate, you should significantly cut back on the cooking time or you'll dry out the fish!
• There are very few things worse than dry fish.
• At least for salmon chriameh, I'd probably keep the fish close to raw in the middle as it will continue cooking on the warmer for several hours before it's served. This should result in a beautiful salmon cooked to medium rather than a well-done misery. Gross.
3. White fish dries out quite easily.
•  So cook times are especially important!
• I'd still recommend salmon, though, for its superior taste as well as its "good" fats.
4. This recipe is not complicated, but has a bunch of ingredients. I always do all the prep before starting so that I have a mise en place to keep me organized.
1. Measure out all spices ahead of time and organize them into mini bowls or a little platter
2. Wash, cut, peal, etc any veggies
3. Read the recipe in its entirely at least once before starting

Chriameh Ingredients:

• Scant 1/2 cup sunflower oil (I prefer olive oil)
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour (Optional. I generally omit)
• 1 lb salmon fillets (skin on) cut into 3-4 equal sized pieces
• Alternatively may use white fish (sea bass, halibut, snapper, tilapia, etc)
• 6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp caraway seeds, dry toasted and freshly ground (fresh pre-ground spices are ok if grinding isn't your idea of fun, but worth trying at some point)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (a bit more if you want it extra spicy)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 green chili, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp superfine sugar
• 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges, plus 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chriameh Recipe:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat in a large frying pan with a lid
• (Option 1): Place the flour in a shallow bowl seasoned generously with salt and pepper
• Toss the fish in it
• Shake off the excess flour
• (Option 2): Skip the flour and just season both sides of fish with salt and pepper
• Sear the fish for a minute or two on each side, until golden
• Remove the fish and wipe the pan clean
• Place garlic, spices, chili and 2 tablespoons of oil in a food processor and blitz to form a thick paste. Add a bit more oil if needed to combine the ingredients
• Pour the remaining oil in the frying pan, heat well, and add the spice paste
• Stir and fry for just 30 seconds, so that the spices don't burn
• Carefully add the water and tomato paste to stop the spices from cooking further
• Bring the sauce to a simmer and add sugar, lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and some pepper
• Season to taste
• Put the fish in the sauce, bring to a gentle simmer, cover the pan and cook for 7 to 11 minutes
• Cook time will vary depending on thickness of fish, but cook till just done (or slightly under done)
• Remove the pan from heat, take off the lid, and allow to cool slightly
• Serve the fish just warm or at room temperature with cilantro and lemon wedges as garnish