2007 Pullet Surprise Entry for Poultry Excellence

My friends over at Peanut Butter Etouffee are sponsoring an event called the The 2007 Pullet Surprise for Poultry Excellence.

This event is in celebration of 10,000 visits to their site. All I have to do is post a poultry recipe which is one of my favorites and guaranteed to please. When I first read about this event my thoughts included two different chicken preps I wanted to showcase. One was chicken cooked in a clay baking dish and the other is obviously what I'm posting about, an Ethiopian inspired dish called "Doro Wat" or simply spicy braised chicken stew. May I confess that I had not made this dish prior to today. Weeks ago I did surf the net for recipes and info on how to prepare this dish. I did make my own Berbere, a hot pepper seasoning which is a combination of spices and heat used in many Ethiopian dishes. From many recipes I present my version of Doro Wat.



I adapted a recipe from Recipezaar for the berbere

Berbere
1 teaspoon Ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon Allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground coriander
2 tablespoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground fenugreek seeds
1 1/4 cups Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon Grated nutmeg
1/2 cup Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Ground cloves
1 tsp Turmeric
1 teaspoon Fresh ground black pepper

Toast the ground spices together over a low heat for 4 to 5 minutes: ginger, cardamom, coriander, fenugreek, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Shake or stir to prevent burning. Add the salt, cayenne pepper, paprika and fresh ground black pepper and continue toasting and stirring for 10 to 15 more minutes. Do not burn.

Store in tightly covered glass jar.
Refrigerated it is good for 5 or 6 months.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

For the Doro Wat, I couldn't find single recipe so I improvised and came up with this one which rocks. It's not often that you taste something you cook and say "damn that's good". For this I did. For this I give a must make again and again-it was that good. Note it is not diet food. I used butter and ghee plus I kept the skin of the chicken on.



Doro Wat (Ethiopian Chicken Stew)

1 whole chicken halved
1 lemon- juiced
8 ounces Tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 Stick butter
3 Tb Ghee
4 Hard boiled eggs (or more- one per serving)
3 medium size onions coarsely chopped
1 medium size bell pepper coarsely chopped
4 Cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon Ground black pepper
3 Tb prepared berbere

Make red pepper paste by combining tomato sauce, red wine, berbere. Reserve.

Score each chicken half slightly with a knife. Soak in lemon juice plus enough water to cover for about 15 minutes.



In a large stew pot, melt the butter and ghee, then saute the onions and garlic for about five minutes. Add bell pepper and saute about 3-5 minutes mores.


Add red pepper paste stirring occasionally while the mixture simmers about 15 minutes. Add enough water to keep mixutre a stew consistency.


Place chicken halves in pot coating well with the sauce. Continue to simmer, adding enough water to maintain the consistency of a thick soup. When chicken is half done, after about 20 minutes, put in the hard boiled eggs.



Cover and continue cooking until the chicken is tender. The dish is ready when the oil has risen to the top. Add black pepper and let sit until slightly cooled. Adjust to taste with salt.

Makes enough to serve 4 to 6.