Eat Something Good

I was so excited when I found this recipe.  It was wonderful to see cinnamon listed as the first ingredient.  And they used a good quantity.  2 teaspoons.  The first time I had a savory food involving cinnamon was in a mexican restaurant.  It was called Boxcar Cantina (Greenwich, CT).  I remember that it was pretty crowded when I was there with my then boyfriend who I dislike a great deal.  It was decorated nicely too.  It didn’t have a cheesy festive flair as many do.  It was more elegant.  But then again, this was ten years ago so I don’t remember.  What I remember is that it offered a side dish of cinnamon flavored rice.  It was sooo good and I was surprised by how well the spice complimented the meal.  I never had it again and I’ve never seen it offered on another menu.  So when I stumbled across the recipe by Martha Stewart, I knew I had to try it.

cinnamon-spiced moroccan chicken

To cook, I threw spices into a bag.  Cinnamon, ground cumin, ground tumeric, chili powder & salt.  I shook up the boneless chicken breasts one at a time and fried them over medium heat until they browned nicely.  It got a little tricky because the spices “hid” the doneness of the chicken.  It was browned beautifully in a not so long time.  I found that I had to continue cooking after inserting a thermometer.  Thank god for those.  Any good chef will have one in his/her jacket pocket.  It’s used a lot and quite helpful.  So the next part involves apples & dates.  I diced Granny Smith apples into messy, little, sorta cubes and then substituted golden raisins for dates.  I don’t love dates and the recipe allowed the substitution.  It actually suggested it.  So you throw in some more cinnamon over the apples which are sauteed for a very short time and the whole thing was served with rice & carrots.

Okay, I didn’t love it and I’ll tell you why.  It was the apples.  I thought the slightly sweet combination of the chicken & apples was going to be a hit.  Actually, this dish would probably be better with pork chops.  You know the common combination of pork chops with apple sauce, right?  This would be a little twist on that.  The chicken was spiced nicely enough.  It wasn’t outstanding and I wouldn’t have minded a little kick to it.  Not too sharp or dry tasting though.  Steve really liked the dish.  He said the chicken was slighty dry though.  He loved the apple part.  I sorta liked the combination but I would’ve preferred a little sauce to go around the apples.  I keep thinking of like an apple pie filling that sits in that sticky, syrup ee stuff.  I think it would distribute quite nicely over the chicken and make it easier to eat.  You don’t have to stab firm apples to enjoy it with the chicken.  The sauce would just coat the whole thing.  Also, I would like the apples more done, to be softer.  That thought makes me think, Yum!  The rice & carrots were easy to prepare and turned out just fine.  This dish needed a decent amount of salt to bring out the flavors.  I will be using this outside rub combination again.  Steve really liked it and so did I.

Go here to see a menu from Boxcar Cantina (Greenwich, CT).

A word.  There’s no cinnamon rice on the menu.  It seems as though they’ve gone healthy and organic.  Almost every side involves brown rice.

Here’s the Martha Stewart recipe for Cinnamon-spiced Moroccan chicken.

Alrighty kitty cats, it’s time for me to meowsy along.  Get it?  Ha!  I don’t know if I spelled it correctly but I hope you get the point.  I know it’s a really bad joke.  I’m very parched right now and I must go quench my thirst.  Until next time, as always, Eat Something Good!