A Little KicK

Recently I came across this intriguing recipe in one of my cooking magazines. It was an ad for McCormick spice products. I thought a recipe using Roasted Saigon Cinnamon would be interesting in this Moroccan type of stew. Some of the ingredients I had to substitute with what I had on hand. I loved the results which defiantly had a bit of kick to it! Perhaps if you are feeling adventuresome in your cooking you might want to try it.

Cinnamon-Stewed Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. Roasted Saigon Cinnamon (spice aisle)
• 1 tsp. Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp. coarse grind black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. Allspice
• 1/2 package frozen chicken tenderloins ( FYI... Cub has on sale this week)
• 1 TB. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1-2 TB. minced garlic
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 dry white wine
• 2 cups water ( I used chicken broth)
• 1- 6 0z. can tomato paste
• 2 tsp. ground oregano leaves
• chopped cherry tomatoes
• 1 1/4 cup Arborio rice
• 1- 6 0z. package dried cherries or chopped dried apricots or raisins- I used dried cherries and thought it was a nice balance to the tomato sauce with chicken

Directions:

• Mix salt, pepper, cinnamon, allspice in a small bowl
• Spread chicken pieces out on a cookie sheet and partially thaw about a 1/2 hour-sprinkle spice mixture over chicken to coat each piece
• In a large deep fry pan at medium heat: add olive oil, minced garlic, onions, celery, pine nuts and chicken and cook about 15 minutes
• Stir in wine and cook till almost evaporated
• Stir in tomato paste, chicken broth or water, oregano, tomatoes, dried fruit and rice
• Bring to a boil
• Cover and place on a very low heat. Simmer about 3-4- minutes
• More water may be added since rice does absorb a lot of the liquid
• Make sure rice is cooked before removing from stove and serving

Enjoy!

Note: Can skip adding rice directly to stew and serve chicken/sauce over Coriander rice