Fesenjan and Sweet Potatoes with Celery Walnut Blueberry Salad

Apparently I didn't bring enough to do this first week of Christmas break. I think I've forgotten how to just relax for long periods of time. So now I'm cooking (and blogging about cooking) at the in-laws. Maybe I should start a cooking tv show, that would be an awesome name for a cooking show, no? Cooking at the in-laws - it involves a stocked fridge, freezer and pantry and me figuring out what I can make in the kitchen.

Tonight, I decided I would whip out a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen for Sweet Potatoes with a delicious celery salad topping. I made it last week, before we left for the holidays, and I do believe it is my new favourite side dish. I had made it before with variations in the salad topping, dried cherries instead of dried blueberries but only because I had them leftover from the Chocolate Cherry Breakfast bread I was making. I also served it with very simple chinese-five-spice and honey rubbed chicken breasts. This time around, being as I had more time on my hands I decided I would make Fesenjan, which I had made a few years ago when I was still personal-cheffing (whatever accept my lexicon and get over it - I cheffed - its a new verb.) 

Fesenjan is a delicious middle eastern chicken dish with pomegranate and walnut sauce. It has a lovely complex flavour and the sauce is very hearty as its thickened with ground walnuts but has a very pretty colour from the pomegranate juice. You can find all kinds of variations on the web. It typically includes pomegranate molasses, and although pomegranates have become fairly commonplace these days, I still haven't been able to lay my hands on pomegranate molasses -if you see some let me know. Instead I just use pomegranate juice and some honey and let the sauce boil longer.

The roasted sweet potatoes -disregard the oil, most of it ends up staying in the pan,  but look at how gorgeous they brown up.

Sweet Potatoes with Celery Walnut Blueberry Salad Topping

Sweet potatoes cut into 2 cm rounds

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

3 ribs of celery, diced

1/2 c. dried blueberries

1/2 c. toasted walnut pieces

1/2 c. crumbled stilton or other blue cheese

1. Set oven to 450 F. 

2. Oil a baking sheet generously - like 1/3 c. generously (I know it seems like a lot but most of it will stay on the sheet and it will really brown up your sweet potato rounds). Place your sweet potato rounds on the sheet and season them with salt and pepper. 

3. Bake until the first side is brown and blistered then flip and season the other side. They'll likely take 10-15 minutes a side.

4. While the sweet potatoes are baking, make the salad topping by just throwing all the ingredients together in a bowl. Consider changing out any of the ingredients for something else; for instance if you aren't a big fan of blue cheese try goat cheese or aged cheddar. You could always try toasted pecans or almonds in place of the walnuts and like I said earlier, dried cherries are really good in place of the blueberries, or maybe even raisins.

5. Serve the sweet potato rounds with the salad topping heaped on top.

A simmering pan of Fesenjan. So delicious.

Fesenjan (Pomegranate Walnut Chicken)

4 chicken breasts

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 red onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp. tomato paste

3/4 c. ground walnuts

1 1/2 c. pomegranate juice

2 tbsp. honey

1 c. chicken stock

Salt and Pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Season the chicken breasts and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken breasts from the pan. 

2. Saute the onion until translucent, add the garlic and saute for a minute more. 

3. Add the tomato paste and cook it for 2-3 minutes or until the colour deepens and its not raw anymore.  

4. Stir in the ground walnuts, then the pomegranate juice, honey and chicken stock.  Let this mixture come to a simmer. Add back in the chicken breasts and let the whole lot simmer away for 10-15 minutes,  continuing to stir frequently. The sauce should thicken up nicely.

Bon Appetit!