Skip to main content

Featured Post

My cookbook: "Tehran to New York"

On the Norouz day of 2020 spring, I finally published my book. The manuscript is titled: "Tehran to New York: A culinary bridge between Persian and Western cultures" and aims at presenting a unique blend of classic and contemporary Persian recipes, as well as samples of Western-style cuisine, offered in a Persian context. It is important to build bridges between cultures, and not walls. This book aims at constructing a bridge between the Persian and Western cultures. The book may be ordered here: https://www.amazon.com/Tehran-New-York-culinary-cultures-ebook/dp/B0861H47GS/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tehran+to+new+york&qid=1584810930&sr=8-1  

Pistachio chicken thigh Ballotine

Cooking skills can greatly elevate cheap ingredients to fancy looking restaurant style dishes. An example of such technique is the French style ballotine of chicken thighs, for which chicken thighs are de-boned and then re-stuffed with a mixture of seasoned meat. Presented here is a version which is inspired by Persian charcuterie and hence has whole pistachio nuts in the stuffing.   
Ingredients:
4 medium chicken thighs
2 TBSP butter
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1/2 cup whole pistachio nuts, shelled
1/2 TSP salt (for the stuffing)

Carefully peel the skin of each thigh. Stretch the skin and evenly spread on the board and season with salt. De-bone the remaining thigh. Keep the bone and trimmings for a stock.
Sauté the shallot in butter until translucent (red onion is seen here; shallots are far more preferred).
Coarsely process the thigh meat, salt, and the onion mixture. Season with a few drops of high quality vinegar.
Add the pistachio and mix.
Place a quarter of the meat mixture on each skin and roll the skin around the filling.
Arrange the stuffed skins on a tray (crack-side-down).
Bake in a preheated 450 F (~230 C) for twenty to thirty minutes.
I also made a saffron jus with the stock which was made from the bones.

Comments