Sephardic Chicken Soup with Couscous

I'm feeling sick and am in dire need of chicken soup. Before diving into bed before 9 pm (fun, right), I decided to put a spin on the usual mild Ashkenazi version my bubbe used to make. I've read about the healing properties of turmeric and have been looking for a use for that bright yellow bottle in my cupboard, so went for a Sephardi adaptation. Note that I'm rather congested, so my taste buds were a little bit numb (you may want to adapt the spice proportions to your tastes).

2 chicken breasts (with skin and bones)
2 bullion cubes
5 cups water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp turmeric
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp crushed lemongrass (I bought a tube in the refrigerated section by the herbs at my grocery store)
2 bay leaves
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3/4 lbs carrots, roughly cut into 1 1/2 inch coins (I leave the skin on)
1 lbs celery stalks, roughly cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved.
1 whole garlic clove
1 cup uncooked couscous
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Add water, chicken, spices (except for cilantro, salt and pepper), vegetables and garlic to stock pot. Cook at a low simmer for an hour and a half.  Remove bay leaves and chicken breasts to debone, take off the skin and roughly cut chicken. Return chicken pieces to pot and add couscous. Let cook for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring before removing from heat and covering pot. Allow to sit for 3-4 minutes and add lemon juice and cilantro.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I'm not entirely sure where my mom found this recipe, but she makes a pretty great sweet and sour chicken. It's a bit time consuming to make since you have to batter and fry the chicken, but I think it's worth it for the final product.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breast

1 large green pepper cubed

1 large red pepper cubed

1 large yellow onion cut in large pieces

1 can sliced water chestnuts

1 1/2 cups bean sprouts

1 pineapple, chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Batter:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup water

2 eggs

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

Sauce:

4 tsp cornstarch dissolved into 1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup of sugar

8 tsp

1/2 cup ketchup
8 tsp soy sauce
3 tsp vegetable oil

Mix together sauce ingredients and reserve. Heat oil in a deep wok. Cut chicken into 1 inc pieces. Mix batter and dip chicken into batter. Once oil has heated to 350, fry chicken and flip after 2-4 minutes on each side until evenly browned and remove from oil. Add peppers, onion, chestnuts, and pineapple to oil and stir-fry for 4 minutes. Add sauce to veggies and cook for another 2 minutes. Return chicken to wok and toss with vegetables until chicken is evenly coated with sauce. Serve over steamed rice.

Chicken Enchiladas

These took a while to make (had to simmer the filing for about an hour to get it nice and tender), but they were well worth the wait.

Kyler slathered his in cheese....

I didn't because I'm not a huge queso fan (pardon the shadow here)...

Chicken filling:
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 red pepper sliced into strips
1/2 green pepper sliced into strips
1 small yellow onion diced
1 clove crushed garlic
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 diced medium sized tomato
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in medium saucepan and add onions and garlic. Cook until brown and then add peppers, tomato, seasonings, chicken and broth. Stir and simmer at a medium low heat. After about 45 minutes, remove chicken breasts, shred and return to pan. Cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Enchiladas (not so homemade...ew, I'm like crazy Sandra Lee!):
1 package fresh tortillas
28 ounce can of enchilada sauce (we went with mild red by La Victoria)

Heat enchilada sauce in a shallow pan. Cover the bottom of a deep baking dish with sauce. Dip each tortilla individually in the warm sauce, roll chicken mixture in tortilla (keeping the meat all on one side before rolling is a good way to keep them from falling apart). Line rolled tortillas up side-by-side in pan. Top with remaining sauce and top with as much, little or no cheese at all. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes.