Oh captain, my captain: Country Captain

Ciao ragazzi, and a great big "mi dispiace" from Annalena for abandoning you for so long. This has been a revolutionary week in Annalena's life, as she ended a relationship of 12, or 26 years, depending on your point of view and moved on.

No, fear not. She did not move out on the Guy man, nor did the Guy man move out on her. Rather, Annalena made either the second, or third job change of her long working career this week. I began my first professional job in 1981, and then moved on in 1984. Then, depending on how you look at it, I either moved to a new job in 1998, or continued with my old one, as my company was absorbed into a larger one. Now, in 2011, I move on again, going back to my routes. A change from a firm of over 900 lawyers and many offices, to one of 45 and one. Culture shock? No. But culture change. For the better. Annalena is happy.

But the week being what it was, I was unable to bring you this recipe, which I have been meaning to. Background and digressions, first.
Many of you know how Annalena is absolutely fascinated with American "culturalisms" when it comes to food. Sourdough in San Francisco, bagels in New York, chili everywhere, apple pie everywhere, and so on and so forth. And there is always something new to learn.

Some months ago, on a menu inspired by James Beard, "country captain" appeared. Now, James Beard is one of Annalena's culinary idols. Arguably, he is the founder of American food. So if he inspired the menu and the dish is linked to him, Annalena wanted to know. Even moreso, since I have never heard of it.

What followed was some research and a great deal of learning about what may be an American equivalent of cassoulet. To summarize, you can go from town to town, city to city, in France, and you will never get the same recipe twice. As I moved from website to website, I found the same thing of this recipe, which is essentially a chicken stew, associated with "low country" cooking from the Southeast. I learned that this was one of FDR's favorite foods. I learned that there are competitions to make this dish. And so it goes.

As I got deeper into the research, I was also sorting through recipes which needed to be filed. And I found this one. Interestingly, it varies from most of the standard recipes, which almost all call for green peppers, and slivered almonds at the end.

It is a good recipe, with a somewhat involved list of ingredients, but there are short cuts one can take, as Annalena shall explain, and ultimately, it is a very easy dish to make.

So , let's go. You start with a tablespoon of curry powder, or make a spice mix. Here is the one I used: 1.5 teaspoon of coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, .5 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns, 3 cloves (whole), a half inch piece of cinnamon stick. You put all of this in that burr grinder I told you about, some recipes back, and grind it to a powder. Then you mix the powder with half a teaspoon of tumeric and , if you like, quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper. You might also use paprika instead.

Now, to the vegetables. Get a small head of cauliflower, and break it into florets. You also need 3 pounds of boned, skinless, chicken thighs . You could use thighs with the skin, or the bone, or both if you like. If you get chicken with bones in it, though, you will need a cleaver, because you need to cut these into small pieces - say an inch to 2 inches. Pat them dry. This is very important. You also need a large bunch of scallions, that you slice up. Don't bother separating them. Also, a few cloves of chopped garlic, a big (28/35 ounce), can of tomatoes, that you crush with your hands, a cup and a half of chicken stock, and finally, these really interesting ingredients: half a cup of chopped, dried cherries, and a big tablespoon of peanut butter. Annalena did not have peanut butter, and used tahini. Your choice.

Let's cook. Put three tablespoons of vegetable oil into a big pan, and when it's hot, start adding the cauliflower. Let it cook, undisturbed for about three minutes, then start stirring it up. You want to brown it a bit, but you also want it to keep firm. When you're done, put that to the side, and add 3 more tablespoons of oil. When that's hot, start adding your chicken. Brown it well. You have to be patient here, especially if you use skinless chicken, because the browning is much slower with that. It will probably take you about ten minutes. Put the cooked chicken in a separate bowl.

You will probably need to add a bit more oil at this point - maybe 1-2 tablespoons, but if you have plenty in the pan, terrific. Add the scallions, the garlic and your spice mix. Stir this for a minute and take in the aroma. It is a bit intoxicating, especially that coriander. . Now add the broth, and bring it to the boil. Stir while this happens, to pick up brown bits. Now add the tomatoes, cover the pot, lower the heat, and leave it alone for 15 minutes. After that, add the cherries and the nut paste, stir it together, and then add the chicken. Again, cover the pot, and cook this at low heat, for ten minutes. Now, add the cauliflower, and cook for another ten minutes. Keep a look at the liquid level. If it seems to be drying out, add more stock.

Taste this. You may find yourself wanting more salt, or some pepper, or both. That's fine. If you like, add some chopped parsley, or some green pepper, or toasted coconut, or sliced almonds, but don't add them all. You will want some boiled rice with this, I think.

And there it is. I bet you can even get finicky eaters to eat this. It's really good. Comforting in the way only chicken stew is. You can leave things out. So, if you're nut allergic, don't use the tahini or peanut butter. Don't have dried cherries? Maybe you have some cranberries, or maybe even sun dried tomatoes? At the end, just before you serve it, you may want to add a cup of frozen peas, as I did. And it gets better as it sits.

Do you know this dish in some other variation? Please share it with Annalena, and wish her luck as she moves to a new chapter of her life.