Saffron-Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- About 1 ½ teaspoons saffron threads
- 1 ½ cups boiling water
- One (4 ½ pound) chicken, cut into 6-8 pieces, or 6-8 chicken pieces--bone-in breasts, thighs, and/or drumsticks
- Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
- 5 large egg yolks
- ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons), or more to taste
For serving:
- 1 pound wide egg noodles
- Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Pastela (Layered Beef, Potato, and Egg Casserole)
Ingredients
- 1 gram saffron threads (roughly 1 tablespoon)
- 3 ½ cups boiling water
- 3 pounds ground beef
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup lightly packed parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ¼ teaspoon mace
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 15 medium red and yellow potatoes, peeled
- 6 large eggs
- 6 large eggs, hard boiled, cut in half lengthwise
Tomato Salad With Capers
Ingredients
- 4 large tomatoes, peeled and deseeded, chopped into large chunks
- 1 medium green bell pepper, ¼” dice
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 4-5 scallions, whites only, finely sliced
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Saffron-Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- About 1 ½ teaspoons saffron threads
- 1 ½ cups boiling water
- One (4 ½ pound) chicken, cut into 6-8 pieces, or 6-8 chicken pieces--bone-in breasts, thighs, and/or drumsticks
- Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
- 5 large egg yolks
- ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons), or more to taste
For serving:
- 1 pound wide egg noodles
- Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Pastela (Layered Beef, Potato, and Egg Casserole)
Ingredients
- 1 gram saffron threads (roughly 1 tablespoon)
- 3 ½ cups boiling water
- 3 pounds ground beef
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup lightly packed parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ¼ teaspoon mace
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 15 medium red and yellow potatoes, peeled
- 6 large eggs
- 6 large eggs, hard boiled, cut in half lengthwise
Tomato Salad With Capers
Ingredients
- 4 large tomatoes, peeled and deseeded, chopped into large chunks
- 1 medium green bell pepper, ¼” dice
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 4-5 scallions, whites only, finely sliced
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Read more about Kathy Berrie in “Memories of Morocco: Pastela + Tomato Salad” and try her recipes for pastela and tomato salad with capers.
Meals on the eve of Yom Kippur are meant to fortify Jewish families for a day of fasting and praying. In the Berrie house, the meal is marked with what Scott Berrie calls “yellow chicken,” a Moroccan family recipe for chicken in a lemon sauce, served with zucchini and egg noodles.
“He’s madly in love with that dish,” explains his mother Kathy. “It’s not that complex [or] hard,” Scott explains. “But it takes a lot of patience and very subtle skill to make it just right.” Add the lemon and eggs, which enrich the sauce, to the chicken too early and the mixture will curdle, but add it at just the right moment and it will create a velvety yellow sauce. “What I love the most is the color,” Scott adds.
It’s a recipe Kathy and her mother Fiby brought with them from Morocco to North America, when they moved more than 50 years ago. Growing up in New Jersey, Scott remembers his mother preparing the dish before the fast every year. He would watch from the sidelines. “She had her way in the kitchen, so I didn’t want to interfere,” he explains.
Now a parent himself, he’s tried to recreate his mother’s recipe at home. He’s never quite replicated his mother’s version, but he’s gotten closer and closer over the years.
