Recipe Source: Harris, Andy. Modern Greek. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2002 p. 82
The last time I went down to New Jersey to visit my in-laws was the week before Thanksgiving. It was a kind of harried trip - we were down there for a specific meeting, and squeezed in a bunch of other visits and meetings and errands just to take advantage of the fact that we were down there. I didn't really get such a chance to chat with my in-laws, which in a lot of ways is too bad. I really like my father-in-law. I know my husband has listened to his stories a thousand times or more, but they're mostly new to me. My father-in-law grew up in rural Greece during the Depression and World War II. It's interesting to hear his perspectives on historical events. He loves to talk about his mother's cooking. He tells me his sister Zenovia's cooking is most like his mother's. I'd love to get over there and meet her someday. Anyway, the last time I was down there he told me he found a Greek cookbook that he loves. "Reading this book," he told me, "I was struck by how much like my mother's cooking it was." This was surprising to him since the author was not, in fact, Greek. He produced the cookbook. It is the book listed above. He was surprised and delighted to find out that I already have this book on my shelves.
I was thinking of my father-in-law when I was making up my menu a few weeks ago, and so I pulled this book off the shelf and decided to find something from it to cook. I found myself wondering about his mother, the first Sophia. (Not the first Sophia, but the Sophia for whom Fearless Baby is named.) I never knew her. Neither did my husband, or even my mother-in-law. She passed away when my father-in-law was quite young. I've been assured I would love her. I'm sure I would have. She reared six children in a time of great deprivation - six children who lived through challenging times to become successful, vibrant, intelligent people.
I'm sure this recipe bears no resemblance whatsoever to Yaya Sophia's cooking. I made a few changes because I always do, and they might not be the same kinds of changes she would have made. The biggest change is turkey. The original recipe called for chicken, although I think stifado is traditionally made with rabbit. I'm learning to enjoy or at least tolerate chicken, but I have to be careful of my source. Chicken from certain mega-producers has a certain very unpleasant effect on me, I'm not sure why. My grocery store of choice that week only stocked chicken from that mega-producer, so I decided to go with turkey instead. I bought a big old turkey breast and used it instead. I didn't have enough shallots or pearl onions to use just one of them, so I combined them. Then I got frustrated with peeling the pearl onions and just chopped up a couple of large onions to make up the remaining quantity. Maybe it was wrong of me but I was pretty busy at that point. I increased the garlic and I added some dried basil and cayenne pepper. The basil just seemed natural to me, showing my Italian roots I guess, and the cayenne seemed necessary given the weather.
The results were okay. They weren't spectacular but they were okay. I kind of felt like the turkey lacked flavor so that was kind of disappointing, but this also turned out to be a very filling dish. With the right turkey I think this could be a real treat.
Turkey Stifado (serves 4; approx. $3.59/serving)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound onions, chunked
10 oz pearl onions, peeled
6 oz shallots, peeled
1 turkey breast, cut into 4 - 6 pieces
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
7 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 pounds canned plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/4 cups red wine, plus more for the cook if desired
Equipment:
- Large saucepan or large deep skillet
- Slotted spoon
- Plate
- heat the oil in the saucepan.
- Add the shallots, onions and pearl onions. Saute until softened.
- Evacuate the onions to a plate using the slotted spoon and set aside.
- Combine the flour, turmeric, salt and pepper.
- Dredge the turkey pieces in the flour mixture.
- Brown the turkey pieces in the oil, then set aside.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, spices and bay leaves to the pot. Saute 10 minutes.
- Add the wine and cook 5 minutes.
- Return the chicken pieces and onion mixture to the pan. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour or until the sauce thickens.
- Serve hot.
