Chef Einat Admony's Chicken and Israeli Couscous
Chef Einat Admony's Chicken and Israeli Couscous
I wanted to create a meal that doesn't need more than one pan without compromising my flavors and the high expectations of my spoiled family. So I found a way to put all of the things that my kids love in one pan!
| TYPE | MAIN COURSE |
| SERVES | 4 to 6 |
| DIFFICULTY | MODERATE |
| PREP TIME | 30 MIN |
| COOK TIME | 30 MIN |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon blended oil
- 2 to 10 tablespoon blended oil, as needed
- 1½ pounds chicken thighs
- 2 onions, sliced
- 3 cups Israeli Couscous
- 4½ cups water
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup snow peas, fresh or thawed
- 1 fresh lemon, peeled, segmented
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1 cup mint, picked
- 1 cup parsley, picked
- 1 cup cilantro, picked
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
- Pat dry the chicken thighs with a paper towel and salt generously on both sides.
- Pour the 2 tablespoons of blended oil into the All-Clad Universal Pan and heat over high heat until the oil shimmers.
- Add the chicken thighs, skin side first, and sear well until the skin is a deep brown.
- Flip the thighs and continue cooking the other side until the thighs are ¾ cooked through. Remove thighs and reserve.
- Fill an All-Clad D3 Stainless 1.5 Quart Saucepan with salted water, and bring to a boil.
- In the meantime, fill a bowl with some ice and water for blanching while performing the next step.
- In the same Universal Pan, keeping the heat high, add sliced onions and the additional oil blend as needed to caramelize the onions. It is essential to do so on very high heat to help the onions break down. These will also capture and deepen the flavor of the leftover juices from searing the chicken.
- Once the saucepan is boiling, place 1 cup of snow peas in a small shinwa, sifter, or another metal basket that fits in the pot and blanch the peas for approximately 1 minute, placing the peas in the ice water directly afterward. Once cooled, reserve in a bowl.
- When the onions have caramelized to a deep brown color, add 3 cups of Israeli couscous, 2 teaspoons of paprika, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 2 bay leaves, 2 tablespoons salt, and water, and bring to a low boil.
- Once boiling, add blanched peas and chicken, cover, and reduce heat to simmer until finished — about 10-12 minutes.
- While finishing, peel the lemon and cut it into segments, and chop mint, parsley, and cilantro. Toss with pine nuts, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and salt as needed to make the salad.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the Universal pan from heat, and add the prepared salad on top to serve.
Pro Tip:
For some extra texture and color, once this is finished on the stovetop, remove the cover and broil the whole dish on high for 5 minutes.
RECIPE BY
Einat Admony
Chef Einat Admony, known as the ultimate balaboosta (meaning "perfect housewife" in Yiddish) is the James Beard-nominated chef and owner of Balaboosta, the fine-dining Middle Eastern & Israeli restaurant and the beloved fast-casual falafel chain, Taïm. Admony is a pillar of the international Israeli cooking community. Her food tells an intricate story of strong immigrant roots and living the American Dream. Having grown up in Tel Aviv, she served as a cook in the Israeli Army before traveling to Europe to work in kitchens and eventually landing in New York City as an ambitious young chef. After 15+ years of leading the New York culinary scene and establishing multiple restaurants, Admony continues to innovate and inspire with elevated yet comforting homestyle cooking from her childhood. Admony is a double-time champion and competitor of Food Network’s Chopped and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay. She has been featured by The New York Times, Bon Appetit, HuffPost, Forbes, among many others. Admony has authored two cookbooks with Artisan Books: Balaboosta (2013) and Shuk (2019). In 2014, she was a recipient of the Great Immigrants award from Carnegie Corporation of New York for exemplary contributions to American life. Outside of leading several expanding food businesses, Admony can be found at home in Brooklyn or at her country house in the Hudson Valley, cooking for her two children, Liam and Mika, her husband and business partner, Stefan Nafziger, and a steady stream of dinner party guests.
To learn more about this chef, please visit their website at chefeinat.com
Connect with them on social Instagram: @chefeinat and Facebook: Chef Einat
- D3 Stainless 3-ply Bonded Cookware, Universal Pan with lid, 3 quart
Special Price $149.99 Regular Price $195.00
Stay tuned to our Cook with Us Blog for my delicious recipes from Chef Einat Admony, and more talented chefs coming soon!
We appreciate your comment! You are correct 4 cups of couscous will yield a large amount of deliciously made couscous for a crowd. We have modified the recipe to 3 cups for a more weeknight friendly meal. You may also modify the recipe to your liking. For every 1 cup of couscous, you will need 1½ cups of water. We hope this helps, and we hope you enjoy this tasty recipe by Chef Einat Admony.
Also, I think “shinwa” should be “chinois” :)
You may use a shinwa strainer, chinois strainer, or sifter to blanch the snow peas and achieve the perfect texture and readiness for this dish.
My results were that the couscous had not absorbed enough of the liquid, and the snow peas had a terrible mushy texture. I think I would have been happier if I had just put the snow peas on top of the hot couscous after it had finished cooking. What do you suppose I did wrong?
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! We are sorry to hear you are experiencing some difficulties.
When blanching the peas, they should only be in the boiling water for approximately 1 minute. It can be less, but no longer than 1 minute. Then, once removed, they must be placed in a bowl of ice water immediately to shock the vegetable, cool them down, and stop the cooking process.
When you are ready to place the peas in the couscous, make sure the liquid in the pan is boiling. Then, when reducing the heat, ensure the dish is still at a simmer for the full 10 minutes. If the heat is reduced too much, the dish will not simmer, it will steam. The dish will not absorb the liquid properly if it is steaming and the vegetables will be overcooked.
We hope this helps!
Blended oil is a combination of canola oil or vegetable oil blended with olive oil. This recipe calls for blended oil as traditional olive oil will burn in the cooking process of this recipe. Typically, you can find blended oil in your local supermarket. Additionally, the couscous should be dry and will cook in the Universal Pan. We hope this helps!
For this tasty Chicken and Israeli Couscous recipe by Chef Einat Admony, it is best to use bone-in chicken thighs with skin. This will add more flavor to the dish. We hope this helps, and we hope you enjoy this delicious recipe!