Moroccan Chicken and future plans

Yesterday , the biggest decision was to enroll in a Real Food nutrition class or not. I am a big fan of education, and most of my life I have been active in some form of studies, often informally. Herbs and alternative medicine have been the primary ones for the last 16 years, and when something comes along that I feel will help round out the existing knowledge and expand it, I jump at the chance ! Unfortunately this is not a free course, and till Nick is graduated the majority of funds devoted to education are applied to his education. I pondered and pondered, and came to a brilliant conclusion- rather than enroll in the class, I will simply buy the textbook and do some independent study. This is not an accredited course, so there is no real need to enroll ( in my opinion). Between our library and Amazon, I was able to find not only the text book , but several that the textbook cited as sources. I am excited ! A course that actually recognizes that food is an essential component in nutrition !

Sadly, this seems to be something that has been forgotten. In order to get "healthy", you must use secret information, passed down to the masses via an authority. Sort of like a religious rite where the Priest is the only one privy to the information and will dispense it to the masses. The secret knowledge comes from a lab that evaluates the components of said product, and lists them in the form of calories, fat, protein and so forth.To be "healthy" ( sanctified), you must ingest a certain number of these components, and ignore all else. Appetite, enjoyment, aversion are all unnecessary ( and evil) things. These are "The Devil" , and all  efforts should be taken to turn your back from these. Interesting theory. Seems that nature and The Creator were just doing stupid experiments till science came along and straightened us all out !  

Amongst the real food offerings in this house yesterday was a new to me chicken recipe. Moroccan chicken, and the blend of spices sounded very intriguing .

 Moroccan Style Chicken ( Sally Fallon inspired)

  1 frying chicken cut into pieces( or parts, preferably with bone and skin on)
1/4 Soy Sauce
1/4 cup  dry white wine OR vinegar
  2 TBL  honey
 juice of 2 lemons
 grated rind of two lemons or 3 TBL preserved lemon peel
  1 clove  garlic peeeled and mashed
  1 teaspoon  curry powder
  1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  1/2 teaspoon  dried oregano, thyme and pepper
  3 Tablespoons  melted butter
  2     cups  chicken stock
  8                     dried apricot halves -- coarsely chopped
                        and soaked in warm  water

Mix soy sauce, wine, honey, lemon juice, lemon rind, and all spices together. Marinate chicken pieces in this mixture in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Remove pieces, pat dry and set skin side up in a stainless stell baking pan, reserving marinade. Brush with butter, season with sea salt and pepper and bake at 375 degrees for about 1 hour. Reduce heat if chicken begins to burn. Remove chicken to heated platter while making sauce.
Pour chicken stock into the pan, bring to a boil and stir well.  Add marinade and drained apricot pieces. Let sauce reduce by about one half. Check seasoning and pour over chicken pieces.

I served this with roast broccoli, whole wheat couscous, the sauce and the fermented cranberry relish that I made the other day

The verdict ? The chicken was flavorful, but not what I anticipated for some reason. The lemon twang seemed to overpower the other spices. The sauce was not as thick as one would anticipate. These were infinitely better than the fermented cranberries ! WAY too salty ! The consistency was a bit softer than whole berry relish, but the addition of salt to cranberries was kind of like a cruel joke. I don't think I will be making this one again. Live and learn I guess. I am going to try fermented carrots next week, and tonight we try the sauerkraut  that I made. What excitement 1!