Silver Travel Cook Club – November 2021

This month’s Silver Travel Cook Club features a recipe for Maqluba – upside down chicken and rice – inspired by Intrepid Travel’s Jordan Real Food Adventure.

And you could win a copy of The Essential Middle Eastern Cookbook: Classic Recipes Made Easy by Michelle Anderson.

Fresh herbs and spices, creamy yogurt, savoury skewered meats, and flaky baklava – Middle Eastern cuisine is famous for its vibrant flavours. Packed with 100 classic recipes made simple, this complete Middle East cookbook gives you a true taste of one of the world’s most influential culinary regions. Try your hand at delectable dishes like tabbouleh, Lebanese chicken fatteh, spiced beef tagine, and homemade pita bread with hummus. All of the ingredients in this Middle East cookbook are easily found in your local supermarket, yet they stay true to the authentic flavours and textures of each traditional meal.

Intrepid Travel Jordan Real Food Adventure

Feast your eyes upon forgotten landscapes as you unravel the secrets behind Jordan’s ancient recipes. Jordan has a way of hiding more than ancient tombs and forgotten landscapes. For centuries, this jewel of the Levant has been a magnet for swaying influences and cultures – granting new flavours as these outsiders come and go. Phenomenally, the land itself helps its inhabitants cook and prepare meals: the sweeping deserts of Wadi Rum offer themselves to roast Bedouin feasts underground, the Dead Sea grants its salt as a world-class garnish and the country’s climate has allowed olives to grow and thrive for over 6000 years. Jordan and food work synonymously through a relationship that borders on near myth – but this relationship is something that must be experienced first-hand to be truly understood.

More information

Find out more about authentic foodie experiences pioneered by Intrepid Travel

Recipe: Maqluba – upside down chicken & rice

Ingredients

• 1 large whole cut-up chicken (8 pieces)
• 7 cups water
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooking oil
• 1 large aubergine, cut into ¾-inch-thick slices
• 1 cup baby carrots, halved lengthwise
• 3 medium to large potatoes, peeled or not, sliced about ¼-inch thick Florets from 1 small head cauliflower
• 1 ½ cups basmati rice
• Additional water as needed
• Plain yogurt for serving

Preparation

Bring chicken, water, onion, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, allspice, salt and pepper to a boil in a large pot. Skim off scum from chicken broth. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Remove chicken from broth and set chicken aside.

While broth continues to simmer, heat oil in a large, deep frying-pan over medium heat. Fry aubergine slices in hot oil until brown on both sides; remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. (When cool, cut into quarters if pieces are large.) Use the same process to separately fry the carrots, potatoes and cauliflower.

Layer potatoes on the bottom of a large pot. Arrange chicken over potatoes, then aubergine, carrots and cauliflower on top of the chicken in layers. Pour uncooked rice over chicken and vegetables, shaking the pot gently to allow rice to settle. Strain chicken broth and pour over mixture until mixture is completely submerged in liquid. Add water if needed.

Cover pot and simmer over low heat until rice is soft, and all liquid is absorbed, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove lid. Place a very large platter over the pot and flip the pot, so the dish is upside down on the platter. Serve with yogurt.

Read more about all of our Silver Travel Cook Club recipes.