Eggplant and/or Baked Chicken with Buttermilk Sauce and Pomegranate

Recipe for Chicken or Turkey Legs:

For the baked chicken or turkey legs- place 2 onions (skinned) that have been roughly chopped on the bottom of a Pyrex, stainless steel, or enamel cookware. Place 4 chicken or 2 turkey legs on top of the onion, add ½ cup water on top. Rub the tops of the meat with ghee or butter, and a dash of salt and pepper. Cover the pot and bake on medium heat, around 325 degrees for 3 hours or until nicely browned and juicy.

Recipe for baked eggplant:

If you choose to use the eggplant for this recipe instead of the meat, you will need 2 medium to large eggplants. Cut eggplant lengthwise into slices about ¼-1/2 inch thick. Generously coat each side of each slice with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Make sure the oil is absorbed by the flesh of the eggplant.  Add salt and pepper to each slice. Place each slice on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes until nicely browned and roasted. Let cool.

Buttermilk Sauce:

8 Tbsp. of Buttermilk

½ cup Greek Yogurt

2 Tbsp. of Olive Oil

1 small garlic clove (grated)

Salt to taste

Whisk the ingredients together. Taste for seasoning and keep cold until needed for topping.

*If you are dairy sensitive, then substitute the buttermilk and Greek yogurt for the Coconut yogurt.

*You will need 1 cup of the coconut yogurt as a replacement for the buttermilk and Greek yogurt

Recipe for Coconut yogurt:

2 cans of full fat coconut milk (my favorite is Native Forest-they use BPA free cans and it’s very pure)

2 tsp. gelatin (Knox is fine)

2 capsules of a good quality high potency probiotic

1/3 cup warm water

Gently heat the coconut milk on low heat until it reaches 115 degrees. Let cool until it reaches 110 degrees. While milk is cooling, stir the gelatin into the warm water. Empty the probiotic powder and gelatin mixture into the milk when it has reached 110 degrees. Place the yogurt into a yogurt maker or in a crockpot on “keep warm” setting and let culture for 24 hours. After 24 hours, whisk the yogurt and place in the refrigerator until set and thick (takes about 2-4 hours).

Pomegranate

This is a little trick to get the pomegranate seeds quickly and painlessly out of the fruit. Roll the pomegranate on a hard surface for about a minute. Cut the pomegranate into 2 (horizontally). With both hands gently spread out the fruit so that the membrane (white inner part) gently rips or tears apart from the seeds. Do this without breaking the pomegranate half. Hold one half over a bowl and with the cut side against your palm, gently knock on the back of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon or rolling pin. Continue this process until the seeds start falling out and until all the seeds are out of the flesh. Pick out any white skin or membrane that fell into the bowl with the seeds.

Putting it all together:

Assemble the roasted eggplant slices or baked chicken or turkey legs onto a colorful plate. Generously spoon the buttermilk sauce over the eggplant or chicken legs. Sprinkle plenty of ruby red pomegranate seeds on top of the sauce and top with a drizzle of olive oil.

*You can also garnish the top of this dish with a sprinkle of lemon thyme or za’atar (a Middle Eastern spice that is delicious and flavorful). It should be available at a specialty spice store, ethnic section of your grocery store, or amazon.com.

BON APPeTIT!

 

 

 

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