A feast fit for a holiday

To me, there is no important occasion, be it an anniversary, a religious festival or a simple coming together of friends, that does not beg for a meal to celebrate it. I also think that any meal, however basic, is a symbolic celebration of being alive. I know it does not always feel this way in our harried world, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Food sustains us not only physically, but also emotionally.

At this time of year, with Thanksgiving behind us, Hanukkah just starting and Christmas and New Year’s in the wings, we are more alive to the meaning of a feast. What I love about cooking is that we can share in other people’s festivals.

For example, Eid ul-Fitr, the feast that marks the end of Ramazan, the Islamic month of daytime fasting, was celebrated in September. Although it isn’t part of my own background, in the course of writing my book, “Feast: Food to Celebrate Life” (Hyperion, $35), I eagerly researched the dishes that make up this important occasion and now cook them often.

Take the recipe here for stuffed chicken, which was inspired by the cuisine of Georgia, on the Black Sea. A roast chicken is always a feast, of course. It reminds us at some basic level that we are too squeamish to admit these days, that a feast is centered upon an ancient sacrifice. We have the whole bird, presiding over the table, to be shared by all present.

The stuffing is a simple affair of rice cooked with onions, garlic and dried sour cherries. Parsley is forked through before spooning the rice into the chickens. And yes, chickens: I take the view that one bird is a meal, two is a feast. You could turn this into a Christmas feast by stuffing a turkey with a version of the rice, with dried cranberries replacing the cherries. Just double the quantities: for one turkey think four chickens’ worth of stuffing.

A fundamental part of any feast is abundance that is shared. My way is to make up little packages of cookies — the cranberry and white chocolate cookies are a favorite — and give them as gifts.

People complain that the holidays have been ruined by rampant consumerism. This is a chance to celebrate that conspicuous consumption in a most wonderful way.

GEORGIAN STUFFED CHICKEN

Time: 2 to 2 1/2 hours

2 5-pound chickens

6 tablespoons butter

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup basmati rice

1/2 cup dried sour cherries, roughly chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsley.

1. Remove any fat from cavities of chickens and place fat in a wide saucepan. Add 4 tablespoons of the butter and place over medium heat. When butter melts, add onions and garlic. Saute until onion softens and begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

2. Discard any remaining hard bits of chicken fat. Add rice and chopped cherries to pan. Stir well and add 2 cups water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to as low as possible. Cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 425 degrees.

3. Season rice mixture with salt and pepper to taste and stir in parsley. Spoon rice into cavities of both chickens and secure openings with toothpicks.

4. Place chickens in a roasting pan and rub with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Place in oven and roast until skin is crisp and golden and juices run clear when pierced near the thigh with a knife, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Discard toothpicks and allow chicken to rest before carving. Serve each portion of chicken with some stuffing.

Yield: 8 servings.

CRANBERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Time: 45 minutes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

3/4 cup white chocolate chips.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and oats. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugars. Beat until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, and mix again.

2. Add flour mixture and beat until well blended. Add cranberries, pecans and white chocolate chips, and mix gently until blended. Refrigerate bowl for 10 minutes.

3. Line two baking sheets with a nonstick liner. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press each ball gently with a fork to flatten it into a fat disk. Place sheets in oven on two racks. Bake just until cookies are pale gold, about 15 minutes; they will still be soft when hot. Harden cookies on sheet for 5 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2010.