The next recipe I tried from my mom’s recipe box came with the warning “Don’t taste before cooking!” I have to say, that made me smile. A dish that is more than the sum of its parts.

As you can see, this recipe is from Stephanie, my sister-in-law. I can definitely date this to the 1970’s since I remember eating it (or not eating it, as the case usually was, I was the world’s pickiest eater until my 20’s). So, I remember it being served, let’s put it that way. My mom always liked Stephanie’s cooking.

In making the dish I reduced the butter (vegan) to 2 tablespoons, one when browning the chicken, the other before adding the onions and mushrooms. I also place the lemons on top before baking, rather than mix them into the sauce; no real reason for that, it just seemed like the right approach. I do want to note that the lemons are really important to the overall flavor of the dish.

Here are the before and after baking photos:

I don’t remember what this would have been served with, so, I served it with the sides my husband and son like most – Persian rice and a tomato and cucumber salad with pickled radishes and onions.

Now, the BIG QUESTION: Will I make it again? It felt like a very 70’s dish, not like anything I usually cook. But it was very tasty, it went well with the rice. And, if I use olive oil instead of butter, and remove the skin, it is fairly healthy. So the verdict was to keep the recipe and, yeah, maybe make it again sometime.

This is an interesting experience, going through these recipes from my mother’s recipe box. I really hadn’t given much thought to how food has evolved, but eating these dishes really does transport us back in time. They just feel somehow out of place, or out of time, now.

As I mentioned, the flavors in this were nice, I am trying to figure out how I would update this, or cook it in a way that is more in line with my cooking style. The closest thing I make is my mushroom polo (in When Kugel Met Tahdig). To adapt it, I would add chicken and paprika. But how to get the cream of mushroom and lemon flavors into it? Perhaps a sauce to serve with it? Any thoughts?