BAHARAT CHICKEN CHILI WITH CRANBERRY BEANS

FOR THE BAHARAT (SPICE BLEND)

To save time, you can buy excellent jarred baharat from Burlap & Barrel or New York Shuk. To make your own, gather these ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons dried mint

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

• 5 bay leaves, roughly torn

• 2 teaspoons whole allspice berries

• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

• 1 tablespoon green cardamom pods

• 1 teaspoon whole cloves

• 3 tablespoons black peppercorns

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 2 teaspoons ground coriander

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

FOR THE CHILI

• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberry or small white beans (soaked overnight if old)

• 1 3-pound chicken (or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, or 6 chicken legs)

• Kosher salt

• about 1/4 cup of olive oil

• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced

• 2 medium green or red bell peppers, halved, cored, and finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon pure ancho chile powder

• 4 cups canned chopped tomatoes

• 1 quart chicken broth

• 1 cup Greek yogurt

• 1 tablespoon tahini

• 1 teaspoon dried mint

• lemon juice to taste

To make the baharat:

Crush the mint and oregano by crumbling them through a sieve.

In a spice grinder, pulverize the bay leaves, allspice berries, mustard seeds, cardamom pods, whole cloves, and black peppercorns.

Add the mint, oregano, and pulverized spices to a bowl with the cinnamon, coriander, cumin, nutmeg and ginger. Whisk to blend: this is baharat.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the baharat for this recipe and store the rest for another time.

To make the chili:

Cover the cranberry beans with two inches of water and cook on the stovetop until tender, anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. (If you can find fresh cranberry beans, they will only take about 20 minutes.)

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken and dry it with paper towels or a fan.

In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of the baharat and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.

Rub the spice all over the chicken, lay the pieces on a foil-lined sheet tray, and drizzle the top with olive oil.

Roast the chicken until golden and cooked through, about 50 minutes for a 3-pound whole bird, or slightly less for pieces. Once cool enough to handle, pull the meat off the bone. Tear or chop the meat into bite sizes pieces for the chili, and freeze the bones to make stock later.

In a large pot, saute the onion in olive oil until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and saute 1 minute more.

Add the bell peppers, ancho chile powder, the remaining 2 tablespoons of baharat, and 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the peppers are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat, and simmer until thick, about 30 minutes.

Add the chicken, chicken broth, and cooked beans and simmer for 20 minutes more. Taste and add salt if needed.

Whisk together the yogurt, tahini, dried mint and lemon juice to taste.

Serve the chili with a dollop of tahini yogurt.