by Tori Avey, The Shiksa in the Kitchen
I have quite a few Moroccan Jewish friends, so it’s no surprise that one of the first Jewish dishes I learned to cook is kosher Moroccan Lemon Chicken. This slowly simmered, tender chicken dish is infused with complex flavors… exotic spices, lemon essence, and salty olives. When I make it, I feel like I’m taking a trip into the heart of Morocco. It’s a flavor journey.
The Jewish version of this dish is almost identical to traditional Moroccan Lemon Chicken, but it omits an ingredient called smen—Moroccan preserved butter. Butter and meat don’t mix in a kosher diet, so olive oil is used as a pareve (neutral) substitute. This is typical of many regional Jewish dishes; creative substitutions and “tweaks” are made in order to make these types of dishes kosher. If you’re not keeping kosher and you can track down smen, feel free to use it instead of the olive oil.
Also traditional to this dish are preserved lemons, which are simply lemons that have been preserved in brine made from salt and their own juice. Preserved lemons are really easy to make at home; there are many websites online that will walk you through the process. Local gourmet markets sometimes stock them, too. If you can’t find preserved lemons and don’t want to make them yourself, you can use fresh lemon peel. The flavor won’t be as complex, and you’ll need to salt the dish a bit more to compensate. But don’t worry, even with fresh lemon peels this is a very tasty dish.
Choose firm, good quality green olives for the sauce. Zabar’s carries two excellent varieties: Cerignola Green Olives and Picholine Olives. It can be tough to find quality green olives that are pre-pitted, so you may need to pit them yourself.
Traditionally this dish is made in a tagine, which is a ceramic Moroccan cooking dish. Since most of us don’t have a tagine lying around, I’ve given instructions for cooking this dish in a saucier or sauté-style pan like the Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Everyday Pan sold by Zabar’s. Everyone should have a pan like this, they’re extremely versatile. I use mine for all kinds of dishes—sauces, simmered meats, even stuffed grape leaves!
Serve this Moroccan Lemon Chicken with sauce on a bed of couscous, basmati rice or mashed potatoes topped with fresh cilantro. It’s absolutely delicious. Enjoy!
Gluten Free Note: This dish can easily be made gluten free. Just make sure that your chicken stock is homemade or certified GF, and that your preserved lemons are from a GF source. Pair with a GF starch like mashed potatoes or rice.
For step-by-step photos of this recipe, click here.
MOROCCAN LEMON CHICKEN WITH OLIVES
Ingredients
3 ½ lbs. bone-in chicken pieces
½ tsp saffron threads
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 ½ tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp ground ginger
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of cinnamon
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 qt. chicken stock
Peel of 2 preserved lemons (or sub fresh lemons), pulp discarded
1 cup pitted green olives
½ cup fresh chopped cilantro for garnish
Salt and pepper
You will also need: spice mortar and pestle, saucier or sauté-style pan
Serves 6
Kosher Key: Meat
Preparation
For the chicken pieces, choose your favorite cut of meat. You can use a whole chicken cut into pieces or buy specific pieces that you like. I usually use whole leg/thigh pieces because I find the dark meat more flavorful. Remove skin from chicken pieces (freeze the skin for stock or use it to make schmaltz!), then rinse and dry the pieces. You may wish to salt the chicken lightly; do not salt if you are cooking the dish with preserved lemon and/or with kosher chicken meat (both have a lot of salt already, so you won’t need more). Grind the saffron threads into powder using a spice mortar and pestle. Mix saffron powder, cumin, paprika, turmeric, ginger, cayenne pepper and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture evenly onto the chicken pieces.
Heat olive oil in your pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onion in the oil till it turns translucent. Add the garlic and continue to sauté till lightly browned. Arrange the chicken pieces snugly inside the skillet. Pour chicken stock over the pieces; they should almost be covered with stock. You probably won’t need the entire quart depending on the size of your pan.
Remove pulp from the two lemons. With preserved lemon this is easy, the pulp will be softened and you can just scoop it out. For fresh lemon, I find it’s easier to slice the peel off of the lemon (if a little pulp clings to the peel it’s no big deal). Cut the peel into thin slices and arrange it evenly spaced in the pan.
Bring stock to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer and cover the skillet. Let the chicken simmer for 60-75 minutes, periodically ladling the seasoned stock over the chicken pieces, until the meat is fork-tender. I usually cook it closer to 75 minutes because I like the meat very tender.
Remove chicken pieces from the broth using tongs or a slotted spoon; arrange the pieces on a serving dish. Add olives to the sauce in the skillet. Bring sauce in the skillet to a boil and let it reduce and thicken for a few minutes. Remove skillet from heat and taste the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
Serve hot on a bed of couscous, basmati rice or mashed potatoes; pour the sauce over the chicken and the starch. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Can also be served with flatbread or pita bread to dip in the sauce.
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