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.
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