Roast Chicken With Preserved Lemon Recipes

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut the preserved lemons into quarters and remove the rinds from the flesh, reserving both. Create a pocket between the skin and meat of each chicken breast. Slide pieces of the lemon rind, pith side down, into each pocket, two pieces per breast. Then rub the chickens with the remaining lemon flesh. Sprinkle the ground cumin over the birds and season with the salt and pepper.
• Set chickens on a roasting rack in a large roasting pan and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the chickens and spread butter over the breasts, then drizzle with the honey. Lower oven temperature to 400 degrees. Roast for 30 to 50 minutes, or until the skin is a burnished brown.
• Remove from oven, and allow to rest for 15 or 20 minutes.
• Reduce juice from pan over medium heat. Pour over carved chicken.

MOROCCAN ROASTED CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Make a spice rub for the chicken from the ginger, turmeric, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice.
• Gently lift and loosen the skin of the chicken from the breast and leg meat, leaving the skin intact. Spoon most of the spice mixture under the skin, and rub the spices over the meat, taking care to reach the leg.
• Turn the chicken over, and loosen the skin from the back of the chicken. Add the remaining spice rub to the back meat, reaching to the legs if possible.
• Salt and pepper the cavity of the chicken, truss the legs and rub a little olive oil on the outside of the chicken. Transfer the chicken to a glass or plastic bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight.
• Set aside the saffron. Slice the onions as thinly as possible. Place the onions, garlic, remaining spices, cilantro, oil and smen in a heavy-bottomed shallow stock pot or Dutch oven . Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for an hour or until the onions are soft and can easily be mashed with a spoon or vegetable masher. Avoid burning the onions, and add a little oil or water if necessary to prevent the onions from sticking.
• Mash the onions and continue cooking, uncovered, until the onions are reduced to a thick blended mass sitting in the oil. How long this takes will depend on how moist the onions were, how thinly you sliced them, and how wide your pot is.
• When the onions are a unified mass, stir in the saffron and remove the onions from the heat. At this point, the sauce can be cooled and refrigerated overnight.
• Transfer the chicken to an oiled shallow roasting pan, allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven 325 F/160 C.
• Roast the chicken uncovered, basting occasionally and rotating the pan halfway through cooking, for 2 to 3 hours, or until the skin is golden brown and the leg can be moved easily in its joint.
• Transfer the cooked chicken to a serving plate, or hold warm in the turned off oven.
• Pour the juices from the roasting pan into the onion sauce mixture, stirring to blend. Add the preserved lemon and olives, 2 or 3 tablespoons of water as needed and simmer the sauce over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until well-blended and the sauce is thick.
• Pour the sauce onto the serving platter, spooning a little sauce and olives over the chicken. Garnish the chicken with some of the preserved lemons, and serve immediately with Moroccan bread ( khobz ) for scooping up the chicken and sauce.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Cook the rice as the label directs. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the skillet, skin-side down, and cook until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip and cook until just browned on the other side, about 3 more minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off the excess fat from the skillet. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the butter; let melt. Add the bell pepper and onion and cook until just softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook 1 more minute. Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the chicken broth and preserved lemon slices and bring to a simmer.
• Return the chicken to the skillet, skin-side up. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Place the skillet under the broiler and cook until the chicken skin is crisp, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Fluff the rice and divide among plates. Serve with the chicken, vegetable mixture and sauce from the skillet; top with dill.

MARCELLA HAZAN'S ROAST CHICKEN WITH LEMONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Wash the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. Remove all the bits of fat hanging loose. Let the bird sit for about 10 minutes on a slightly tilted plate to let all the water drain out of it. Pat it thoroughly dry all over with cloth or paper towels.
• Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and black pepper on the chicken, rubbing it with your fingers over all its body and into its cavity.
• Wash the lemons in cold water and dry them with a towel. Soften each lemon by placing it on a counter and rolling it back and forth as you put firm downward pressure on it with the palm of your hand. Puncture the lemons in at least 20 places each, using a sturdy round toothpick, a trussing needle, a sharp-pointed fork, or similar implement.
• Place both lemons in the bird's cavity. Close up the opening with toothpicks or with trussing needle and string. Close it well, but don't make an absolutely airtight job of it because the chicken may burst. Run kitchen string from one leg to the other, tying it at both knuckle ends. Leave the legs in their natural position without pulling them tight. If the skin is unbroken, the chicken will puff up as it cooks, and the string serves only to keep the thighs from spreading apart and splitting the skin.
• Put the chicken into a roasting pan, breast facing down. Do not add cooking fat of any kind. This bird is self-basting, so you need not fear it will stick to the pan. Place it in the upper third of the preheated oven. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken over to have the breast face up. When turning it, try not to puncture the skin. If kept intact, the chicken will swell like a balloon, which makes for an arresting presentation at the table later. Do not worry too much about it, however, because even if it fails to swell, the flavor will not be affected.
• Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes, then turn the oven thermostat up to 400 degrees, and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Calculate between 20 and 25 minutes total cooking time for each pound. There is no need to turn the chicken again.
• Whether your bird has puffed up or not, bring it to the table whole and leave the lemons inside until it is carved and opened. The juices that run out are perfectly delicious. Be sure to spoon them over the chicken slices. The lemons will have shriveled up, but they still contain some juice; do not squeeze them, they may squirt.

PRESERVED LEMON ROAST CHICKEN WITH FREEKEH SALAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. In a bowl or food processor, combine the butter, preserved lemon and garlic to make a flavoured butter.
• Pat the chicken with kitchen paper, then fill the cavity with the bay, thyme, tarragon and flavoured butter, saving a little to spread over the thighs and breast. Season and roast in the oven for about 1 hr, basting every 20 mins or so with the preserved lemon butter and juices. It is cooked when the leg is wobbly when pulled from the body, and the juices run clear. Remove from the oven and leave to rest while you make the salad.
• Heat the olive oil in a high-sided frying pan or saucepan. Toast the freekeh for a few mins with the bay leaf. Cover with water, bring to the boil and skim off any scum. Simmer for 25-30 mins until cooked but still with a little bite. Rinse the freekeh under cold water, then drain and mix it with the herbs, broad beans, spring onions and radishes. Season and dress with olive oil, lemon juice and the juices from the bird poured over.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMONS AND ROOT VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Make the brine: Fill a large stockpot with 16 cups water; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add sugar, salt, lemons, olives and their brine, parsley, garlic, peppercorns, thyme, and bay leaves; stir to dissolve sugar and salt. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes to infuse.
• Add ice to brine mixture to cool. If brine is not completely cold, transfer to refrigerator until cold. Add chickens to cold brine and weight down with a plate or small pot lid to keep submerged. Transfer to refrigerator and let brine 8 to 12 hours.
• Make the chicken: Cut preserved lemons into quarters. Cut flesh away from rinds, reserving both. Remove chicken from brine; discard brine. Rinse chickens and pat dry using paper towels. Place 1 chicken on work surface with legs facing you. Starting at the cavity, work the handle of a wooden spoon between skin and one breast to create a pocket, working slowly and gently to avoid tearing skin. Repeat process with other side.
• Holding chicken in place with one hand, slide index and middle fingers of your other hand into each pocket to enlarge it, then slide your fingers down to create a pocket over the thigh. Repeat entire process with second chicken.
• Insert pieces of preserved lemon rind, white pith-side down, and thyme sprigs into pockets over thighs and breasts. Sprinkle cavities with salt and rub chickens with reserved flesh from preserved lemons, scraping off any pieces of lemon flesh that stick to the chicken and discard.
• Position 1 chicken, breast side up, with legs facing you. Cut a vertical slit in one side, about 1 inch back from cavity, alongside thigh. Cross end of opposite drumstick over drumstick on this side and poke top end of drumstick through slit. Depending on condition of chicken's skin, it may rip as you try to poke the drumstick through it, so have some kitchen twine on hand just in case to tie legs together if necessary. Repeat process with other chicken. Season chickens with salt.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Make the vegetables: Place turnips, carrots, onions, parsnips, and rutabagas in a large bowl; add olive oil, thyme, garlic, and 3 pinches salt. Toss to combine. Transfer vegetables to a large roasting pan spreading in an even layer. Set a roasting rack over vegetables. Place chickens, breast-side up on roasting rack, leaving space between chickens. Chickens should not be touching vegetables, but set over them.
• Transfer roasting pan to oven; roast for 15 minutes. Spread room-temperature butter from remaining chicken ingredients over the breasts; continue roasting 30 minutes more. Roast until skin is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh reaches 160 degrees, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let stand 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove rack and set roasting pan on stove over two burners. Bring cooking liquid to a simmer. Whisk in preserved lemon liquid and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in butter, piece by piece, to emulsify sauce and glaze vegetables. Stir in parsley. Serve chickens whole or carved over vegetables.