Moroccan Chicken With Preserved Lemons and Couscous

bluemoon downunder's Note:

One glance at the ingredients for this recipe and I knew it was, for me, a must-try recipe. I also loved the inclusion of time for marinating the chicken. Marinating always makes SUCH a difference to the end result. I'll be making this without the red chilli, but I'm well aware that many others will probably want to increase the heat. C'est la vie! I'd also prefer to serve it with a rice dish rather than couscous. I found this recipe in the latest edition - May 2005 - of the 'Australian Good Taste' magazine.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 8 large skinless chicken breasts
• 8 wedges preserved lemons
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1⁄3; cup slivered almond
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion , halved, finely chopped
• 1 small red chile , deseeded, finely chopped
• 1 cup couscous
• 1⁄3; cup currant
• 1⁄3; cup fresh coriander leaves , firmly packed

Directions:

1. Combine the lemon juice, honey, garlic. turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne pepper in a large glass or ceramic dish. Add the chicken and turn over so that it is thoroughly coated with the marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least three hours, preferably overnight, to develop the flavours.
2. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and reserve the marinade.
4. Place the chicken and the preserved lemon in a roasting pan.
5. Roast in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.
6. Transfer the chicken and lemon to serving plate.
7. Wipe the pan with paper towels to remove any fat, add the reserved marinade and 1/2 a cup of the stock and bring to the boil over a high heat.
8. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
9. Remove from the heat.
10. Heat a small sauté pan over a medium heat, add the almonds and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until toasted.
11. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium heat, add the onion and chilli and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until both have softened.
12. Add the remaining stock and bring to the boil.
13. Remove from the heat.
14. Add the couscous and stir to combine. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.
15. Use a fork to separate the grains.
16. Add the marinade mixture, almonds and currants to the couscous, and cook, stirring, over a low heat for 2 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.
17. Remove from the heat.
18. Carve the chicken across the grain into thick slices, spoon the couscous among the serving plates, sprinkle with coriander, top with chicken and serve with baked lemon wedges.

Reviews

[Chef #324198]

Delicious! I simplified this by making chicken for 4 but sauce for 8. I left the chicken in the oven until the last minute and made the liquid for the couscous at the same time, cutting cooking time down to 20 mins. Also I cooked the onion, then added the set aside marinade and stock (I used 1.25 cups stock for 1 cup couscous) poured it over the couscous, fluffed it up with a fork and then stirred through the currants and the toasted almonds. The chicken came out of the over in its juices and went to the table like that - everyone served themselves and spooned the oven cooked sauce over the couscous. Yum! My only "complaint" is that I glanced at the cooking time a few hours before cooking and only realized when I went to cook that there are 3 hours not accounted for in the preparation time (the marination time). So I prepped and then cooked the next day.

[Real Italy]

I made this for family who were visiting us here in Italy - as I wanted to find something new that I hadn't cooked before. It was really delicious. I cut the chicken breasts into large thick pieces (the chicken breasts here are enormous) and then barbecued them, and barbecued the lemons with them. I left the currants out of the couscous because I don't like them - but it really was a memorable dish.

[Chef #683746]

Excellent flavours! I would change a few things next time but still rated the recipe high as the flavour combinations were amazing. The couscous was the star of this dish so I think the recipe would be better described as Moroccan couscous with chicken. 1. I would skip the preseved lemons. They add little to the recipe for the cost/effort. 2. I soaked the currants in the chicken broth to moisten them up before adding to the couscous. 3. Like other reviewers, I would use bone-in chicken. Roasted boneless chicken breasts inevitably became too dry even with careful eye on them. 4. I made extra marinade to use for the final stages. Even though the recipe asks you boil the reserved marinade I felt it horribly violated basic food safety to marinade in which raw chicken had been soaking in overnight.