Pomegranate and Date Glazed Chicken with Preserved Lemons

For the Chicken

serves 8—12, depending on how many other dishes you’re serving

for more servings, make more chicken and increase the other ingredients as needed

Ingredients:

• 2 whole chickens, washed and cut into eight or ten pieces. Alternatively, you can use 6—8 lbs of your favorite part, such as breasts or thighs. In my family everyone prefers the dark meat, so I usually make this with all thighs.

• 1 or 2 fresh lemons, depending upon size and how juicy they are

• Extra Virgin olive oil, as needed

• Kosher salt, as needed

• Freshly ground black pepper, as needed

• Garlic powder, as needed

• Ground turmeric, as needed

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

• 2 large white or yellow onions (You’ll use these later in the recipe)

• A jar of Preserved Lemons, sliced or diced (You’ll add them at the end)

Method:

• Trim the chicken pieces of any extra fat.

• Arrange the chicken pieces on your work surface, skin side down, and squeeze with the juice of a fresh lemon. Drizzle a little olive oil over the meat and use your fingers to spread it evenly. Then sprinkle on a light coating of garlic powder, turmeric, rosemary, salt, and pepper. (Use less, or no, salt, if you are using kosher chickens, because they’re already brined).

• Turn the chicken pieces over. Rub the skin with a little more olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and turmeric.

• At this point, you can put the chicken pieces into ziplock bags and refrigerate them for a day or two, or freeze them for up to 3 months. Make sure to remember to take them out of the freezer and put them in the refrigerator to defrost the day before.

For the Glaze

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces date syrup, “Silan.” (available at middle eastern stores and here)

• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (available at middle eastern stores and here)

• 1 cup orange juice

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

• ½ teaspoon cardamom

• 1 small tuber of fresh turmeric, grated (or, if you can’t find fresh, 1 tsp ground turmeric)

• a handful of flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, or some of each, finely chopped, for garnish

Method:

• Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and set it aside.

• Preheat oven to 375°

• Slice the onions in ¼“ slices.

• Slice one of the preserved lemons, about ⅛ inch thick. Rinse the excess salt off half of them and finely chop them; saving the other half of the slices for later.

• Sauté the onions and the chopped lemon over medium low heat in a skillet with a little olive oil and a dash of salt.

• When the onions are lightly caramelized, add a dash each of cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, and turmeric. Continue to sauté for another 2 minutes.

• Scatter the onions over a baking pan that is large enough to hold all of the chicken in a single layer. Use two pans if necessary.

• Add a little more oil to the same skillet and quickly brown the chicken pieces over medium-high heat on both sides. You are not trying to cook it through. You will probably need to do this in more than one batch.

• When they are browned, lay them out skin side down, and brush each piece with a little of the glaze.

• Then, nestle the chicken pieces into the onions, skin side up, in one layer.

• Pour half of the glaze evenly over the chicken.

• Roast the chicken for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until it’s no longer pink inside. A meat thermometer inserted half way into the brest should read 165°. Don’t overcook, especially if you’re using breasts, as they can dry out more easily than the thighs. If you are using a whole chicken, you may want to remove the breasts from the oven when they’re done, and set them aside while the dark meat finishes cooking.

• As the chicken is roasting, brush it with more of the glaze every 15 minutes or so. About 5 minutes before you take it out of the oven, top each piece with a slice of the preserved lemon. You may rinse it if you don’t like the saltiness, but I think the salt is part of what makes it awesome. You could chop the preserved lemon instead and scatter the pieces over the chicken, but the presentation won’t be as pretty.

• .To serve, spread the onions on a nice serving platter and arrange the chicken pieces, with their preserved lemon slices, over them. Pour the pan drippings over all and scatter the chopped herbs over the whole platter.