Preserved Lemon Chicken







I made preserved lemons a while back, and didn't know what to do with them. I asked an internet buddy and she provided the inspiration for this dish. The lemons themselves are prepared by basically cutting lemons into almost-wedges, stuffing them with salt and letting them sit for a month in the refrigerator. However, the end result is a little creepy - slimy and strange, and the fact that they sat in the refrigerator for so long was a little fear-inspiring together with the slime, so I felt that they had to be cooked. This dish worked really well for that, because if the lemons acquired a bacterial population, I'm sure I burned it up in the oven!

Take the preserved lemons and chop them up in the food processor. I skipped a critical step here, I realized, after eating the finished dish. First RINSE the lemons to get some small amount of their dense salt saturation out of them. THEN chop in the processor and use as a marinade.

So, taking the chopped lemons, add them to some bone-in chicken thighs in a shallow pan that you can cover and bake for an hour or so. Smear the lemon bits on the chicken, leave some chunks on the side of the meat, and add garlic and olives. The garlic could be in whole clove form, but in this case, I used olives that were combined with garlic from the store (Central Market). Add some seasoning - coriander, cumin, chipotle powder. Not too much of any of these - the flavor is supposed to come from the chicken and the lemons and garlic, not from the spices so much. They're supposed to make the flavor more complex and deep, not drive the whole thing into Spiceville. Cover and bake at 300-350F until the thighs have reached an appropriate internal temperature - 180F? - then remove the cover and broil to make the skin a little crunchy.


Serve with couscous or rice or pasta, by pulling the meat off the bones and chopping up a little bit with your fork or serving spoon. You could go even the extra mile and use a cutting board so the whole thing ends up a little more even and chopped, and in that case I'd chop the olives as well. I actually enjoyed the variety of piece sizes, though, from the simpler option. Except - watch out for cartilage! Don't eat it, or serve it if you can help it!

On the same day I marinated some shrimp with the preserved-lemon spread, with garlic, pepper and salt, but again, this suffered terribly from the oversalty lemons. I sauteed the shrimps and marinade after they sat for an hour or so in the refrigerator. When I ate the first one, I was shocked at the saltiness. Blech! I rinsed one shrimp off in the sink and ate it, and yep, Still Salty.

One more jar of the lemons to go, and I'll know better this time - new culinary heights will be reached....