Simply Recipes Recipe Test: Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

I wish I could recall how I came across this recipe.  I was online, and saw the thumbnail of the photo somewhere.  It may have been Facebook.  Anyway, the photo redirected to a site called "Yummly," where I clicked again to get the full recipe at Simply Recipes.  This isn't a new recipe--Elise Bauer posted it in 2006.

Here's the full recipe:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/moroccan_chicken_with_lemon_and_olives/

How can you resist a recipe with this photo in it?

I started by rounding up the ingredients.  I'd never cooked with preserved lemon, and I couldn't find it at Fresh Market.  I found an Epicurious recipe for fast, easy preserved lemon.  I just preserved one lemon using the recipe, but it worked out well.  All you do is slice the lemon thinly, place in baking dish in as close to a single layer as possible, douse with salt and lemon juice, and bake at 200 for three hours.

Here's the easy preserved lemon recipe from Epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Quick-Preserved-Lemons-12760

About to put my lemons in the oven.

I made the lemons two days before, and also mixed the spices so the chicken could sit in the spice rub for two days.  I love bold flavors, so I wasn't afraid to really let the flavors develop.  I ended up doubling the spice rub, too, so I could get as much as possible on the chicken.

The recipe made this much spice rub--just enough to fill the corner of my Ziploc bag.  I didn't think this was enough to really coat the chicken, so I doubled it up.

Bag of chicken with spice rub ready to go into the fridge for two days.  Letting it sit in the spices for two days let the flavors, as well as an intense orange color, develop.

When it was time to prepare the chicken, I was excited.  It had developed a really deep orange color from all the spices.  I didn't have a tagine, so I used a deep pan and prepared according to the recipe.  I didn't make any substitutions.  I didn't keep close tabs on the time, instead, I made sure the chicken skin was browned and crispy before flipping it.  I like chicken skin to have a crisp texture instead of a floppy, slow cooked softness.

Onions in, ready to simmer.

The house smelled fantastic as the chicken cooked.  As the chicken cooked, I carefully removed the parsley and cilantro leaves from the stems to ensure no tough stem pieces or the weird little unappetizing hairs cilantro gets if pulled off the stem hastily.

Moments from serving...

At serving time, the dish was very pretty.  The yellow from the lemon and bright green of the parsley and cilantro popped against the red flesh of the chicken.  The skin was satisfyingly crispy and the inside was meaty and moist.  The whole dish was freshly aromatic.

The finished product!

I can't wait to make this one again!  Another winning recipe!

One note: after prepping this dish, I noticed that the white French tips of my manicure were stained yellow, presumably from the turmeric.  Insider tip: consider wearing gloves if you have a fresh or pastel-colored manicure.  Turmeric stains.

Bon Appetit Recipe Test: Thai Chicken Soup

I'm kicking the tires on another recipe for you today.  I found this one in a Bon Appetit magazine Tweet--27 ways to make boneless chicken not boring.  This recipe is a hit!

My husband doesn't do ethnic food.  He has the stomach of a child sometimes--after a trip to an Indian restaurant, he ate something spicy and laid on the sofa for hours moaning and rubbing his tummy.  When I'm craving Vietnamese or Thai food, I call up girlfriends and have a girls' night out.  I didn't tell him this was Thai-inspired until afterwards.  He ate it up, proclaimed how fantastic the broth was, and didn't have a stomachache at all.  Then I told him it was Thai and he looked surprised.

By the way, I fully believe in "Jewish Penicillin"--chicken noodle soup--when you're feeling unwell.  This soup might replace the simple chicken noodle or matzo ball soup though.  It's that good.

I followed the original recipe closely, but not exactly.  The original recipe can be found here:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/thai-chicken-soup

My changes were mostly out of convenience and to cut down on miscellaneous leftover produce in my fridge.  For example, instead of measuring out the mushrooms or sugar snap peas, I tossed in a whole package.  The more veggies, the merrier, right?

Here's my rendition:

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 chive pieces (five bulbs, each with about four stalks of green onion on it)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
4 in. piece of fresh ginger (consider using more if you like more zing)
handful of baby carrots
1 jalapeno (consider using two if you like heat)
1 package of sliced white mushrooms (about 8 oz.)
1 package of organic, boneless chicken tenderloins (there were no 1 lb. packages so I used 1.3 lbs.)
1 can coconut milk (this can was 13.5 oz.)
1 quart organic chicken broth
1 package of sugar snap peas (I think it was about 8 oz.)
Fish sauce to taste (I used about 2-3 tablespoons)
2-3 oz. lime juice
2 handfuls of cilantro

Outside of all the washing and chopping, this is very easy to make and has minimal clean up.

Wash all produce.

Put large soup pot on stove on medium heat.  Add the oil and the garlic.  As garlic becomes golden, chop up the scallions and carrots, add to pot.  I used one handful of baby carrots, next time, I'll consider using two since I really like carrots.

Use carrot peeler to scrape the skin off the ginger, then grate into the pot.  I couldn't find out grater, so I was using a serrated knife.  My patience wore off at four inches of the ginger.  I wish I'd used more, so if you like zing, keep grating away.  The original Bon Appetit recipe calls for 1 inch.

Next, I added the a tablespoon of fish sauce, chicken broth, and coconut milk, then all the chicken tenderloins.  Just toss the chicken pieces into the soup pot whole.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer, and set timer for 20 minutes.

While the chicken is simmering, slice the jalapeno thinly.  I de-seeded it to keep the spicy level lower for my husband, but next time, I'll use two jalapenos.  Chop the sugar snap peas into small pieces--they'll look like over-sized rings of green onion.  I always chop mine across or slightly diagonally to make sure I cut across where strings could be.  I tend to find strings, even if the bag says the peas are string-less.

At the 20 minute mark, remove the chicken tenderloins and place on large plate.  Add the pea and jalapeno to the soup pot.  Using a fork and knife (it's hot!), pull the chicken into pieces that will fit on a spoon.  The chicken was really tender and came apart very easily.  Return the pulled chicken to the pot.  Add 2-3oz. of lime juice (I used half of a little green plastic reconstituted lime juice container).  Stir and taste.  At this point, I wanted more salt.  Instead of adding salt, I added another tablespoon or two of fish sauce to get that salty/umami taste I needed.

Taste it to check for the right balance.  Need saltiness or umami?  Add fish sauce.  Need zing?  Add lime juice and or grated ginger.

Remove the cilantro leaves from the stems.  Now you're ready to serve.

For best presentation, use a slotted spoon to scoop up the right balance of chicken and veggies.  Then ladle the broth around the chicken and veggies so you can see them peaking through the surface.  Top with fresh cilantro and serve immediately.

The delicious finished product--Tom Kha Gai inspired Thai Chicken Soup.

Don't add the rest of the fresh cilantro to the leftovers.  It will wilt when sitting in the liquid then during reheating.  Top each reheated bowl with fresh cilantro.