Morrocan Chicken with Pearl Coucous
Serves: 3
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Today’s portion control is a little tricky to judge because chicken thigh fillets with the bone in can yield small so hubby definitely needs two, and I really like to use fillets with the skin on, but finding skin on fillets can be a real mission in Sydney. Most of the butchers won’t do them because they get their chicken already portioned. Harris Farm sometimes have them but I still have yet to see chicken thigh cutlets with the skin on in Woolworths, but Coles now do them horray! The product name is ‘Slow Hills’ only thing is I could only find 5 in a pack arrggghhh….. 6 would be better for enough leftovers. I do have a really good wholesale meat place close by who als sell them but they only do bulk which for the 3 of us is totally unnecessary. I’m having a gripe sorry but that’s because when it comes to chicken this is my all time favourite cut. As a chef I am more than capable of filleting a chicken but I don’t see the logic in buying 3 whole chickens to produce 6 fillets. But on a positive, I was pretty excited to see them in Coles so tonight’s dish was the result of exciting impulse buying and then followed by a very excited how should I make them, being my favourite cut I have loads of recipe’s that I like to do so we might be seeing a lot more of these on the menu.
Leftovers
If you do have chicken leftover that’s awesome but if not there will still be plenty of couscous and sauce to take for lunch.
Couscous Brand
I like to use a brand called 'blu' it cooks really fast and doesn't go all gluggy like many others. If you can't find this brand then I would suggest you check the cooking instructions of your brand of choice.
What you'll need
600-800g Chicken thigh cutlets bone in skin on
1 small brown onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
1 lemon
1/2 a cup of dried apricots
1 large carrot
1 large zucchini
250ml of water
1 cup of pearl couscous
1/4 jap pumpkin
1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley
1/4 bunch of coriander
From the Pantry
1 teaspoon of tumeric
1 teaspoon of coriander
2 teaspoons of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
olive oil
salt and pepper
Optional Xtra For Lunch
Xtra chicken
Feeding Four?
You will need to buy two packs of five I think because 1 chicken thigh each is a bit small, and add xtra couscous but I won't add this to your list as you will have that already.
Prep and Cook
Preheat Oven to 200 Degrees Celcius
Brown the Chicken
On the stovetop heat a large ovenproof frypan or casserole dish on high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil.
Season your chicken on both sides and then lay your chicken skin side down in the pan to brown off approx 2 minutes. Turn over and brown the other side of the chicken.
Take the pan off the heat and remove your chicken from the pan, place on a plate and set aside.
Make the Base
Peel and roughly slice the onion, and peel and finely chop the garlic. Return your pan to the heat and add another tablespoon of olive oil, sautee the onion and garlic until soft.
Add the spices and fennel seeds and cookout for 30 seconds stirring constantly. The base of your pan might be getting a bit sticky but don’t worry about this once you add the tomatoes the acid will cut through and bring it off along with all that deliciousness.
Add the tinned tomatoes crushing them by hand as you do. Add water, I like to swill my cans out with the water to get all the tomato out. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring the mix up to a boil then turn down to simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Roast Pumpkin
Peel and slice the pumpkin into a small dice.
Toss with oil and salt and pepper then spread out on a baking tray lined with paper and pop into the oven to roast for 20 minutes.
Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Cook Chicken
Peel and slice your carrots, tonight I have gone for a triangular shape. Slice carrots in half lengthways then lay your carrot parallel along the board and slice alternating sides on a 45-degree angle to get a triangle cut. Do the same for the zucchini and add to your pan.
Add the dried apricots, then the zest of half your lemon and all the juice. Stir well to combine. Bring back up to the boil.
Place your chicken pieces in the pan skin side up and pop the dish into the oven to cook for 45 minutes or until chicken cooked right through and the skin has gone cripsy.
Cook Couscous
Add 125g of pearl couscous to 250ml of boiling water.
Cover pot and simmer for 10 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Toast Pinenuts
Place the pine nuts in a small try and pop in the oven to cook for 7 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Plate it Pretty
Wash and roughly chop the coriander and the parsley.
Add the parsley to the pearl couscous along with the roasted pumpkin and a dash of olive oil. Season well then turn out onto a nice serving dish.
Sprinkle over the chicken with the toasted pine nuts and freshly chopped coriander.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
Did you have enough chicken for leftovers? I think this is a pretty sweet dish to eat cold but as an afterthought, you should rip the chicken off the bone while it’s still hot, makes it so much easier to eat the next day when cold.