Roast Chicken with Preserved Lemon & Braised Vegetables
Submitted by happyzhangbo
Moroccan-inspired roast chicken with preserved lemon rubbed under the skin and braised over carrots, celery, and onion in chicken broth. The citrus perfumes the meat while the vegetables catch all the pan drippings.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
25 minREADY
2⅔ hrsMoroccan flavor built into a familiar roast chicken. Preserved lemons, not fresh, are the ingredient to chase. Their salty, floral, deeply citrus character comes from weeks of curing in their own juice with salt, and nothing else delivers the same flavor. Rubbing the pulp and rind directly under the skin of the chicken gets that flavor onto the meat itself, not just the outside.
The technique of working seasoning under the skin is worth learning. Gently loosen the skin over the breast and thighs with your fingers, working slowly so you don’t tear it. The preserved lemon paste goes right onto the meat, under the skin, where it bastes the bird from the inside as it cooks. More preserved lemon goes into the cavity with a bundle of parsley.
The clever piece is the braised vegetables underneath. Baby carrots, diced celery, and onion sit in a cup of low-salt chicken broth, and the chicken roasts directly on top. As the bird cooks, juices and rendered fat drip down and turn the vegetables into something far more interesting than plain boiled carrots and celery. One pan, two preparations, maximum flavor transfer.
Chef Tips
- Use real preserved lemons (from a Middle Eastern market or a jar). Quick-pickled “preserved” lemons taste nothing like the real thing.
- Scoop out and discard the seeds from the preserved lemons before chopping. Seeds are bitter and ruin the paste.
- Loosen the chicken skin carefully. Torn skin bastes the pan, not the meat, and the breast loses its crispness.
- Rest the chicken 15 minutes before carving. Cutting straight out of the oven bleeds the juices onto the cutting board.
Variations
- Add chopped green olives to the pan vegetables for another layer of the Moroccan citrus-brine profile.
- Swap baby carrots for chunks of turnip, parsnip, or Yukon Gold potato for different sweetness.
- Finish the pan juices with a tablespoon of honey and a pinch of saffron for a sweeter tagine-style sauce.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Scrape the pulp from the lemons with a spoon; discard the seeds.
Finely dice the rinds.
Combine half the pulp, half the rind, pepper and salt in a small bowl.
Reserve the remaining rind and pulp.
With your fingers, loosen the skin over the chicken breasts and thighs to make pockets, being careful not to tear the skin.
Rub the lemon pulp mixture under the skin and onto the breast and thigh meat.
Combine carrots, celery and onion in a medium baking dish or roasting pan.
Sprinkle with half of the reserved rind and the remaining pulp.
Add broth.
Set the chicken on top of the vegetables.
Tie parsley together with kitchen string.
Place the remaining rind and the parsley inside the chicken cavity.
Roast the chicken, basting with pan juices occasionally, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°F, 1½ to 1 ¾ hours.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board; let rest for 15 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables and pan juices to a serving dish.
Discard the parsley.
Remove the skin and carve the chicken.
Skim or blot any visible fat from the vegetables.
Serve the chicken with the vegetables.
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