Spring : Chicken

It was certainly Spring here today. Although water in some of the empty troughs on the patio stayed iced over all day, I was able to get two lots of wash dry on the line thanks to the sunshine and a light breeze. Any other sunny days have still been too humid for any real drying.

Over the weekend we had Jamaican Jerk pork, and there was some (Jamaican) rice and peas left over.  I was trying to find something suitable to have with it today, and found this Moroccan recipe in Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food. It turned out well; C says he thinks it would be a suitable meal for guests.


Moroccan Chicken Qdra:
1 large chicken, quartered
2 tblsp butter
3/4 - 1 lb onions
1 tsp cinnamon, salt and pepper,
8 ounces dried chickpeas, (garbanazo beans) soaked overnight
4 oz whole almonds, blanched
Bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon

Put the chicken, butter and 1 finely chopped onion in a pan, and cover with water. Add the cinnamon, and salt and pepper to taste.Bring to the boil, add the chickpeas, cover and simmer over a very low heat for one and a half hours, by which time the chickpeas should be tender.  Add the rest of the onions, finely chopped, the almonds and parsley, and simmer for about another half hour till the fresh onion is soft and the sauce somewhat reduced. It wasn't in the recipe, but I took some of the chickpeas and liquid out and puréed them to thicken the sauce up. Arrange the chicken pieces on a dish, and spoon the chickpeas, nuts and sauce over. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over this and serve.
It was a very enjoyable light (as in not rich) chicken dish, with a lovely aromatic warmth from the cinnamon and tang from the fresh lemon juice. It reminded me a bit of some Persian chicken dishes. What was left of the sauce I blended coarsely to make a nice soup for tomorrow's lunch. Although it did, indeed, go reasonably well with the rice and peas, next time I make it I'll serve it with plain rice or even better, homemade flat-breads.