It doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?
What to do. In a country, where the weekend is Friday and Saturday, our traditional Sunday feast has shifted back a day in the week.
I had a chicken and some inspiration to cook a roast dinner with a twist, but nothing too dramatic that would put off 2 small mouths.
My son’s favourite thing is to have a ‘family dinner’. And on a Saturday afternoon, the idea of a mall jam packed with similar minded people escaping the heat and the 4 walls of their home, is just not top of our list. Preparing and enjoying a meal over the length of the afternoon is much more appealing, and if the kids can get their hands a bit dirty with the preparation, its a much better prospect than cleaning markers off those 4 walls.
The dish is a roast chicken inspired by morrocan flavours of preserved and pickled ingredients with the all too familiar spices of ground cumin and coriander. I am a bit of a fan of salty, vinegary pickled things. This recipes uses finely chopped preserved lemons to give the chicken that burst of salty, lemony, tangy yumminess. I tried unsuccessfully buy some preserved lemons a few years back, so I made my own. My mum always make hers and they also make for lovely gifts at Christmas time. It is probably one of the easiest ingredients to make, that and vanilla extract (I’ll post recipes on these in time). The longer they sit, the better. The colour does disappear but the flavour gets stronger and takes on more of whatever you added to the jar – my favourite is chilli and fennel seeds.
This roast also has plenty of trimmings so as not to neglect any part of the Sunday (Saturday) tradition. I also added half a dozen drumsticks into this recipe that are not marinated but just sit on top of the flavours rather than be immersed, as they are pretty dominant ingredients. The kids gobbled the fall off the bone chicken!
And don’t forget pudding! I love dessert. I had some leftover homemade elderflower ice cream (that I had served at a dinner with berry jellies – more on that another day), and the rhubarb we seem to be getting at the moment is really lovely. Add some fragrant strawberries to the warm roasted rhubarb and the cold ice cream on top makes for a very satisfying dessert.
Left overs of both recipes are equally delicious cold the next day. So effectively you could enjoy your roast on Saturday and Sunday!
- 1 free range chicken
- 6 drumsticks
- ⅓ cup finely chopped preserved lemon, use the peel only, discard the flesh
- ⅔ cup finely chopped green olives
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh coriander / cilantro, chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, extra for drizzling
- 2 large onions, cut into 6 wedges, enough to create a layer of onion over the roasting pan
- 300g pumpkin, cut into wedges
- 300g carrots, I use baby, otherwise use large carrots cut into same size as pumpkin
- 1 medium zucchini / courgette, cut into chunks
- 1 400g tin chick peas, drained
- 2 teaspoons ras el hanout (moroccan spice
- cous cous
- chicken stock
- sea salt
- pepper
- Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius
- Prepare the salsa / marinade by adding the preserved lemon, olives, parsley, coriander, garlic, ground coriander and cumin and olive oil to a bowl. Toss to combine.
- Carefully pull the skin of the chicken breast area away from the flesh to create a pocket.
- Stuff the pocket with the salsa / marinade. If there is extra, put into the cavity of the bird.
- Arrange the onions over the base of a medium roasting pan.
- Place the chicken on top and scatter the drumsticks around.
- Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 45 min- 1hr until cooked, or the juices run clear when you pierce the skin between the leg and breast. The onions should be beautifully caramelised.
- In another pan scatter the pumpkin and carrots and drizzle with oil and sprinkle with ras el hanout. Roast for 20 - minutes until tender, depending on the size of the vegetables.
- Place the zucchini and chick peas in the same pan and roast for a another 15 minutes.
- Prepare the cous cous according to packet directions. I like to use chicken stock instead of water.
- 1 bunch rhubarb, washed, trimmed and cut into lengths
- 250g strawberries, I use frozen
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar, I used 1 and it was a little tart
- Ice cream to serve
- Place the rhubarb in the base of a baking dish.
- Scatter over the strawberries and sugar.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until rhubarb is very soft.
- Serve with ice cream
