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Chicken With Preserved Lemon and Olives
Jessica Grann
I published my recipe for preserved
lemons recently in preparation for
this divine chicken dish, which I’ve
made for nearly 20 years with rave
reviews. It has a wonderful mix of
ingredients that, when combined,
are special to North African cuisine:
slow-braised meat, olives, preserved
lemons, saffron, ginger, cumin and a
little spice.

I really enjoy this in the warmer months.

It gets better the longer that it rests, so
it’s a wonderful meal to make ahead for
a Shabbat or a holiday. I use a light hand
with the spices so that the chicken is
fragrant but not reeking of anything in
particular. One of the biggest mistakes
that home cooks make is covering their
meat in heavy spices.

Essentially, this is a tagine. While
you don’t need a tagine to make this
recipe, you will need a heavy-bot-
tomed Dutch oven. Steam and air flow
are important when braising any meat,
so there must be room between the
food and the lid — as opposed to using
a baking dish and covering it with foil
which doesn’t leave enough space for
steam. A few inches of space in the pot
will create a more tender meat.

This recipe has several steps and is
a bit more time-consuming than what
I typically publish, but it will come out
beautifully if you follow my instruc-
tions. The prep takes about an hour,
which is why I usually save this meal for
Shabbat and special occasions. The
chicken must be marinated overnight
and then browned before baking, but
once you set it into the oven to cook,
you’re basically done.

Photo by Jessica Grann
INGREDIENTS For the chicken and marinade:
3-4 pounds dark meat chicken on
the bone, skin on. Use legs,
thighs or a combination.

3 cups sweet onion, diced
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and
sliced 24
MAY 11, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
Chicken with preserved lemon and olives
¼
1
1
1
½
1
3
cup olive oil
teaspoon cumin
teaspoon ground ginger
teaspoon turmeric powder
teaspoon cayenne pepper
teaspoon coarse kosher salt
tablespoons fresh lemon juice
In a small bowl, combine all of the
above ingredients and mix well. Place
the raw chicken in a large bowl, and
pour the marinade on top. Cover with
plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

I usually give it a good stir and re-cover
the bowl before bed or first thing in
the morning, just to ensure that the
chicken is evenly coated.

For the main dish:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cumin
A nice pinch of saffron, about ¼
teaspoon 1 preserved lemon, pith and fruit
removed; use the rind only.

Slice it into thin pieces.

½ bunch of parsley and ½ bunch
of cilantro (equal amounts),
washed and tied
with string
1.5 cups assorted Mediterranean
olives (not canned black or
American-style green olives)
⅓ cup water
Immersing the herbs in water with a
splash of white vinegar helps to clean
off the sand and bugs. Soak and rinse
the herbs and set them aside to dry on
a paper towel for later use.

Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a
Dutch oven and heat the burner to
medium-low. Lightly brown each piece
of chicken on both sides, working in
batches, cooking each side for 8-10
minutes. Browning the chicken does not
fully cook it; it simply helps to seal in the
juices. There will be small pieces of diced
onion on the raw chicken that you don’t
need to wipe away before browning.

Brown all the chicken pieces and set
them aside on another plate. The leftover
marinade will settle to the bottom of the
bowl, and there should also be a nice
amount of chicken juice and oil from the
cooked chicken in the pot.

Add the marinade to the pot and
sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring
regularly over medium-low heat. The
onions should be translucent but still
be firm.

Add the cumin and ginger to the
onions and stir constantly for 1 minute
before removing the pan from the heat.

Stir in the saffron. There may be
blackened residue at the bottom of
the pot. This is common when sautéing
with olive oil. While I typically scrape
blackened bits into the sauce, with this
dish I don’t disturb it because I’m not
deglazing the pan.

Scoop out ¾ of the onion mixture
and place it into another small bowl.

If you have a large tagine, scoop ¼
of this onion and a few slices of the
preserved lemon across the bottom
of the clay pot; otherwise do this
step with the same Dutch oven that
you used to brown the chicken. Add
the chicken in layers and spoon the
rest of the cooked marinade over
the top. Add the olives and the rest
of the preserved lemon rind. Pour the
water into the side of the pot so that it
covers the bottom and doesn’t wash
away the marinade.

Cut just the ends off the parsley and
cilantro stems and tie them in a bunch
with kitchen string. Set the bunch on
top of the chicken, but to the side of
the pot, and cover.

Tagine-style cooking is all about
slow cooking. Put the covered tagine
or Dutch oven into a cold oven, then
set the heat to 275 F. Bake without
uncovering for 3 hours. A Dutch oven
may take a little less time than a tagine;
the chicken should be tender when
you insert a fork.

If you’re using a tagine, place it on
a wood cutting board when you take
it out of the oven to avoid cracking.

Placing a hot clay pot onto a cold
surface will cause shock to the pot and
destroy it.

If you’re not serving this immediately,
turn the oven off, crack the oven door
and allow it to cool down in the oven
for an hour.

Serve warm over rice or couscous,
which will sop up the sumptuous sauce.

Kosher chicken, olives and preserved
lemon are all salty, so I salt this to taste
at the table.

This is not a spicy dish. It has slight
warmth from the cayenne pepper, and
saffron comes to life in food that is not
overly peppered. I hope that you get
as much enjoyment out of this meal as
my family does. Enjoy and bless your
hands! ■
Jessica Grann is a home chef living
in Pittsburgh.




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food & dining
Taste of Israel Draws a Healthy Crowd
Jarrad Saffren, Sasha Rogelberg
and Andy Gotlieb | Staff Writers
T he Jewish community showed up en masse on
May 7 at the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood for
the Taste of Israel Festival, organized by the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

And while many showed up to taste Israeli food,
they also came to walk around, talk to organizational
representatives at different tables, observe chef
Michael Solomonov’s cooking demonstrations and
listen to music.

The Taste of Israel Festival provided a taste of Israel
to be sure, but it also offered a festive atmosphere.

One man even mocked U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor
Greene by wearing a shirt that said, “Jewish Space
Laser Corps.”
In the end, though, during the warm spring day, it
was about the food.

The secret ingredient to Zahav’s hummus is not
the garlic, the chickpeas or the lemon juice — though
each is important to the final product, according to
Solomonov, a James Beard Award-winning chef.

Instead, the key to smooth, fluffy hummus is ice
water, drizzled slowly through a food processor
into the whirring hummus components. The water
emulsifies with the tahini — slick and packed with
flavorful oil — to keep the hummus creamy.

That’s just one of many tips Solomonov, joined
by Philadelphia-based tahini giant Soom CEO Amy
Zitelman, shared at the festival. Hundreds of visitors
were packed under the tent in the center of the festi-
val, where Solomonov showed off his cooking chops,
proving once more why his nine different restaurants
in Philadelphia live up to the hype.

Those fortunate enough to procure a blue ticket
got to enjoy a free salatim platter from Solomonov’s
famed restaurant Zahav via his catering arm Lilah. The
platter included the aforementioned hummus, pita
and a couple of other salads.

Meantime, other vendors, including a couple of
food trucks stationed along the edge of the grounds,
provided a variety of other foods.

Just about every Jewish group you can think
of was present at the event, with the most savvy
organizations offering candy or other small freebies
to lure passersby to hear their pitches.

No kid-friendly event is complete without bouncy
castles, and they were stationed on the tennis courts.

And various musical performers could be found
at another corner of the grounds, drawing crowds
throughout the day. ■
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 25