Dateline: April 24, 2020 Preserved Lemon Chicken..Redux

I have been thinking about this chicken and the wonderful stock the bones will make for a while now.  So, when I finally could get a whole chicken, it was numero uno on the list of what to do!

I am roasting the chicken at 300° F and have coated the skin with a crisping mixture of olive oil, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t baking soda, 1/4 t black pepper, and about 1.5 T olive oil.  But we are at the end of the prep.  Let's start at the beginning.

I am using my preserved lemons, not Rich's, so there may be differences there as well.  Too many variables to be a "real" experiment.  I took one out of the jar and cut it into quarters, scraping the pulp from the rind.

I pulled out all pits and chopped the pulp finely, putting it into a small bowl.  And then cut each quarter peel in half. 

preserved pulp, chopped

single lonely clove of fermented garlic

To the bowl with the pulp, I added olive oil and a large fermented in honey garlic clove, smashed and finely chopped.  Mixed it vigorously and tasted it.  It needed salt, believe it or not.  I had tasted the lemons when removing the one from the jar and found it really salty.  I guess mixed with other things tames it a bit.

I also added with the salt some black pepper.  This was mixed again and used as a rub on cauliflower "steaks" that will roast with the chicken.  I had some brussel sprouts and I just used olive oil, salt and pepper along with 1/2 a red onion I had in the fridge.

cauliflower with pulp and garlic

purple sprouts with onion

preserved rinds, in eighths 

rubbed down and ready for sauna

Take chicken and run a finger under the skin of the breast from the neck as well as from the cavity.  Also loosen the skin around the drumsticks and thighs.  The peel eighths are now positioned under the skin.  4 on each side of the chicken.

Use the above mentioned at the top "crisping" rub on the skin of the chicken and pop it into a 300° F oven with convection on.

The chicken was in the oven for about 1.5 hrs, we were on a zoom video call with a bunch of former students, who at this point are our kids.  The chicken was succulent and juicy as well as well cooked.  It cut up like a dream, just the tip of the knife in a joint, and it came apart!

finished bird

finished cauliflower

finished sprouts

This is a keeper.  The entire meal was really delicious.  I love preserved lemon in savory dishes.  It even came through in the cauliflower.

This is going into the normal rotation.

The only point that I want to make is that the skin was not as crisp as I had hoped it to be.  I think, in the future, I will boost the oven temp up to a higher level, maybe 400° - 450° for the last 10-15 minutes in order to crisp up the skin to a satisfying level.  That said, the flavor of the lemons really came through.  I am repeating myself, but it was soooooo good.