Category Archives: Special Occasion Meals

Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemon

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Myriad spices and preserved lemon come together in this exotically flavored chicken dish with minimal hands-on time, making Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemon an ideal recipe for entertaining.

A platter mounded with Moroccan Chicken

Looking back at one of my old blog posts feels like pulling out an old high school yearbook from a dusty closet shelf. I first prepared this recipe in February 2014. At the time I hit “post,” I was feeling reasonably accomplished and proud to post both recipe and photograph. Four plus years later, I cringe – at the poorly lit and composed image and appallingly written recipe, for starters. What. Was. I. Thinking. In the future, when I’m exasperated by my lack of noticeable improvement, I’ll revisit a post from 2014 to remind myself how far I’ve truly come. Oh, the horror.

Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemon

Myriad spices and preserved lemon come together in this exotically flavored chicken dish with minimal hands-on time, making Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemon an ideal recipe for entertaining.


Ingredients

  • 1 head garlic, peeled
  • Handful Italian parsley
  • Handful cilantro
  • ½ onion, sliced
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 2 Tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne
  • ¼ teaspoon saffron threads
  • 8 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs (about 3.5 – 4 lbs.)
  • 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1” slices
  • ¾ cup pitted oil-cured black olives
  • 1 ½ preserved lemons, sliced (or one fresh lemon very thinly sliced)

Directions

  1. In a food processor, process first 12 ingredients through saffron to make a marinade. Arrange chicken, carrots, olives and lemon in a 13×9” pan and pour marinade over and around ingredients. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least two hours and up to one day.
  2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place dish, covered with foil, in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 30 additional minutes until chicken is cooked through. If desired, broil for an additional 5 minutes to crisp skin on chicken.
  3. To serve, arrange chicken, carrots, olives and lemon on a platter. Degrease sauce and pour over chicken and vegetables. Serve with aromatic rice.

The author in a photo from highschool
Speaking of school years…yep, gloves, a walking stick, and check out those shoulder pads!

Poached salmon with fennel salad and creamy caper sauce

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Poached Salmon with Fennel Salad

“You breathe in experience, and you breathe out what you make.”
– Doug Aitken

This quote has been swirling around my brain today. Does this mean creating shouldn’t be a struggle – that making art is as natural as aspiration? That sounds so effortless. I wish. Or does it suggest that limited experiences, like inadequate oxygen molecules in toxic air, results in an insipid and shallow creative exhale?

In yoga, there’s a Sanskrit word, pranayama, which translates as “breath control” or “control of life force.” Pranayama is a set of breathing techniques where the breath is intentionally altered to produce specific results. In practice, when we focus on our breath, it becomes fuller, richer, more rounded. A deep, expansive inhale yields an equally full exhale.

Applied to the quote above, it would imply, indeed, that the best art requires a cache of rich experiences. Or does our internal creative process provide an avenue to transform any experience, even the drone of suburban monotony, into something wonderful?

Speaking of turning something mundane into something wonderful…this creamy, flavorful lemon, dill and caper sauce paired with fennel salad elevates humble poached salmon into something both healthy and crave worthy – fancy enough for company.


Poached salmon with fennel salad and creamy caper sauce

Starting the poaching process in cold water ensures the fish remains incredibly moist.

Ingredients

    Fennel Salad
  • 2 fennel bulbs, cored and thinly sliced
  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
    • Poached Salmon
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 shallot, sliced
  • 1 stalk celery, sliced
  • 2 sprigs dill
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 5 peppercorns
  • 1 large pinch salt
  • 4 8-oz. skinless salmon fillets
    • Caper Sauce
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 Tablespoons capers, drained and roughly chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon dill, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, combine fennel salad ingredients and set aside to marinate.
  2. In a large saucepan, combine water, lemon juice, shallots, celery, dill, bay, peppercorns and salt. Add salmon to poaching liquid and additional water, until poaching liquid just covers salmon (about 2 more cups).
  3. Cover, turn heat to medium and cook salmon until internal temperature reaches 115°F, about 18 minutes. Carefully transfer salmon to a plate and chill until cold.
  4. To make yogurt sauce, combine all ingredients and chill. If too thick, add a bit of water or milk.
  5. Serve salmon over fennel Salad liberally drizzled with yogurt sauce.