Moroccan Barbecued Chicken With Herb Couscous ©

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a wonderful recipe! I made it with a whole chicken in the oven, but it is perfect using chicken wings and a barbecue!

A perfect summer dish.

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer. Here far away from Athens, the internet is slow, the days are relaxed and one is mostly out of doors, gardening, sailing and soaking in the sun and plenty of children in and out………….. my postings will be posted from time to time, until I return to Athens in September…….

 

 

 

 

Easy

 

 

 

 

6 Persons

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1 whole chicken or

900g Chicken wings

3 tbs Maple Syrup

1 tsp Harissa paste

1 tsp cumin seeds lightly crushed

Zest and juice of medium orange

Zest and juice lemon

150g Couscous

Large bunch of Mint chopped

Large bunch of Coriander chopped

2 tbs Moroccan preserved lemon finely chopped.

1-2 tsp Salt

Olive oil

200g carton Greek yogurt for accompaniment mixed with a little Harissa

 

Method

1.Make up marinade of maple syrup, Harissa and ground cumin, zest of both orange and lemon, 1/2 of the orange and lemon juice and salt.

2. IF BARBECUING : Leave wings to marinade, using half your marinade, for 1/2 an hour and grill .

3.IF GRILLING IN OVEN : Place wings in oven tray and grill for 15 minutes, turning half way through. Then pour over remaining marinade and return to grill, for another 15 minutes until brown and sticky, turning once.

4. IF ROASTING WHOLE CHICKEN : Wash and truss the chicken in the usual way, pour over 1/2 the marinade. Leave to marinade for 1/2 an hour and roast in a pre-heated oven for one and a half hours approximately. Turn the chicken during the cooking time and take care it does not burn as the maple syrup burns easily. Use tin foil cover if it darkens too much. Pour over the other half of your marinade during the last half hour of cooking.

5.For the couscous, boil a kettle of water.Place couscous in serving bowl and splash with the remaining orange and lemon juice.

Then pour in enough boiling water to just cover. Cling film the bowl and set aside for 10 minutes.

6. Soak fresh herbs in salted water for five minutes. Rinse well and remove leaves from stalks. Chop finely.

7. Remove cling film from couscous, and fluff up with fork. Fold through the herbs, preserved lemon,(I did not have any, so I made it with out the preserved lemons and it was still excellent.) 1 tbs oil and some salt and pepper.

8. Serve with the wings, or whole chicken, together with a bowl of thick greek yogurt, swirled with a tsp of Harissa, if you like a bit more heat.

 

**** Recipe for “Preserved Lemons,” See  under  “Preserves” in Recipe Index.

 

 

 

Gather together your ingredients, before starting to cook.

 

An ESSENTIAL ingredient. Harissa, a wonderful Tunisian product……

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harissa

Assemble your ingredients.

Crush cumin seeds.

 

Crushed to a powder.

 

Finely grate lemon zest into marinade.

 

Squeeze orange juice and lemon juice.

 

If roasting a whole chicken, pour 1/2 marinade over chicken and leave to marinade for 1/2 hr. Pour over remaining

half of marinade, half an hour before the end of your cooking time. If using chicken wings, grill and half way through

cooking time pour over marinade.

 

Place Couscous in serving dish.

 

Splash with the other half of the orange and lemon juice and just cover with boiling water.

 

Cling film and leave to swell for 10 minutes.

 

Chop herbs finely, fluff up couscous with a fork and fold in herbs, oil and seasoning.

Beautifully browned chicken wing…….

 

Roasted chicken cut into portions.

 

Serve together with sauce.

 

Final result!