Morroccan buttermilk chicken with date and toasted almond stuffing

Thanks to A finger in every pie for judging paper chef this month. When Owen announced the ingredient list for Paper Chef 7: buttermilk, dates, egg and honey, I did at first think of a dessert. I buried that desire, lest it result in yet another panna cotta, after having promised myself no more gelatin for the foreseeable future!

Owen was right. This combination of ingredients lends itself very well to a savoury dish, and in particular a Middle-Eastern inspired one. Since having attended a lecture by Dr. David Suzuki, I've been on an all out organic kick. So much so that Cakes and I are seriously considering going into business producing an organic food product locally... more on that much later. Like after we find out whether the bank agrees with us that this venture is a good idea and wants to give us lots of money that we never have to pay back. The point is, everything in this recipe (other than the dried spices) is organic and I think it all tastes so much better for it.

The buttermilk  marinade makes the chicken unbelievably moist and the honey in the glaze makes a lovely burnished crispy skin, reminiscent of Chinese barbecued chicken. The result is a steamy-moist and crispy chicken full of spice and flavour and a sultry Middle-Eastern sweetness!

Sadly, the batteries on my camera pooped out at the exact same time as the chicken was coming out of the oven so I was unable to get a photos before the skin started to wrinkle! Cakes very sweetly offered to rush out to the corner store to procure new batteries! He is so the best husband ever! The corner store must have got their last shipment of fresh batteries in the late 90's because the new batteries pooped out after 1 photo. Ergo, I apologies for the less than stellar photo of the chicken! It tasted much better than the photo would have you believe it looks!

Ingredients:

For the Chicken
Roasting chicken ( I routinely use 1.5 kilograms, which is enough for me and Cakes for supper and leftovers for the next day and would probably feed four with no leftovers)
1 litre buttermilk
1/3 cup honey
2 pieces lemon rind (1 cm by 3 cm each)

For the stuffing
1/4 cup butter
1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup whole almonds
6 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup couscous
1 - 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon zested lemon peel
1 large egg

For glaze
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper

For sauce
2.5 cups stock
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
juice of half a lemon

Method:

To prepare chicken:

Marinate clean, rinsed chicken at least 24 hours in buttermilk, honey and lemon peel. Drain chicken and discard marinade. Place chicken in roasting pan ready for stuffing. Pre-heat oven to 400 Fahrenheit or 200 Celsius.

To prepare stuffing:

Melt butter in large stir-fry pan. Add sliced onions, garlic, almonds and dried spices. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions are translucent and almonds have begun to toast, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the couscous and stir for 2 minutes more. Add all the remaining stuffing ingredients except the egg, stir until bubbly, cover and remove from heat. Allow to sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove cover and allow to cool slightly, for 10 minutes. Prepare the glaze while the stuffing is cooling.

To prepare glaze:
Place all glaze ingredients in a small microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir together to combine, set aside until required.

Stir the egg through the cooled stuffing. Spoon the stuffing mixture loosely into the chicken's cavity. skewer cavity closed. Heap remaining stuffing (if any) into a small glass or metal loaf tin. mix all the sauce ingredients except the lemon, and pour them in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Brush chicken with glaze mixture and pop chicken and extra stuffing into oven.

Use the glaze mixture to baste the chicken once every 20 minutes until the glaze is used up.

Roast the chicken for 30 minutes plus 20 minutes for each 500 grams. This should include the weight of the stuffing. This stuffing is relatively light so I cook a 1.5 kilogram chicken for 100 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow chicken to rest under foil. Use a fork to squash garlic cloves into sauce in bottom of the roasting pan. Scrape pan and pour juice through a sieve into a medium saucepan. Heat the juice until it is reduced in volume to about 1/2. Add the lemon juice and stir. Alter the seasoning for your own taste

Scoop out stuffing on to the centre of a platter. Slice chicken and place slices around the stuffing. Drizzle a bit of the sauce over both chicken and stuffing and serve the rest of the sauce on the side.

Comments

[Michele]

wow, very impressive! it looks and sounds absolutely delicious. I've recently discovered the joys of moroccan inspired recipes, I'll definitely add this one to my list to try. And I eagerly await future news of your organic venture :)

[Melissa]

Boy, does that look good! I'll have to try your buttermilk-marination method. By the way, I really enjoy your blog and your recipes... I'm getting lots of inspiration!

[Rachael]

I was going to make something similar, I am so glad I didn't...because yours looks AMAZING. Deee-lish.

[chronicler]

Oh! Can I come for dinner? I'll bring the dessert! :-D This looks fab!

[sarah]

wow. moroccan food is somewhat new to me, but with the flavors and spices in your recipe, i am sure i would love it. i need to try this! thank you!

[Owen]

Another great entry. We love a good roast chicken in our house and have been getting in a rut - I think it is time to try Moroccan style!

[Julie]

Lynette, this is glorious. I'm wild for Middle Eastern food in general, and Moroccan is probably my top pick. Not only would I love this, but so would the s.o., who's fond of sweet and savory combos...

[asya]

i have made this food tnx for recipes ..

[Leiah Beck]

I am absolutely in love with your recipes and have tried many (corn/peach salsa, coffee bison roast, dark chocolate truffles etc. etc.)everything has always turned out fantastic... In fact I have two of your recipes on the go for tonight, this one and the cranberry and old cheddar cookies.

I just want to thank you for the many tasty meals and treats since I found your blog!

I look forward to this chicken tonight (I may try it on the rotisserie instead of just in the oven)

-Leiah
Winnipeg