Golden Lemon Olive Chicken With Pine Nut Couscous Food

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH OLIVES, LEMON, AND GARLIC

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place a 13 × 9-inch roasting pan in the oven.
• Rinse the chicken and use paper towels to pat it dry, inside and out. Squeeze 1 of the lemon quarters over the skin and rub the juice around with your fingers. Using your fingers to gently separate the skin from the breast, place a couple of the garlic cloves and some of the lemon zest under the skin of the breast on each side. Let it sit about 10 minutes, then pat the bird dry again, rub the skin with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with the salt, pepper, red pepper, and some of the chopped rosemary. Make an incision on the inside of each thigh and insert a garlic clove. Place 3 of the garlic cloves in the cavity, along with the rosemary sprigs and 2 of the lemon quarters.
• You may tie the legs together over the cavity, if you like. Place the chicken breast side up in the preheated roasting pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, watching to make sure the chicken starts to brown. Carefully loosen the chicken from the pan with a spatula and turn it over to brown the underside.
• At this point, lower the oven heat to 400°F. Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil to the pan, then scatter the onion, olives, remaining garlic, lemon quarters and zest, and chopped rosemary around the chicken and cook for about 15 minutes. Turn the chicken over again and stir the onion, olives, and garlic around a little. Cook another 10-15 minutes to re-crisp the skin.
• When the chicken is a deep golden brown, remove it from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and collect any juices that drain. Tilt the roasting pan and spoon off the fat, if desired. Stir the olives, onion, and lemon around, pressing on the lemon a little to extract the juice. Add the chicken juices to the pan and scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan to incorporate them into the mixture. Spoon the juicy olive-onion mixture around the chicken and serve.

MIDDLE EASTERN CHICKEN POT AND BUTTER-NUT COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil ripples add the chicken and brown 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, bay leaf and season with spices, salt and pepper, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Stir the fruits into the chicken and vegetables, add the zest of the lemon, olives and 2 1/2 cups of stock. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes more. Sprinkle with lemon juice and turn off heat. Remove bay leaf.
• While chicken simmers, melt butter in a sauce pot over medium heat. Add nuts and lightly toast for a couple of minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups stock and bring up to a boil then stir in couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.
• Serve chicken over couscous, or vice versa, and garnish with parsley.

MOROCCAN SEASONED CHICKEN WITH PINE NUT COUSCOUS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine paprika, turmeric, coriander, cumin and cinnamon; add chicken and toss.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat and cook chicken until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add onion, garlic and lemon slices; season with salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is softened, about 6 minutes.
• Add 1 cup chicken stock, olives, and lemon juice; scrape brown bits from bottom of pan, remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat the remaining chicken stock and butter in a medium saucepan until boiling; stir in couscous, cover, and turn off the heat; let stand 5 minutes.
• Fluff couscous with a fork and stir in pine nuts.
• Serve the chicken and sauce over the couscous and sprinkle with parsley.

SKILLET CHICKEN WITH COUSCOUS, LEMON AND HALLOUMI

Steps:

• Zest 1 lemon into a small bowl. Slice off the top and bottom of the zested lemon so that they're flat. Place the lemon upright on a cutting board, and, using a sharp knife, thinly slice off the white pith moving down the length of the lemon in sections. Discard the pith and roughly chop the flesh, removing any seeds you come across. Move the chopped lemon (about 2 tablespoons) and any juice to the bowl. Stir in the halloumi, chopped walnuts, sliced shallot, red-pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons oil. Let marinate as you cook the chicken.
• Pat the chicken pieces dry and season generously with salt. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Place the chicken pieces skin-side down, and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces, and sear chicken to cook further for another 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
• Add quartered shallots to the pan and stir to coat in the pan drippings. Lower the heat to medium and cook until golden brown and just tender, about 4 minutes. Add the couscous and stir to coat in the shallot-flavored chicken fat. Add the broth, season with salt and bring up to a simmer.
• Return the chicken to the skillet, skin-side up, along with any liquid from the plate. Add the oregano sprigs, cover with the lid or seal with foil, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, the couscous is tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff the couscous and top with halloumi-walnut mixture.
• Cut the remaining lemon in half, remove any seeds and squeeze over the entire pan. Garnish with a handful of fresh parsley and serve.