Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Moroccan-Spiced Chicken

From Martha Stewart Living, Feb. 2009 edition.

Prep time. 5 minutes. Total time. 50 min. Serves 4.

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit if you don't want it spicy)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 whole chidken (4 lbs), quartered, skin on
1 lemon, quartered

Place a rimmed baking sheet on the center rack of oven, and preheat oven to 450. Mix spices, 2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 teaspoon pepper and the oil in a small bowl. Rub spice paste all over chicken.

Carefully arrange chicken in a single layer on hot sheet, and arrange lemon wedges around chicken. Bake until chicken registers 165 on an instand-read thermometer and juices run clear, 30-35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with pan juices and roasted lemon wedges on the side.

I made this the other night and it was delicious. I used chicken breasts because my husband prefers his meat without bones. I would recommend using a whole chicken as the breasts ended up a little on the dry side at such a high temp. I used frozen breasts and had a hard time getting the rub to cover only 3-4 breasts. I would probably water the paste down just a little more next time. This would have been even better with some sort of gravy but I loved the flavors and my house still smells wonderful two days later.

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