Chicken Za'atar

Za'atar has been hiding in my larder. I've been pining for some Middle Eastern inspired chicken after watching Ottolenghi's Jerusalem show so here goes....

I've used lots of chicken stock so the dish has its own natural gravy and have used chicken off the bone so that it is easy to serve. In italy they often have bread salads with roasted chicken, so i've included toasted stale bread which soaks up the juices from the chicken. I'm a massive Zuni Cafe fan and have had my eye on their roasted chicken bread salad. This dish is basically the love child of that with Ottolenghi and a pinch of Spain. Pearl barley takes ages to cook making it perfect to soak up roasted chicken juices. Originally i wanted to use some sumac for the bright red colour and intense flavour but i couldn't get hold of any so have used some slices of lemon indstead. This dish is great finished off with a spoon of yogurt and a little parsley, enjoy.

Ingredients

Chicken

1 chicken - divided into quarters

2 red onions, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves 

200ml chicken stock

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp za'atar

1.5 tsp harrisa paste

salt/pepper

Barley

150g Pearl barley

500ml chicken stock

1 onion diced

1 garlic clove chopped fine

Handful of sultanas

Bread

Slice some stale bread into 1 inch chunks and coat with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast in the oven for 5 mins until golden, then add 1.5 tbsp of sherry vinegar. 

Almonds

Saute 30g of sliced almonds in butter until golden.

Directions

1

In a pestle and mortar crush the garlic with the allspice, cinnamon, salt/pepper, za'atar, harissa and olive oil. Rub the spice mix into the chicken pieces and pour over the chicken stock. Top with the red onion and a few slices of lemon and leave to marinade for two hours.

2

Saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the stock and simmer with the lid off for 25 mins. When done add the sultanas and spoon underneath the chicken (include the juices).

3 

Roast the chicken and barley for 40 mins at 200 deg. Centigrade. When the chicken is done toast the bread in the oven and add sherry vinegar. Assemble the dish by mixing the bread with the barley and juices. Add some salad leaves, toasted almonds, and chopped parsley and top with the chicken. Serve with a spoon of yogurt.