Moroccan Lemon Roasted Chicken

There is a local Middle Eastern restaurant and market here in Oakland called Oasis Food Market. It is a fantastic place, and they make really good food. They also have a fairly extensive bulk spice section, where you can pick up all sorts of exotic spices.

I got a dried lemon rub from there on a whim a few months ago. It is made by a company called Sadaf, a family owned company in Los Angeles.  It had been sitting around my cupboard, so I decided to do something with it.  The Ras el Hanout I found at the Oaktown Spice Shop







Ingredients
1 roaster chicken
1 lemon
Olive oil
Freshly ground fennel seeds
Ras el Hanout
Dried lemon pepper spice rub
Ground Kabob Seasoning
6 Red Potatoes, cut in half
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.


Combine the fennel seeds, Ras el Hanout, dried lemon pepper spice rub and ground kabob seasoning in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly with a spoon.

Boil a pot of water and add the lemon to the pot.

Once the lemon gets soft, remove and pierce once or twice with a sharp knife.

Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the chicken and put the lemon in the cavity of the bird.

Prep the chicken with the spices and olive oil. This is my standard roasted chicken recipe, I just changed up the spices. I followed all the same protocols: Let the chicken come up to room temperature for 1 hour, make a rack for the chicken with carrots, add celery, fennel and carrots to fill out the cavity. Place some of the potatoes all around the chicken. Sprinkle the potatoes generously with salt and pepper.




Place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the bird (on the underpart of the bird) Roast for 1 hour to 1.5 hours at 400 F. You need the bird to come to an internal temperature of 160 F. Prick the chicken with a fork. If the juices run clear, the chicken is done!

Half your plate fruit and vegetables

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