Egyptian Roast Chicken with a Sweet Apricot and Fig Demi-Glace
People’s Rights and liberation groups are spurring up from Cairo to Bahrain to Tripoli as an effort to deconstruct the long-lasting rule of oppressive governments. Inspired by their strength, I’d like to dedicate this recipe to progress and support towards equal rights and well-being for all people, and non-violent opposition against tyrannical leadership anywhere.
This recipe is easy, delicious, and especially unique in comparison to other chicken recipes that are usually quite savory. With its use of lemon rind, curry, cinnamon, apricots, and figs, Egyptian-style Chicken is an impressive and exotic dish that combines sweet, savory, tart, and saucy all-in-one. Dare I call it, “revolutinary?”
Chicken Marinade:
4-6 Boneless chicken breasts
¼ Cup soy sauce
¼ Cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp honey
Juice of 2 lemons
Grated rind of 2 lemons
3 Cloves of garlic finely diced
1 Tsp curry powder
¼ Tsp ground ginger
½ Tsp dried oregano
½ Tsp thyme
½ Tsp cinnamon
Roasted Veggies:
Any assortment of chopped roasting vegetables
Olive oil
Various Spices
Post-Marinade Reduction:
2 cups chicken stock
Left-over marinate
8 Dried apricot halves, coarsely chopped
8 Dried figs, coarsely chopped
Marinate the Chicken:
- Mix together soy sauce, white wine, lemon juice, lemon rind, diced garlic, and spices.
- Thoroughly mixed, pour marinade onto the chicken breasts in a large bowl or lock-safe freezer bag.
- Leave to marinate in fridge overnight or at least four hours. Doing so will allow the bird to become saturated in all of these unique flavors. Take flavor absorption to another level by poking holes all over the chicken with a fork prior to adding marinate
Bed-o-Vegetables:
- Prior to pulling those marinated chicken breasts from the fridge, warm the oven up to 375 and prepare a bed of roasting vegetables to lay them on.
- Chop up any assortment of potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, etc and drop them into a roasting pan. Red potatoes, red onions, and carrots worked very well for me.
- Salt and Pepper the vegetables, and for continuity, season the vegetables with any of the spices already used. Otherwise, experiment with other favorable spices.
- Drizzle on enough olive oil to be spread on all the veggie and toss it all up by hand.
- When your vegetable bed is ready, pull the chicken breasts from the marinade and lay them across evenly.
- Make sure to put the left-over marinade aside and save it for your reduction.
- Put the chicken and vegetables in the oven now that they are ready for roasting. Roast for two hours or until vegetables are softened and browned and the chicken golden brown on the outside, white on the inside.
Apricot and Fig Demi-Glace (Reduction):
- About an hour before your chicken is done roasting, start to soak the coarsely chopped apricots and figs in a bowl of warm water. The dried apricots and figs will expand as they soak and absorb the water.
- Half-and-hour before the chicken is ready to be removed from the oven, start your reduction by pouring the chicken stock into a pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the left-over marinade, drained apricots and figs.
- Allowing this mixture of marinade, chicken stock, and fruits to boil will allow evaporation to occur. The sooner you begin this process, the longer you’ll have to evaporate excess liquid and further thickening your reduction.
- Remove your apricot and fig reduction from the burner when it reaches a favorable consistency and pour equal parts onto each piece of chicken breast and roasted vegetables.
Dinner is ready to serve. Enjoy the revolutionary flavor of Egyptian-Style Roasted Chicken!
- Chris Pamboukes
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Written by Chris
