I honestly think this is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever
cooked. It comes from a Jamie Oliver book called Jamie’s Kitchen (click here for more details) and the
picture looked so fantastic I instantly knew exactly what it was going to be
like – crispy chicken bursting with spices, and sticky lemon-fragranced bulgur
wheat. If you haven’t tried bulgur wheat before, I’d really, really recommend
it. It looks a bit like couscous, but (partly as a result of how it’s cooked)
it ends up less dry and seems to absorb much more flavour.
The basic gist of the recipe is that it involves coating
chicken pieces (the recipe calls for wings or legs, but the first time I made
it I only had chicken breasts, and having now tried it both ways I think the
breasts soaked up much more of the flavour) in a mixture of ground spices and
flour, including cumin, cinnamon and fennel seeds, which bring a really
interesting depth of flavour to the chicken. On a side note – I reckon it
really is worth investing in herbs and spices to have in your cupboard. It
might seem a bit much having to pay a couple of quid for a small jar but they
last for ages and make such a huge difference to how interesting everything tastes.
The bulgur wheat is flavoured with sweet fried onions,
preserved lemons (although I used slices of ordinary lemon – be careful only to
use a few slices if you do this, or it’ll end up bitter), rosemary and any of
the flour/spice mix you have left over, simmered in a mixture of white wine and
chicken stock. Once you’ve browned the chicken, you cook it on top of the
bulgur wheat mixture with the help of a cartouche – a circle of greaseproof
paper cut to fit the saucepan you’re using, and greased with a little bit of
olive oil. This was a new one on me, but apparently it means that the bulgur wheat
underneath the paper stews very slowly in the liquid and doesn’t lose too much
of the moisture, but what it does lose helps keep the chicken on top of the
paper slightly moist. It’s also a really great technique because it means you
only need one pot, and you can stick it into the oven and just leave it, if you’ve
got people coming round to eat. To make a cartouche, cut out a square of
greaseproof paper that’s bigger than the saucepan you’re using, and then,
starting with the left-hand side, fold the edge over and over, diagonally from
the bottom left-hand corner, until you end up with a long quill of folded
paper. Measure it against the pan so that the point is exactly in the centre,
and cut off the excess paper that sticks out over the lip of the pan. If you’ve
managed to follow these (frankly confusing) instructions, when you open it out
you should have a perfectly-sized circle of paper!
The end product was completely delicious – the bulgur wheat
in particular was amazing, all gooey and delicately flavoured with lemon. Jamie
doesn’t suggest anything else to serve with it, but we decided to add something
green in the form of rocket – I reckon the strong peppery flavour is great to
liven up a rich dish like this one. Finally, add a good dollop of sour cream or
crème fraiche on the side, to mellow the rich spiciness of the dish. Fabulous.