Ideas for Lemon and Chicken Legs

[Sakkarin Profile]

Anyone got any ideas? I've got a couple of lemons and a couple of chicken leg portions to use up. Maybe something with olives, and a sauce rather than dry? I'm looking for something probably Mediterranean or North African rather than Asian, unless there's such a thing as a lemon curry...

[scullion Profile]

i realise this uses chicken breasts rather than legs - but does that make much difference? (i wouldn't know!).
i've made it with quorn fillets and it was very good.
there's another recipe of hers, for a chicken, lemon and olive tajine but that uses preserved lemons rather than fresh.

[Binky Profile]

what about a Lemon Chicken, the dish favoured in many Chinese restaurants? There are umpteen recipes on t'internet.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I´ve got a recipe by Sameen Rushdie : Lemon Coriander Chicken", if you´re interested!

[jeral Profile]

There's a chicken and chickpea dish here, which I've seen elsewhere with potato pieces and lemon added, so would keep the cost down:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/779 ... pea-tagine

Lemons: posset, meringue pie, drizzle for cake or steamed sponge, frosting as scone filling, lemon tea or G&Ts, not forgetting lemon/thyme stuffing for white fish baked on slices of lemon, OO.

[DEB Profile]

Hi
try these ideas
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lem ... n-traybake

replace the orange with lemon
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/all ... n-traybake

I replace the beetroot with any other root veg
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/roa ... seed-sauce

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sti ... -chicken-0

Hope one of these hits the spot

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Well, you could make a tagine with green or violet olives

I have a recipe that is probably not what you want, it came from one of those magazine they used to give away on the tube
Brown the chicken pieces and remove. Soften some onions and garlic in the pan, then return the chicken with the contents of one can of artichoke hearts and one of flageolet beans, add a little stock and a bouquet garni including a couple of strips of lemon peel. Simmer gently until chicken is cooked, and add lemon juice to taste

Serve with mash or sourdough bread and a green salad

Surprisingly sophisticated for something so simple and not expensive. The German supermarkets have canned artichoke hearts at a good price, but the d’aucy flageolets are getting harder to find.

[Sakkarin Profile]

Thanks for your ideas, I was initially thinking taginey, but without preserved lemon. In the end I've bitten the bullet and got some preserved lemons.

Why are Asda preserved lemons (Greenfileds) £1.50 for 750g, when the everywhere else seems to stock Belazu ones at £3 for 360g, basically four times the price? I hope it's not because the Asda ones are rubbish, but without a side-by-side, how would I know?

EDIT: P.S. I've got a pomegranate too, as there was one recipe that featured pomegranate and pomegranate molasses. Maybe combine both.

[Renee Profile]

I hadn't noticed preserved lemons in Asda, so will look when next in there. The authentic Belazu lemons are very small.

[scullion Profile]

making your own preserved lemons is so simple and so much cheaper - this is the version i make.

[Sakkarin Profile]

I'll have to try it next time I have a bunch of lemons (did toy with the idea this time around), but right now I'm hungry and the chicken legs need using up! It's in the oven now...

I recall reading that they use special weeny lemons somewhere (the jar I've bought are weeny like Renee's Belazu), I wonder if that makes a difference to the taste of them.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The problem with making your own preserved lemons if that in the UK you can usually only get ordinary Eureka lemons

The Belazu lemons, and those I brought back from Morocco, are a small variety called Beldi lemons that have a very fragrant rind, almost like bergamot - those would be Sakkarin's weeny lemons

I do miss the fragrance if using other preserved lemons, I got a big jar of Egyptian preserved lemons from Turkish Food Centre, they were fine, but they were ordinary lemons

They also don't keep well once opened, even carefully handled and refrigerated with a layer of oil on top, they soon grew a green fur coat

The ASDA ones would seem to be the same Egyptian ones, the trace of Nigella seed is a bit of a giveaway

[Sakkarin Profile]

The jar does say "Produce of Egypt".

Freeze maybe? Although maybe that does kind of defeat the object...

[Renee Profile]

How lovely Sakkarin! I can just imagine all the flavours in there.

Scullion, I did make preserved lemons some time ago, but ended up throwing them away because they developed a strange appearance. I decided that it was safer to buy them from a supermarket after that.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

That looks really nice Sakkarin

[scullion Profile]

They also don't keep well once opened, even carefully handled and refrigerated with a layer of oil on top, they soon grew a green fur coat

never had that problem. i make a large (kg) clip top jarful at a time and have so far had good results every time.
i use unwaxed lemons - i don't know whether that would make any difference.
i would have thought that with the acidity of the lemons and juice, plus with the amount of salt used, it would inhibit any fungal growth.
i don't keep them in the fridge, just a cool, dark cupboard.

interesting, renee, i always think that, if something has been made for centuries by people in their own kitchen (as i assume preserved lemons have been) then i should be able to make them just as well.
they may not be the same lemons as the belazu ones but they are good enough - and far cheaper.

[Renee Profile]

Yes, that makes sense scullion. I'm sure that I got unwaxed lemons, so might have another go sometime. As you say, they should keep well.

I used to brew kombucha successfully.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I was mainly talking about the Egyptian ones, when I talked about them going off, though I have had the Belarus ones go off too. The Egyptian ones are far less salty

Bought ones are pasteurised so will spoil differently to those that have a chance to ferment, they possibly spoil more abruptly

It’s not something I use that often so buying the occasional jar suits me. And I do prefer the Belsize lemons

[Badger's Mate Profile]

I have successfully preserved lemons with salt and pickling spice. They kept rather longer than the Le Parfait jar they were in, as the wire rusted before the lemons went bad. Clearly I didn't use them up quickly. I've got another jar in the fridge that I made a few years ago. Just never seem to remember them.

If anyone wants a go at kombucha I've got a SCOBY you can have .

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I didn’t notice the fun spell checker had with Belazu until this morning!

Interesting that they keep that long BM. If I see a bowl of smallish lemons ( smallish because I wouldn’t want to make a big jar)