Skillet Preserved Lemon Chicken

Preserved lemons offer a unique salty, tangy, and subtly sweet flavour that works well with poultry, seafood, lamb, and vegetables. To make the marinade, you just dump everything in your blender or processor and blend everything until smooth. Use it to marinate chicken for 1-2 hours. I wouldn’t marinate them longer than 6 hours as acidity in lemon could cook the chicken and change the texture if you leave them too long. The marinade made with preserved lemon gives chicken a unique and mouthwatering intensity of citrus flavour with less sharp acidity than fresh lemon.


½-¾ Preserved lemon, seeds removed 3-4 Garlic cloves, peeled 1 handful Parsley Freshly milled black pepper 4 tbsp Olive oil 4 Boneless chicken quarters (or 6 thighs) 2 tbsp Olive oil 1 Shallot, peeled and finely chopped 2 Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped 120 ml Chicken broth 120 g Crème fraîche 1 tbsp Chopped parsley ¼ Perserved lemon skin, diced 2 tbsp Pinenuts, toasted

In a blender, add preserved lemon, garlic cloves, parsley, a few grinds of black pepper and olive oil. Blend everything together until smooth.
Place chicken in a shallow bowl and pour the marinade over. Massage with your hands until everything is well coated. Let it marinate for 1-2 hours.
Heat a large cast iron to medium heat and add the olive oil. Place chicken legs, skin side down in the hot skillet and cook, until skin is crispy about 7 to 8 minutes, flip chicken thighs and cook for another 15 to 25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 74C/165F. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Add the shallot and garlic to the skillet. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth and cook for a minute. Reduce heat to low and stir in the crème fraîche. Simmer for about a few minutes, stirring occasionally, or until sauce thickens up a bit.
Return the chicken together with the juice to the skillet. Garnish with parsley, preserved lemon and pine nuts.