Sunday 16 April 2017

Chicken Freekeh Lebanese style


I still have two boxes of Freekeh sitting around and so I was looking for other dishes to prepare with Freekeh. This green and roasted wheat has much more healthy stuff then the prominent Quinoa everybody is using in the moment. Since the green wheat was grown in Lebanon I checked for Lebanese recipes that used it.
And I`ve got lucky!


recipe for 2:
1 whole chicken
1 red onion
8 cloves of garlic
4 shallots
2 spring onions
4 bay leaves
1 chili
1 piece of ginger
1/ 2 Cinnamon stick
3 cloves
4 cardamom pods
10 peppercorns
1 stalk of lovage
2 tbsp olive oil
125 g Freekeh
50 g whole almonds
30 g pine nuts
30 g cashew nuts
50 g raisins
1/2 lemon
some pomegranate seeds
flatleaf parsley

In a huge pot dump in the red onion, spring onions, 4 cloves of garlic, chili, bay leaves, lovage, ginger, peppercorns, cardamom pods, Cinnamon and cloves and  the washed chicken and enough water to nearly cover it.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Take out to cool down a bit so you can handle it.



The moment the chicken comes out of the broth, soak the freekeh  in some water and set aside.
Chop shallots and garlic roughly.
Peel the chicken off the skin and the bones and rest the meat in some warm broth, which you drained from the pot without the debris.
In a medium pot add the olive oil and garlic and onions and give them 3 minutes, add the drained freekeh and give it a good coating. Through a sieve pour in enough stock to cover the freekeh 1 cm above, cook it and eventually add more stock.
Cook for about 20 minutes or as long as the freekeh needs to get al dente. Let it rest a while. Add some lemon juice.


Use a big plate and pile the freekeh in the middle, get the chicken meat around it, garnish with nuts and raisins and pomegranate seeds and finish with tomato and parsley.
30 g pomegranate seeds
1 tomato
1 stalk of parsley
salt and pepper

There will be enough broth in the pot to filter it and freeze it with some leftover chicken for a great soup in the near future. Do not waste it.

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