Christopher Kimball’s Moroccan Chicken Skewers
Max bought me two cookbooks for my birthday last week, and I’ve already made three dishes from Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Tuesday Nights, including these Moroccan Chicken Skewers. The chicken reminds me of an Egyptian Chicken recipe I used to use, although this one’s even better. The chicken (use thighs, not breasts) is super moist and flavored with all of my favorite ingredients— garlic, ginger, cumin and cilantro. I served rice and a cucumber/red onion salad on the side. The leftover chicken makes the most delicious wraps. I topped mine with a cucumber/yogurt sauce.
Note from Kimball: Don’t marinate the chicken longer than 30 minutes or the lemon juice and ginger will make it mushy.
4 Servings
Ingredients
3 lemons
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
Kosher salt & ground black pepper
3 tablespoons honey, divided
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed & cut crosswise into thirds
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro, flat-leaf parsley or mint
Preparation
With a wand-stye grater, use 1 lemon to grate 1 tbsp. zest and squeeze 2 tbsps. juice into a large bowl. Stir in the oil, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, 2 tsps. salt, 1 tsp. pepper and 2 tbsps. of honey. Add the chicken, toss and set aside for 15 to 30 minutes. Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Heat the broiler with a rack about 4 inches from the element.
Thread the chicken onto four 12-inch metal skewers, scrunching multiple pieces onto each skewer; set the skewers on the prepared rack. Cut the remaining 2 lemons in half and arrange cut side up next to the chicken.
Broil until the chicken is well charred all over, 10 to 15 minutes, turning halfway through; the lemon halves should be charred on the cut sides.
Transfer the skewers and lemon halves to a platter. Drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp. honey over the cut sides of the lemons. Squeeze the juice from 1 lemon half over the chicken, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the herbs. Serve with the remaining lemon halves on the side.
