Fiona loved lemon! In Fiona's freezer, you could find lots of little frozen cubed lemon juice. The lemon came from a lemon tree in her youngest son's garden, in southern California. Every time Fiona went to visit his family, if it was lemon season, she brought home as many lemons as possible, squeezed and froze the juice.
And I love ginger! One of my favorite meals since childhood is a bit of grated ginger on top of rice, with a dash of soy sauce! So when I saw this recipe, I thought how perfect it would be to combine Fiona's and my favorite flavors into one dish.
This tahini sauce can be for more than just gingery-lemon chicken, it's also great for pita sandwiches with falafel, grilled salmon, steak, etc. And you have to serve it with Fiona's homemade pita bread!
Ingredients
Marinade for chicken
2 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 cup ginger, peeled
1/3 cup garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Tahini Sauce
1/3 cup tahini paste
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
Direction
For the chicken
In a blender, add the ginger, garlic, salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth and with the motor still running, add the oil and blend well.
Place the chicken in a bowl, add marinade, and with your hands mix throughly. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or better yet, overnight.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken, (having taken the excess marinade off), cook until deeply browned on both sides and cooked through.
Be careful when you cook the chicken, since it's marinated, it's easy to burn!
For the tahini sauce
In a blender, add and blend all the ingredients (except for the parsley), until smooth. If it's too thick, add a bit of water until it's to your preferred consistency. Add the parsley and blend well. Season with salt to taste.
You can make it a few days early if you like.
Serve with the gingery-chicken
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