Poached Chicken, Chermoula & Jewelled Couscous

Poached chicken, chermoula & jewelled couscous

There are times when the clean taste of chicken breast is per- fect, but it can sometimes be bland and dry. Poaching gently in a water bath keeps it moist and this Moroccan chermoula sauce adds enough kick to bring even the most jaded taste buds back to life.

Ingredients [serves 4] Method For the poached chicken 1. Slice each chicken breast lengthways and leave to x 4 free range chicken breasts marinate with the lemon juice, coriander, salt and x 8 tbsp lemon juice pepper for 15 minutes. x 2 tsp ground coriander 2. Lie both halves of each breast top-to-tail on a large x Sea salt & sheet of cling film and roll into a “sausage”. Try to x Freshly ground pepper roll as tightly as possible and expel any air in the For the chermoula parcel. Tie both ends tightly. x 1 shallot, chopped 3. Bring a large pan of water to a hard boil, then turn x 15g coriander leaves off the heat and drop the chicken parcels into the x 30g flat leaf parsley leaves water. Leave to gently poach, covered, for 20 min- x 85ml olive oil utes as the water cools. x ¼ tsp chilli flakes 4. Cut the cucumber into small dice and bring to the x 3 large garlic cloves boil in cold salted water. Boil for 30 seconds then x 3 tbsp lemon juice refresh in iced water. x 2 tsp ground cumin 5. Put the couscous into a bowl with the salt, lemon x 1 tsp paprika zest, boiling vegetable stock and olive oil. Cover x 1/2 tsp ground coriander and leave for 5 minutes. x Large pinch saffron 6. To make the chermoula, put all of the ingredients x Sea salt into a small blender and blitz to a chunky paste. For the jewelled couscous 7. When the couscous is ready, separate the grains x 250g couscous with a fork and stir in the remaining ingredients. x 250ml hot vegetable stock 8. To serve, unwrap the poached chicken. Slice, and x 15ml olive oil serve on a bed of jewelled couscous with a gener- x 1/2 lemon, zest only ous spoonful of the chermoula sauce. x Pinch sea salt x 15g mint leaves, chopped x 15g coriander leaves, chopped x 15g parsley leaves, chopped x 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts x 100g pomegranate seeds x 1 spring onions, finely sliced x 60g cucumber, halved lengthways and seeds re- moved www.thyme-and-envy.com