I was perched on the top tier of my pink stepladder and shooting a picture of a roast chicken from above and my neighbour had come out onto his balcony and proceeded to stare at me like I was a freak. Perhaps I was and just didn’t know it and in a moment that just emphasises how freaky I had become, I clicked away not caring. Hello ladies and gentlemen. I am a food blogger and a food blogging addict.
It was Melbourne Cup day and it was ferociously hot. I had shut myself inside for the day drawing all blinds and curtains. I had a gorgeous organic, free range chicken that was just begging to be made though and like an addict my fingers twitched to make it so I grabbed some cookbooks and flicked through them. I had been sent the Buon Ricordo book to review and I had gone through it tagging recipes to make.
The one section that caught my eye though was the last one, where Armando Percuoco talks about the restaurant staff as family and explains the process for the staff meals which occur at 5pm every day He gives recipes for the meals that the young chefs prepare for the staff which allows them to gain confidence in the kitchen with their own dishes and allows Armando to keep a check of the amount of salt and dressing that they use but he says that the best part is being surprised when a chef draws on their own background to create something far from the Italian origins.
I had intended to make an Italian dish as part of my review but one recipe was crying out to be made on that day. I had this gorgeous chicken which I picked up on the weekend while on a Surry Hills walking tour. We were introduced us to an amazing butcher Terry from Simply The Best Butchers on Crown Street who is a wonderful guy who gives great cooking advice and sharpens knives for customers and is everything that you’d want your butcher to be and more. He gave us sausages and schnitzel to try and I couldn’t help but buy a free range, organic chicken to take home for later. And so this recipe called Gemma’s Middle Eastern Chicken (Gemma being the Buon Ricordo manager and Armando’s wife) ended up being the one I made first as I had some ripe Pomegranates that had to be eaten, some Pomegranate molasses, brandy and a gorgeous chicken.
The recipe calls for two 1.5kg chickens but I only had one and that seemed quite enough for the two of us (and I wouldn’t have been able to find a Dutch oven big enough for two) so I halved it. I was a little hesitant given there were so few ingredients but trusted in this dish, after all if you’re going to serve it to a bunch of chefs, it has to be half good doesn’t it? And it was, the chicken was incredibly soft (probably due to the actual chicken) and the flavour was incredible with the slightly tart pomegranate molasses coming through, the pop of the pomegranate seeds and the richness and unusualness of the spice mix with allspice and cayenne pepper. I did tinker with the recipe though and added a few touches. I also kept the chicken whole as I love the sight of a whole bird as it’s so feast like in appearance. I also added some pistachios at the end for a bit of colour and to emphasise the Middle Eastern-ness of the dish.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like eating cuisine that’s different from your own background?
Gemma’s Middle Eastern Chicken
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced (I chopped these, oops, I wasn’t paying attention)
- 3-4 tablespoons oil
- 1.5kg/3 lb free range, organic chicken (I kept the chicken whole or you could joint it into 8 pieces)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 60ml/2fl oz brandy
- 1 pomegranate
- salt and pepper
- handful of roughly chopped, toasted pistachios (optional)
Buyer’s tip: Pomegranate molasses can be found at Middle Eastern stores and at some larger gourmet stores. It is very different from plain molasses and cannot be substituted for that without changing the taste significantly.
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. In a Dutch oven, cook the onion and carrots with the olive oil over low heat until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl. Turn up the heat, add the chicken and brown on both sides turning carefully with tongs for about 5 minutes. Return the carrots and onion to the Dutch oven and add cayenne pepper an allspice and coat the chicken carefully on top breast side up. Add 2 tablespoons of the pomegranate molasses and half of the brandy.
2. Place lid on Dutch oven and bake for 1.5 hours (45 minutes if you are using pieces). Add up to 125ml of water if it is drying up (mine didn’t dry up at all with the lid on although with foil I’d imagine there might be some drying out).
3. Turn the heat up to 200C/400F and spoon the juices on top of the chicken and cook for 10 minutes to brown the top.
4. Take the Dutch oven out of the oven and place it on top of the stove on low heat. Add half of the Pomegranate seeds the remaining tablespoon of pomegranate molasses and remaining half of the brandy. Cook for 3 minutes to cook off the alcohol. Top with remaining pomegranate seeds and chopped, toasted pistachios. They suggest serving it with plain rice. I used Pearl or Israeli couscous.
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66 Comments | Add your own
I had to laugh when you said that your neighbor saw you perched on your stepladder taking pics…I’ve been caught red-handed in similar situations, lol! It’s funny though, when it happens, it always seems like a better idea to just keep taking pics (despite neighbors’ odd looks) instead of trying to pretend I was doing something else! Some foods are just so photogenic, like your scrumptious chicken!
Looks so delicious! You always make me so hungry in the morning. Hehe.
The chicken looks succulent Lorraine and so pretty with the pomegranate and pistachio. My Anglo, middle class background means that I grew up on pretty plain fare with trips to Chinese restaurants when we went out
. Now, my extended family is right into food of all sorts, not only when we go out. How very sad Australian food would have been without immigration.
Wow, that looks like a gorgeous way to cook a chook. Thanks for sharing!
I absolutely love the combination here!
Phwoar, this chicken looks and sounds superb!!!! Stuff the neighbour – I’d want photographs of this superb bird even if I wasn’t a blogger.
I adore trying cuisine different from my own (after all, Aussie cuisine used to be meat and 3 veg!).
Gorgeous! I love the colours, it makes it so festive! What a great way to use the chicken you got on the tour
Lovely chicken dish Lorraine, I have a special love for Pomegranates.
When I go to any restaurant , I go with the intention of trying something I don’t make at home or have not eaten in the past. It’s an adventure into the land of food from all corners of the world .After all, it’s not just a meal but an experience. Firstly, your eyes have to feast on the look of a dish then your sense of smell kicks in and finally once the first morsel goes into your mouth, it begins.
I get very excited when I know that I’m going out for lunch or dinner , my anticipation is off the Richter!!
thanks for sharing the recipe. i just planted a pomegranate tree – so i will definitely filed this away for when the tree fruits. cant wait.
Definitely. I grew up in a country town where meat and three veg (usually overboiled) were the staple meals. I yearned for yummier food and learned to cook it for the family … lasagne (without too much garlic under orders from Mum), chocolate eclairs, Chinese food etc. I spent many a weekend experimenting with recipes, and still get a kick out of it now.
Ben is going to go crazy for this.
Well, I have to say it’s a very photogenic chicken! It looks very festives, would make a great Christmas dinner. My favourite food has to be Indian, I am hooked by the spices. I’m trying out a Burmese curry next
This is gorgeous Lorraine. Great flavours and colours too!
Lorraine really colorful & great recipe! Love the addition of pomegranate molasses and of course the pistachios must be there
Cheers!
Gera
Even this 20-year vegetarian thinks that looks fantastic! I’ve been teaching myself to cook meat over the last few years for my partner and son and will definitely give this a try!
Love the colours of the pistachio and the pomegranate – it looks so vibrant! Haha. Your neighbour is the weird one, not you. Don’t worry! I love eating all different kinds of cuisines! I can’t have rice 3 times a day (like some of my family) – that would kill me!
This looks fabulous, something I am going to have to try over the coming holiday season. Thanks so much for the great inspiration.
What a yummy looking chicken. I should not be hungry for that chicken this early in the morning.
I was raised on a typical bland Australian diet. My poor mother making a nutritious meal for a family of seven every night. And she kept us healthy. However, I craved anything different and especially liked to eat all my meals from a bowl. One of my favourite comfort meals now is to eat noodle soup with some chilli sauce in a big bowl. Could not be more different from what I ate as a child.
OMG. That just looks too amazing for words.
Gorgeous recipe! I think I might go for an oriental theme this Xmas, and this chicken recipe might very well be on the menu!! I also remember reading about your FYI Turkish Delight recipe, might go on the menu as well.
Actually, the funny situation with your neighbour reminds me of the slightly offenced looks I get from people in airports, planes or waiting rooms, when I surreptitiously tear out magazine pages – working in PR, the way you browse through magazine is a bit psychotic, you’re 27/4 on the lookout for new columns, new story ideas, who writes what ; – )
Although I don’t go much cooking (of meat), this looks so cool. I’m fascinated by the flavours!
Gorgeous dish Lorraine. I’m loving all the pomegranate dishes being blogged about right now, they’re so pretty with the arils, and this looks like a great one.
I come from a white Aussie/British background so yes it is VERY fair to say I enjoy cuisine that differs from my background! Luckily these days it’s much easier to go on culinary adventures more exciting than going down to the local Mexican or Chinese takeout joint.
I agree, being sprung taking pictures and receiving strange stares by doing so is just part of the expected now! There are much worse things we could be caught doing =p
I love the colours of the pomegranate seeds and the pistachios together! Looks absolutely delicious.
I wonder what your neighbours were thinking when they saw you taking photos of a chicken on a stepladder LOL
Oh wauw! that looks amazing! love the combination! so original! thanks for this great post!
I always thought taking good photos was tricky, but I hadn’t thought of a ladder before! The pomegranate and pistachios make this chicken a work of art.
I seriously have to stop looking at your site until AFTER I have lunch! It makes me too hungry
That chicken looks AMAZING!!!! It would be the perfect Christmas dish!
OMG…Amazing colors!
Enjoy!
Food Blogging Addict. I love it. You are very good at it. Its so colourful and I’m sure it was incredibly delicious.
Much as I’m blown away by how gorgeous that looks (and how much I want to eat it since lunch was a sandwich on the run), all I can think is “how could you bear to have the oven on on that Tuesday”!!! All I could bear that day were iceblocks and fanning myself desperately!
Incidentally pomegranate molasses is a staple in our house for our salad of the year – fattoush! May have to try the two together.. aha, is that Sunday lunch?
What a beautiful presentation. Delicious ingredients– it looks so flavorful. I love all food from everywhere! Though, I am especially partial to Indian, Thai, Vietnamese… I could go on and on…
It’s lunchtime here and I’m wishing I have this chicken in addition to what we’re having now
this chicken is so juicy and looks so yummy!!! I can just imagine how it smells like in your kitchen, I think your neighbor wants some too 
I never would have thought to mix pomegranate with chicken – but it looks fantastic!
Not a bad looking dish.
I’ve found that pomegranate molasses is available from certain chain supermarkets such as Woolworths. I have a couple in my area that sell it, though I believe it’s not readily available in all stores.
just saw a picture of you with Trina in today’s mx newspaper! You look lovely Lorraine. =)
You know, it’s not easy to make big hunks of meat look pretty in photos. So, perch or no perch, my hat is off to you for making this chicken look like some decked out supermodel in holiday finery.
Yum! I love pomegranates with meat (like Nigella’s slow cooked lamb) and I love those restaurant staff dinners. When I worked at bathers pavilion (a long time ago) they almost made up for the rude customers. We love to eat food from all over the world. Sometimes it’s hard to find all the ingredients living in the country but I love to mix it up. One night greek, then lebanese, then vietnamese then italian….you get the idea.
…now i wish i hadn’t scoffed down all my pomegrants when i bought them.
btw, you’re in today’s mX
That looks so good! I am definitely not a shy person when it comes to trying different foods – I’ll give anything a go. Actually I dont think there is a cuisine that I haven’t liked.
I’m glad you’re a food blogging addict. I don’t know what I would do without a daily fix of your wonderfully delicious posts!
That is definitely the best chicken I’ve seen yet. POM and pistachios just go click-click-clucketty-cluck together!
Ok, that was lame.
What a gorgeous chicken. It looks positively bejewelled
, absolutely beautiful!
The chicken looks mouth-wateringly good! What I’d do for a bit of that right now!!
That looks incredibly lovely and I’m pretty sure it must taste fabulous!
Funny. Sometimes my neighbours give me quizzical looks. Glad it’s not just me!
A divine chicken dish, Lorraine!! Very festive too!
The chicken in the dish looks quite fabulous!! I surely would like to savour this at your house!
I get that all the time..weird looks when i take pictures of my food. But it’s what we do!
The chicken looks fantastic. The pomegrante and pistachio looks so lovely at the top, i think adding some small rose buds would make it even prettier..but that is just me
saw u on Mx today! I was just turning the pages when i saw ur pix..about some $2 campaign towards homelessness in australia everytime u add it on to your bill at selected restaurants..u’re famous! haha..u look quite mixed in the photo..like eurasian, haha..
Now I will think of you fondly on your pink stepladder! Perhaps the poor neighbor wanted chicken! xoxo Mum
Wish I had seen this before I ate up all my pomegranates! Have never heard of pomegranate molasses though. This looks really exquisite!
I want a pink stepladder!!!! Mine is just that gray metal “keep in the garage” variety. This looks fabulous by the way.
what a stunning bird. i haven’t cooked with pomegranate molasses, but i’ve eaten, nay, inhaled it at a few middle eastern restaurants. obviously, this is good work.
Ooo delicious! I’m of Asian background (predominantly Chinese) and yes, I love to try new cuisines (particularly Middle Eastern). But more than that, I also love to try different regional Chinese cuisines. There are certainly vast differences between Sichuan cuisine, Beijing, Cantonese, Chiu Chow, Xinjiang, etc.
It does look feasty and scrumptious indeed.those pomegranate bits make it look so pretty too.
I just dont know why I never thought of using a step ladder to take photos from above! the most i did was to stand on my toes. or balance gingerly on a folding chair. or kneel on a swivel stool. or worse I put the food on the floor. I can be so silly! tq. and we are not freaks.
Oh my, this looks amazing. I vaguely remember raving about how I love the crunch of pomegranate seeds on your blog, and you’ve now gone one better and paired it with pistachios!
And I definitely love non-Asian food… variety is always good when you’re obsessed with food.
Speaking of food blogging, I was a dinner with my colleagues yesterday, and one of them was utterly shocked that I took photos of my food. Lol.
That is one gorgeous bird!
That looks so pretty with the pomegranates. I’m making a christmas turkey for my family. I might do a variation of that pommegranate topping for my dinner now. Thanx for the idea!
Pomegranates and pistachios – I love the combo, so delicious!
great dish! I was wondering why you decided to show the chicken from the back? is it to have more room for the pomegranate seeds?
What a beautiful dish for the holidays! I would have loved to see you on your pink stepladder too!!!
Given how hard it is to find, I recently purchased 2 bottles of pomegranate molasses. Now I have something to do with it! Thanks Lorraine!
PS: I just love collecting unusual, exotic or somehow ‘different’ ingredients, herbs and spices, and then finding recipes to use them in.
Have you ever try to combine the Scallop with pomegranate? My first dish with pomegranate was that scallop with pomegranate. Long years ago when I was a small kid, I would eat pomegranate picked from my dad friend’s tree and shooting these seed from my mouth to the garden soil.
Haha I know what you mean, my friends give me weird stares too whenever I start climbing up and down taking pictures from different angles.The chicken looks amazing with the pom seeds and pistachios! nice colours.
i made this tonight It was magnificent!
Oh Lorraine, this was just so, so good. I couldn’t help but blog about it too. This will definitely be made again.
http://adeliciousyear.blogspot.com/2011/07/middle-eastern-chicken-with-olive.html
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