Dukkah Encrusted Chicken Breasts and Cous Cous with Currants

Dukkah Encrusted Chicken and Cous Cous with Currants

   

Quick and Easy Midsummer Meals

Dukkah Encrusted Chicken Breasts & Cous Cous with Currants 

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 minutes

cooking time: 25 minutes

Dukkah Encrusted Chicken Breasts:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon for oiling the baking dish
• juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes
• 2 teaspoon lemon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3  cup Dukkah rub (see recipe here)
• ½ cup stock, water, or wine

Combine t ¼ cup olive oil, lemon or lime juice, lemon thyme, and salt in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the chicken breasts and stir until blended. Put the chicken in the dish and turn several times to evenly coat with the marinade. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours, turning the breasts in the marinade once while marinating.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C

Remove the marinated chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting and pat the breasts with a paper towel and place on a clean plate. Generously rub each breast all over with the Dukkah rub. Transfer the marinade to a small sauce pan and set aside to use later.

Lightly oil the baking dish and add the chicken breasts, full breast side up and place in the center of the oven in and bake 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and loosely cover with foil topped with a kitchen towel and set aside to rest for five minutes.

Place the marinade in the saucepan over medium heat. Add the stock, water, or wine and bring to a rolling boil and reduce to a thin glaze, adding any pan juices left in the baking dish.

Place each breast on a serving plate. Drizzle the reduced glaze over each and dust each with a little Dukkah and serve.

Cous Cous with Currants

Prepare while the chicken breasts are roasting.

• 2 cups cous cous
• 1/3 cup dried currants
• 2 ½ to 2 ¾ cups chicken stock or water
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons sliced fresh parsley leaves (optional)

Place the cous cous and currants in a bowl. Bring the stock to a full boil and pour it over the cous cous. Add the salt and give it a stir to combine. Promptly seal the bowl with cling film, top with a kitchen towel and set aside for 20 minutes to absorb the stock and soften.

Remove the cling film and add the butter in thin slices and sprinkle the salt over the surface. Using a fork, fluff the couscous, as you would steamed rice, to separate the grains and coat them with butter.. Add the parsley, fold in, and serve.