Supersize Me! Crispy chicken thighs with giant cous cous and chermoula

Putting preserved lemons to good use

We’ve had cozzy livs, platty joobs and the genny lec; it’s time for prezzy lems.

Maybe not.

Preserved lemons are already misunderstood. I think partly due to mis/overuse, and/or a bad experience. The shop-bought ones in the UK have improved immensely, and I particularly like the Belazu and Odysea brands; these are round lemons a little smaller than a lime, with none of that dizzying soap flavour.

Most recipes will use the rind only because the pulp is aggressively salty. This doesn’t mean you can’t use the pulp at all, but be aware you’re adding an ingredient with both high astringency and salinity. The rind though, that’s where the fragrance is, and a good quality preserved lemon will perfume a dish without bringing Cif vibes.

For this week’s recipe, I’m using them in chermoula, a North African sauce combining fresh herbs, spices and preserved lemon, plus some fresh lemon juice. Deploying preserved and fresh lemon together ensures you get both the sit-up-straight acidity of just-squeezed juice alongside the captivating perfume of preserved.

This recipe is what a food mag would call an ‘easy midweek meal’. Once the thighs are browned it all goes into one pot in the oven and the chermoula is just whizzed together into a simple sauce.

This brings me to a question for you. I’d like to ensure I’m offering my paid subs the most useful content every week, and perhaps that means more ‘full meal recipes’ such as this one. How does that sit with you? Do let me know in the comments if you’d like to see more of the same.