Pomegranate has just the right amount of tartness and sweetness to make every dish complex and interesting. Simple roasted chicken becomes a VIP dish when lacquered with scarlet pomegranate molasses. Re-glazing during the cooking process will give your chicken a shiny, thick lacquer, but also will intensify the flavor.
If you can’t find pomegranate molasses, make your own with this recipe.
Pomegranate Chicken with Freekeh
Servings
6 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 whole chickens 3 to 4 pounds each, bone in, cut into 6 pieces
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup pomegranate molasses or Jamie Geller Pomegranate & Honey
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 3 shallots finely sliced
- 3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup freekeh
- 2 cups water or chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or pinch of dried thyme
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 teaspoons honey
- Garnish: pomegranate arils chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Arrange chicken pieces in large Dutch oven or casserole dish. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of evoo. Roast chicken in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk pomegranate molasses, honey, vinegar, and water or broth together. Add shallots, garlic, and thyme. Set aside.
- While chicken is roasting, place freekeh and water or broth into a small saucepot over medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the level of the water is even with the level of freekeh. Turn off the heat, cover the pot for 10 minutes, so that the steam finishes the cooking process.
- Pour pomegranate mixture over chicken and continue roasting for 20 minutes more.
- Season cooked and steamed freekeh with evoo, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add parsley, thyme, raisins, and honey. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed.
- Transfer freekeh to a large serving platter. Arrange chicken on top of freekeh, then spoon pan juices over chicken. Garnish with parsley and pomegranate arils.
The freekeh is really a side dish, we just included in the directions to make it a full meal easy to make and follow, but you can certainly leave it out entirely and it won’t effect the chicken one bit.
Hi! If I want to make this for Passover, can I just leave out the freekeh portion of the recipe all together and just eliminate steps 4 and 6? Will the resulting chicke be flacorful and juicy?
Freekeh is an ancient grain that has been gaining popularity over the last several years. You can find it at most health food stores or here it is on Amazon <https://amzn.to/2PO3HI7>.
where do you buy Freekeh? Never heard of it!