Thursday, September 18, 2008

Chicken Frarej

I was first introduced to this by a friend, and it is only because they are my friends that I tried it. I am not a fan of lemon and meat, Lemon and potatoes was an even further stretch, and this has a heck of alot of lemon in it.

Chicken Frarej or Lebanese chicken is a recipe served at Hedary's in Fort worth TX and the recipe first appeared in the Dallas Morning News in 1988. It is a simply amazing dish, the way the flavors meld together is fantastic. I will admit this recipe has me licking my fingers and scraping the baking dish for the last bit of goodness.

Chicken Frarej
Serves 4, preheat oven to 500 degrees
4 chicken breasts, with skin and ribs
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup olive oil
3 lemons, juiced
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 white onion, sliced
4 Roma tomatoes

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Rinse the chicken in cold water. Rub each with 1/2 tsp salt. Mix lemon juice and olive oil.

Place the potatoes, garlic and onion into a 9x13 baking dish; with the lemon/olive oil mixture. Stir the ingredients to coat the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Add the chicken breasts and Roma tomatoes to the baking dish. Generously spoon the hot lemon/oil/garlic mixture over the chicken.

Put the dish back into the oven and cook uncovered for another 20 minutes, or until the skins on the chicken turn a very dark brown and the chicken is firm and juices run clear when poked with a fork. Baste the chicken breasts two or three times in the lemon/oil mixture during cooking.

Serve with pita bread. Serve each breast with a helping of potatoes, some onions, and a tomato.

Tempers Take:
The way the potatoes get all soft and full of flavor is one of my favorite parts of this dish. Followed by the Chicken itself, the skin is so pretty when it blackens. I have had this as a whole roast chicken and let me tell you that was a presentation. Since I like mushy potatoes I actually cooked it longer then 10 minutes before adding the chicken and finishing it, but that really is a personal choice. Once it was done even Indra admitted it smelled grate and tasted good too.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi from your Taste & Create partner! I just made this -- it was less than perfect, but that was my fault for not reading the recipe properly :) I'll definitely try it again!

My post is here.

Andrea at Opulent Cottage said...

Thanks for posting this recipe! I made this often, for several years after it was published (back in 1988), but had misplaced the recipe. We'll be having it for dinner tonight, thanks to you!
Cheers, Andrea

Unknown said...

I have had it at Hedary's & I love it! Thanks for posting the recipe. Given that you cook it at 500, I put it in a foil pan & do it on the grill - works GREAT!

Dentaljen said...

In permanent rotation in our house ever since I stumbled on your recipe years ago. My family dined at Hedarys for years, sure do miss it!Biblos in FW,
nor the Hedarys in Allen Texas serve it quite like this rendition. Thanks so much!