Recipe: Zaatar Roast Chicken with Date Freekeh

Zataar is one of my favourite spice mixes, a combination of sesame seeds, thyme or oregano, marjoram, sumac, and cumin. There's some regional varieties, even within the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Lebanese Zataar is by far my favourite. In this recipe, I use baby chickens, as they're much more tender.

Freekeh, another classic Middle Eastern staple, is a healthy whole grain. It's a young green wheat that's been burned, and it has an incredible smoky flavour. That smoke is a good contrast to the dates and the butter I use in the recipe.

This recipe serves 3-6 people, depending on how hungry they are. I'll divide the instructions into two - one set for the chicken and the second for the freekeh.

Chicken ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons zataar spice mix
- 3 poussins (tiny baby chickens)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt

Chicken instructions:

Preheat your oven to 185℃. In an oven dish, liberally pour olive oil to cover the bottom. Add your zataar and salt to taste, then mix with the oil. Wash the chickens thoroughly and trim off any excess fat. Place them in your oven dish, rubbing them into the spiced oil and taking care to coat them all over.

Once your oven has finished preheating, pop the oven dish into it (uncovered) and let them roast for 1 hour. If you use full size chicken instead, note that it may take up to an hour and 20 minutes. I serve half a poussin for a person possessing a normal appetite and a full poussin for a person who loves to eat.

Freekeh ingredients:

- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups freekeh, rinsed in water
- 3/4 cup pitted dried dates, chopped into small chunks
- 1 cube vegetable stock, or 5 cups fresh vegetable/chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons butter, cubed
- Extra virgin olive oil

Freekeh instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pot for a few minutes, then add the diced onion. Cook, mixing occasionally for 5 minutes (until the onion becomes translucent). Scrape your rinsed freekeh into the pot and add the dates. Fry together for a few more minutes.

Next, add your stock cube and salt (to taste) into the mix. Cover with boiling water (or just add your stock). Stir well and once the mixture has boiled, turn the heat down to medium-low. Cover and let cook. If you bought cracked freekeh, it should take 15-20 minutes to cook. The uncracked variety takes 45-50 minutes to cook. Once the time is up, all the liquid should be absorbed. The final step is to add your cubes of butter to the pot and mix well until they melt into the freekeh.

Bon appetit!