4 chicken breasts, with skin and ribs
2 tsp salt
3/4 cup olive oil
3 large lemons, juiced
2 large potatoes
2 garlic cloves
1 large white onion, minced
4 roma tomatoes
1 pita bread
Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Rinse in cold water 4 chicken
breasts, with skins and ribs Rub each with
1/2 tsp salt Mix juice of 3 large lemons 3/4 cup olive oil
Place into a 9x13 baking dish 2 large potatoes, skinned, cut into 1/2
cubes 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 large white onion, sliced into
half-circles the lemon/olive-oil mixture Stir the ingredients to coat
the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Add the chicken
breasts and 4 roma tomatoes (or as many as desired) to the backing
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 does not ooze 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. NOTE: Skinless
breasts dry out too quickly. Remove the skins after the chicken is
done.
Servings: 4 servings
Lebanese Chicken (Frarej) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Chicken; Lebanese; Poultry
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to trace the history of recipes far back into the far past, at least as far as the ancient Egyptians, and potentially, even further back. Interesting though that maybe, generally, these early cookbooks were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for food preparation.
In fact, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to food historians is a series of tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel `blissful`. Progressing into The time of the roman empire 25BC a man called Apicius created a few documents showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by the Romans. In his publication, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and afters, something we still use today. He also informs us how the Romans made use of a good variety of spices and herbs, including a few you will know such as thyme, rue and dill. Later on, we have some books which appeared in the fourteenth century : a cookery book called `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these books have no connection with the spicy food that is familiar to us all today, but instead recipes for the types of food served to the upper classes of the period. Later on in the 1400s, knights returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods and herbs from Arab cooking, including spices like parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new foods and spices caused an explosion in cookery books, many of which are kept safe in private libraries. For the centuries that followed, the rich families of Wesstern Europe strove to serve up the most exotic meals, and as a consequence, the best chefs and their collection of recipes could command a high salary. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 19th century the formal cooking and recipe collections became popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated the best years of their lives to collecting, testing, and writing down popular recipes of the day. By the time we get to the 20th century, cooking publications are greatly in demand mostly as a result of more people being able to read, people having increased spare time and having more money to spend. The introduction of the TV brings us TV chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everyone to search through massive numbers of recipes such as those found on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Lebanese Chicken (Frarej) recipe.
