Cheesy Lemons, Lemon Sorbet, Preserved Lemon Chicken Tajine

Thanks for a great night Saturday Colleen&Fellow eat talk cook clubbers!!
Here are my recipes: (Clare)

CHEESY LEMONS WITH BASIL OIL (Donna Hay!)

4 lemons, halved
1 cup (100g) grated mozzarella
1 cup (200g) ricotta
½ cup (40g) finely grated parmesan
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 cup basil leaves
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil


Preheat oven to 200ºC (390ºF). Remove the flesh from the lemon halves+ and discard. Place mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, chilli, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine. Spoon into the lemon halves and place in a baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden. Place the basil and oil in the bowl
of a small food processor and process in short bursts until well combined. Drizzle over lemon halves to serve. Serves 4.

LEMON SORBET

You will need for 4 servings:

Thinly peeled rind and juice 3 lemons

6 oz. loaf sugar (I used castor sugar)

1 pint water

1 egg white

Put lemon rind into saucepan with water and sugar. Warm over a gentle heat until sugar has dissolved, then boil rapidly for 5-6 mins. Cool. Add lemon juice and strain into a 1&1/2 pint container. Freeze for about 1 hour or until almost firm(In fast freeze drawer-if you can still stir it like liquid it needs longer before you add egg white or they will float on top!) Remove from freezer and mash so that no large lumps remain. Fold in stiffly whisked egg white, cover closely with double thickness foil and refreeze.

To serve: Allow to thaw a little in refrigerator for 3 hours before serving.

Preserved Lemons & Chicken Tajine

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, skin removed, cut into pieces
• 2 large white or yellow onions, very finely chopped
• one small handful of fresh coriander, chopped
• one small handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon turmeric (or 1/4 teaspoon Moroccan yellow colorant)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled (optional)
• 1 handful green or red olives, or mixed
• 1 preserved lemon, quartered and seeds removed
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup water, approximately

Preparation:

Prepare the Chicken

Remove the flesh from the preserved lemon, and finely chop it. Add the chopped lemon flesh to a bowl along with the chicken, onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley, spices, and mix well. Marinate in the refrigerator for several hours or even overnight.

To Cook the Chicken

Add enough olive oil to the tagine to coat the bottom. Arrange the chicken in the tagine (flesh-side down), and distribute the rest of the marinade all around.

Add the olives over the chicken. Add the water to the tagine, cover, and place on a diffuser over a medium-low heat.

Gently simmer (lowest setting possible) for 80 to 90 minutes, and then turn the chicken over so that it's flesh side up. Cover the tagine again, and allow the chicken to finish cooking until very tender.

Turn off the heat, and let the tagine to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Moroccan tradition is to eat directly from the tagine, using Moroccan bread to scoop up the chicken and sauce.