Earthy and romantic best describes this dish with its warm spices and gentle honeyed tones. It may seem intimidating at first for the novice cook, but it’s actually very simple. Most of your time is spent with the chicken in the oven. It’s well worth the try.

Note: During the last 30 minutes of the bake time, I prep and steam asparagus as a side to this dish.

Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Equipment: Large skillet or sauté pan, casserole, knife, spatula
Serving Size: 2

½ chicken (about 2 lbs)
1-2 T olive oil
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t turmeric
1 t sea salt
½ t ground pepper
2 whole cinnamon sticks
2 cloves garlic
1 large white onion
1”-2” ginger root
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2-1/4c chicken or vegetable broth
2 lemons
½ c olives (kalamata or the like)
1 T honey
Handful of fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Slice the onion in rings, slice garlic and grate ginger, set aside. Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Pour a little olive oil in the palm of your hand and rub it over the skin and underside of the bird. Combine the ground cinnamon, turmeric, salt and pepper and rub over the chicken evenly.

In a large skillet or sauté pan heat a 1T of olive oil. Add the chicken skin side down and the flip, browning all sides. Transfer to your casserole dish.

Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Add the onion and garlic, sautéing until translucent. Add the fresh ginger and 2 c of chicken stock. Heat just past simmer and pour over the chicken. Add the cinnamon sticks and thyme. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.

Meantime, slice the lemons into quarters and pit the olives. 15 minutes into the baking time, heat the remaining chicken stock and the honey in the skillet until the honey is dissolved.

Remove the chicken from the oven, add the lemon wedges, olives and honey broth. Bake uncovered for another 30 minutes until the chicken is tender.

Serve with sprigs of fresh cilantro.