Braised Lemon-Saffron Chicken and Potatoes

Do you have a Trader Joes near you? They have saffron at a reasonable price. I've used it many times and it's perfectly good. One tiny jar would probably be the equivalent of a heaping tsp since the threads are so fluffy :)

I zest citrus pretty much every time I use it, figuring that there is no sense leaving flavor on the rind. Zest the lemons in this dish and toss it in the lemon juice and you will get a mountain of citrus flavor. The potatoes become something special with this sauce.

Braising is the action of cooking a food only partially submerged in liquid. The aim is to avoid overexposing the food to high heat since the liquid will keep the food temperature near boiling point (water based liquids that remain liquid in a hot environment at normal pressure do not exceed 212 deg.). Pre-browning is inducing the Maillard reaction - adding extra flavor, but not absolutely required to braise something.

Looks like a winner of a recipe in method and simplicity -- except that I would absolutely add fresh minced garlic and onions. I think it'd be bland otherwise!

Not great at all. As you might imagine, just overpoweringly lemon and saffron flavor. Try the Chicken Vesuvio recipe you can find in NYT cooking. Similar idea but really delicious.

After reading the comments I would share this tip for using saffron that I learned from a Spanish classmate at the CIA in Napa, if you have a gas cooktop put the saffron in a metal spoon or laden and hold it over, not directly on the burner. The heat will bring out the oils and develop mor flavor of the saffron. I would also not dilute it in water, but would mix it with the olive oil to coat the chicken.

This is in no way bland! The lemon and saffron are exquisite. I made it exactly as given, served it with bright green broccolini for color variation and a delicious French Chablis, and it was a memorable dinner!

This recipe was not very tasty. I would give it a two star if I could figure out how to review it. Just wanted to let you know

Use preserved lemons instead of lemon juice. Two at least. And a couple of cloves of crushed garlic would go amiss, either. Drizzle with a tablespoon of good quality honey for the final 15 minutes of baking.

I used a blend of sweet potatoes and gold potatoes. The sweetness balanced the piquant of the black pepper nicely. Everyone loved it. This is a beautiful recipe, if a bit pricey because of the saffron,

A bit bland. Could benefit from garlic, and exchange water for chicken broth.

I found this to be a great recipe that turned out as expected. DO: make rice to add to the dish. Soak up that saffron, pepper, and lemon. The recipe suggests this and it is good guidance. TRY: Sriracha made this dish. I was worried it would over power the saffron, which should be the star, but it just added a kick that pushed the dish from delicate to ‘dukes-up’. I served the Sriracha as a side condiment. It could also be stirred in during the final :15. Sambal Olek would also do the trick.

Made this tonight. Not wild about the flavor. A lot of saffron and lemon...just not wonderful. Texture was not great either. Prefer other chicken dishes to this.

This was underwhelming. I put chopped parsley on top just to give it a little something else, because it was surprisingly bland. It needed onions or a good chicken stock.

Definitely needs something more—it’s flavorless otherwise. A kick of some sort of umami is necessary.