Chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemons
This rich and fragrant chicken stew is laden with complex flavors and spices reminiscent of the sort you might encounter in a mountainside cafe in Morocco. Save yourself the cost of a plane ticket, however, and make this at home. First, rub the chicken with a redolent combination of garlic, saffron, ground ginger, paprika, cumin, turmeric and black pepper, then pop it into the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours to marinate. Once that's done, brown the chicken parts, and remove from the pan, making room for a pile of sliced onions that you'll sauté until golden brown. Nestle a cinnamon stick into the tangle of onions, pile the chicken parts on top and scatter with slices of preserved lemons and olives, a combination of green and kalamata. Add a bit of chicken stock and lemon juice, then cook over low heat until the chicken is cooked through, and your house smells amazing.
Yield: 4 servings Time :1 hour
Ingredients :
- 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon saffron threads, pulverized
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 chicken, cut in 8 to 10 pieces
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 medium onions, sliced thin
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 calamata olives, pitted and halved
- 8 cracked green olives, pitted and halved
- 1 large or 3 small preserved lemons (sold in specialty food shops)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Preparation :
- Mix garlic, saffron, ginger, paprika, cumin and turmeric together. If not using kosher chicken, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add pepper to taste. Rub chicken with mixture, cover, refrigerate and marinate 3 to 4 hours.
- Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add chicken, and brown on all sides. Remove to platter. Add onions to skillet, and cook over medium-low heat about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to tagine, if you are using one, or leave in skillet. Add cinnamon stick.
- Put chicken on onions. Scatter with olives. Quarter the lemons, remove pulp and cut skin in strips. Scatter over chicken. Mix stock and lemon juice. Pour over chicken.
- Cover tagine or skillet. Place over low heat, and cook about 30 minutes, until chicken is done. Scatter parsley on top, and serve.
