moroccan chicken tagine
Tuesday, 24 January 2012

moroccan chicken tagine

tori ritchie Tuesday Recipe
This one-pot chicken dish qualifies as a good greenie, too. It’s filled with cilantro and Italian parsley and while you may not think of herbs as greens, these are packed with vitamins A and C and trace minerals. Nutritional data aside, it's just fast, easy, and good. Serve over couscous, and if you can get your hands on preserved lemons, chop a few up and throw them on there.
Recipe adapted from Saveur magazine.
lemons2.jpg

serves 6 to 8

prep time: 15 minutes
stand time: 1 hour

cook time: 1 to 1-1/4 hours

1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch Italian parsley
3 cloves garlic, peeled
one-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
12 bone-in chicken thighs, skin pulled off
2 teaspoons ground cumin
pinch saffron threads
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 yellow onions, finely chopped
1 cup pitted green olives
cooked couscous
preserved lemons, optional

Cut stems off the cilantro and parsley. In a food processor (or by hand), finely mince the leaves. Add the garlic and ginger and pulse to mince (or mince by hand). Put chicken in a large bowl and add minced herbs, garlic, ginger, plus the cumin, saffron, salt and several grindings of pepper. Stir well to coat the chicken, then cover the bowl and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour or up to overnight in the refrigerator.

Transfer the mixture to a heavy pot, add the onions and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered (or transfer to a 350° oven), and cook until the meat is tender enough to pull away from the bone, about an hour to an hour and a quarter. With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken thighs to a plate and add olives to the liquid in the pot. Boil over high heat until sauce is reduced and flavored with the olives, about 10 minutes. Return chicken to pot, mix with sauce and then ladle over couscous in individual shallow bowls to serve. Garnish with preserved lemon, if using.