Citrus Chicken Tagine Recipes

Steps:

• In a skillet over medium heat, toast the cinnamon, peppercorns, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, and cloves until they start to smoke. Remove from the heat and grind in a spice grinder.
• In a bowl large enough to accommodate the chicken, add the oil, spice mix, garlic, ginger, cilantro, bay leaves and saffron. Mix to a paste. Add chicken, rubbing the marinade over all the pieces. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade and reserve marinade. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a tagine or large casserole over medium high heat add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Put in chicken pieces and lightly brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Rinse preserved lemon well. Scoop out flesh and discard; cut peel into strips and add to pan. Add reserved marinade, olives, and chicken stock. Cover tightly and cook over medium low heat for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove bay leaf and discard. Taste juices and adjust seasoning. Place chicken on a warm platter. Spoon juices with the preserved lemon, olives, and onions over chicken and serve accompanied by Couscous with Apricots.
• Wash lemons well and dry them. Cut 4 lemons into quarters from the top, being careful not to cut all the way through. Pack salt generously into the cuts and place lemon into a sterilized glass pint jar. Continue procedure, packing the lemons into the jar as tightly as possible. Squeeze juice from remaining lemons. Add another 2 tablespoons of salt to the jar and top off with the lemon juice, make sure the lemons are completely covered. Close the jar with a non-metallic lid and set aside in a cool, dark place or the refrigerator for one month. Preserved lemons will keep for 1 year. Refrigerate after opening.
• Yield: about 4 lemons
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: none
• Inactive Prep Time: 1 month
• Put the couscous in a medium bowl; pour the hot stock over it and stir to combine. Cover and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork. Add the apricots, scallions, and orange juice; drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Garnish with chopped parsley.
• Yield: 4 to 6 servings
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Inactive Prep Time: 15 minutes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the oil to a large pan and heat over medium-high. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until the skins are brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.
• Add the onions, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger and turmeric and cook just until the onions start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the lemon slices, lemon juice, harissa, chicken broth and olives, then stir to combine. Nestle the chicken back into the pan, skin-side up.
• Place in the oven, uncovered, and cook until the chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Season to taste. Scatter the cilantro and almonds over the top. Serve over the couscous.

Steps:

• 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.

Steps:

• Combine the spices in a dry sauté pan set over low heat, and toast them gently until they release their fragrance, 2 minutes or so. Transfer to a bowl, and allow to cool.
• Preheat oven to 350. Season the chicken thighs with the salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the spice mix, along with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, and set a large bowl of ice water to the side. Core the tomatoes, and score an X on their bottoms. Boil the cauliflower florets in the water for 3 minutes, then submerge them in the ice water. Boil the tomatoes for 20 seconds, and chill them in the ice water as well. Remove the cauliflower when it is cold, and pat the florets dry. Peel the skin off the tomatoes, then cut them into quarters lengthwise. Trim away the seeds to make petals.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium heat, and sear the chicken in batches, starting skin-side down, until the thighs are browned. Remove the chicken to a large Dutch oven or tagine pot. Remove all but two tablespoons of the fat in pan, then return it to the heat, and brown the cauliflower and add to the chicken.
• Reduce heat below the pan, and add the onion, garlic, ginger and saffron. Cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and chicken stock, and simmer until reduced by 1/3.
• Pour sauce over the chicken and cauliflower, cover the pot and transfer to oven for 20 minutes. Remove, stir in the tomatoes, preserved lemon and olives, then cover the pot again and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve the chicken in the pot, garnished with the cilantro leaves, with couscous. Reserve remaining spice mix for the next batch or another use. It keeps well in a sealed container.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken and next 6 ingredients (chicken through garlic), and cook for 12 minutes. Stir in the broth, juice salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. (Can be prepared ahead up to this point.) Remove from heat, and stir in the remaining ingredients except couscous. Serve over couscous, and garnish with parsley, if desired.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large, wide pan with a lid, add the chicken, then fry quickly until lightly coloured. Add the onion and ginger, then fry for a further 2 mins.
• Add 150ml water, the saffron, honey and carrots, season, then stir well. Bring to the boil, cover tightly, then simmer for 30 mins until the chicken is tender. Uncover and increase the heat for about 5 mins to reduce the sauce a little. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.