Tagine Of Chicken With Preserved Lemon And Olives 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:

• In a large bowl, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, the coriander, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, saffron, cloves, ginger and red pepper flakes. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the marinade. Stir until the marinade covers each piece. Refrigerate for 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry; reserve the marinade. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a tagine or a large Dutch oven. Place the chicken skin-side down in the pot and brown for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and brown an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the chicken and reserve on a plate.
• Add the onions and garlic to the same pot and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, green olives, lemon peel, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and the reserved chicken and marinade. Bring to a low boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook 45 minutes.
• Stir in the cilantro, parsley and lemon juice. Serve with couscous if desired.

Steps:

• In a wide casserole or heavy-bottomed pan that can hold all the chicken pieces in one layer, heat the oil and put in the onions. Sauté, stirring over low heat, until they soften, then stir in the garlic, saffron, and ginger.
• Put in the chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper, and pour in about 1 1/4 cups water. Simmer, covered, turning the pieces over a few times and adding a little more water if it becomes too dry. Lift out the breasts after about 15 minutes and put them to one side. Continue to cook the remaining pieces for another 25 minutes or so, after which time return the breasts to the pan.
• Stir into the sauce the lemon juice, the chopped coriander and parsley, the preserved lemon peel cut into quarters or strips, and the olives. Simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes, until the reduced sauce is thick and unctuous. If there is too much liquid, lift out the chicken pieces and set aside while you reduce the sauce further, then return the chicken to the pan and heat through.
• Present the chicken on a serving dish with the olives and lemon peel on top of the meat.
• Add 1/2 chili pepper, seeded and chopped, with the onions at the start, and the juice of 1/4 lemon (instead of 1/2) toward the end of cooking.

Steps:

• Season chicken with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Heat remaining oil in a tagine over medium heat. Sear chicken in the hot oil until browned, 5 to 7 minutes; remove and set aside. Add onion, coriander, cumin, and bay leaf and cook, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes. Make sure to scrape the brown bits from the bottom while stirring; add a little water if needed.
• Stir tomatoes, figs, olives, garlic, and lemons into the tagine. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the seared chicken and pour in white wine. Bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Reduce the wine by half, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour in enough chicken broth to fill the tagine only halfway up the sides of the chicken.
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cover. Cook until the meat on the legs is no longer pink and pulls away from the bone, about 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove the tagine from the heat and mix in parsley. Check seasonings and serve.

Steps:

• Mix the garlic, some black pepper, and a spoonful of oil.
• Rub the chicken with the mixture and set aside for a few hours or overnight.
• Heat the oil in a large dutch oven (or tagine cooking pot, if you have one).
• Fry the chicken until all sides begin to brown.
• Add spices.
• (The black pepper, ginger, and saffron are most typical. If you have no saffron, consider one or two of the optional spices, which can be added according to you liking.) Add onions.
• Stir-fry over high heat for a few minutes.
• Add chicken broth, stock, or water.
• Bring to broil.
• Reduce heat.
• Cover, but leave a crack for steam to escape.
• Simmer over low heat for thirty minutes or more.
• Add olives and preserved lemons.
• Add salt and adjust seasoning.
• Continue to simmer.
• Remove chicken and set aside.
• If necessary, bring sauce to boil, stirring continuously, until thickened.