Tagine of Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Olives
adapted from Arabesque, by Claudia Roden
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tsp. crushed saffron threads or saffron powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 8 boneless chicken breasts
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
- 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 cinnamon stick
- peel of 1 large or 2 small preserved lemons, peel only, cut into slices
- 12-16 green or violet olives, without pits
Directions:
1) In a wide casserole or heavy-bottomed pan that will fit the chicken pieces in one layer, heat the oil and add the onions. Sauté, stirring over a low heat, until softened, then stir in the garlic, saffron, cinnamon stick, and ginger.
2) Add the chicken pieces and pour in 1-1/4 cup water. Simmer, covered, turning the pieces over a few times and adding a little more water if it becomes too dry.
3) After 15 minutes, add lemon juice, cilantro, parsley, preserved lemon peel, olives
4) Continue cooking for 10-15 more minutes. Chicken. When it is almost done, remove from the pan and let the sauce continue to simmer until it thickens.
5) Once the sauce has thickened, return the chicken to pan and finish cooking. My chicken was perfectly done at 35 minutes.
6) Serve with the olives and lemon peel on top of the meat.
Note on salt:
Because the lemon and olives are salty, I do not add any extra salt.
4 comments:
Great recipe. I've made it a number of times. (I found your blog because I was too lazy to type out the recipe from Arabesque!) My preference is 1/2 chicken thighs (for flavor) & 1/2 breasts for the "I only eat white meat" folks. Your re-wording of some of these instructions makes good sense. May I suggest using "TBSP" (all caps) in recipes, to help distinguish it from "tsp"? Cuts down on errors - a lot.
Thanks for the tips. I like typing recipes on my blog so I can have them wherever I am ... who know when I'll be up in Seattle or over in Tucson and want to make this chicken!
I made this for the first time all on my own - did a half recipe. It was really yummy, but I wish I wound up with more of the sauce. I think next time I do half the chicken, I'll still do the full amount of the rest of the recipe. Too much good stuff!
How funny, Jenny. I just made a half batch (chicken) of this too. But I did a full batch of the sauce, and you're right, it needed it. The sauce is what makes this dish stand out.
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