tony b Posted January 14, 2020 Report Share Posted January 14, 2020 Crappy weather, so I was cooking indoors last night. Had been wanting some Moroccan food, so I did a chicken tajine. Pretty traditional setup - marinated the chicken thighs (boneless/skinless) in green Harissa and EVOO for 3 hours, then seasoned with Berbere spices and browned in the tajine, removed the chicken and then browned the onions and garlic. Return the chicken thighs to the tajine and then add the green and black (salt cured) olives, preserved lemon peels, cherry tomatoes, chicken stock, lemon juice and Ras El Hanout. Here's the new twist - the recipe called for chickpeas and at the end, you mash half of them into the liquid to thicken the sauce. Well, I didn't have any cans of chickpeas/garbanzos in the pantry, but I did have some hummus in the fridge, so I tossed a couple of TB of that in to make the sauce - worked like a charm!! Served over saffron rice, with a nice side salad and crusty bread. Toss in a glass of chardonnay and call it din-din! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted January 14, 2020 Report Share Posted January 14, 2020 Tasty dinner, Tony, great call on the hummus. It has been ages since I've used my tagine, maybe it's time to drag it out. Speaking of dragging, I've been dragging my butt around with a miserable cold. It seems to be getting better and this tasty dish has my taste buds activated. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted January 14, 2020 Report Share Posted January 14, 2020 Great looking dish. I've always wanted to try out a tagine. I must resist buying one, I must resist.......... 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basher Posted January 15, 2020 Report Share Posted January 15, 2020 Great looking dish. I've always wanted to try out a tagine. I must resist buying one, I must resist.......... You are no chance of resisting! I’m expecting photos within the month. Tasty looking dish Tony Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Ora Posted January 15, 2020 Report Share Posted January 15, 2020 That looks terrific tony great winter warmer .I'd eat that in summer tooSent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted January 15, 2020 Report Share Posted January 15, 2020 (edited) If one can come by preserved lemons (bought, or better yet, homemade), the most famous chicken tagine in Morocco is with olives and preserved lemons. One can Google many recipes. They're all pretty similar, affected more by ingredient quality and chef technique than the list of ingredients. These recipes all look authentic to me, similar to what I do. I prefer bone-in thighs, and both coriander and parsley, and I have a heavy hand with the saffron. Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons & Olives CHICKEN, PRESERVED LEMON AND OLIVES TAGINE – CHICKEN MKALLI Chicken, Olive, and Lemon Tagine (Djaj Mqualli) As for the tagine clay cooking vessel, it is unnecessary. It is designed for cooking over a slow charcoal fire. Use whatever you'd use for a French stew. However, be aware that in Morocco (where I took a few lessons) they have mastered browning a wet mixture through a clay pot, without burning that same mixture. The idea is pretty obvious, if one pictures how one burns food in general: It begins to stick to the bottom of the pot, and is left unattended long enough to burn. The Moroccans have mastered this effect, and catch it in time. (Without lots of experience, this window is about as "blink and you'll miss it" hard to time as catching the al dente transition for US dried pasta. There's a reason people pay more for Italian pasta. Mexicans would let the burn go longer, but I digress.) Instead, brown the chicken separately to your satisfaction (or not) and then cook gently to avoid burning. In my twenties, I used to learn factoids and then be on alert to avoid being scammed by people who misunderstood these factoids. I learned that there are two kinds of tagines, for cooking (unglazed interior lid), and for serving (decorative glaze on all surfaces). One could only find the serving kind for sale, which somehow offended my developing sensibilities. I somehow made life an Indiana Jones contest to find the authentic. Like all things twenties, I was an idiot, and had this exactly backwards. Cooking is all theatre. People's tastes are less educated and discerning than ours, so they look to visual cues. (This principle guides all fancy restaurants.) Serving in a tagine is great theatre, even if cooking in one has only a faint effect. Edited January 15, 2020 by Syzygies 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted January 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 For folks that are interested - that would be you, ckreef! (LOL). Here's my source for tajines - both kinds - cooking and serving. https://treasuresofmorocco.com/moroccan-kitchenware.html?p=2 You can get them from the same source on Amazon, too. https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=tajine&i=kitchen&rh=n%3A284507%2Cn%3A3737331%2Cp_6%3AAZ24I9M1PA8YH&dc&qid=1579198131&rnid=331544011&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1 @Syzygies- those recipes are pretty spot on. I had used up all my cilantro in the fridge or I would have added that at the end. The green harissa was my substitute. I like to use both the green and black olives (especially the oil cured ones). I have made preserved lemons in the past (not hard, just takes about a month in the heavy salt/lemon juice brine.) https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/ Or be lazy like me and just buy them. https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=preserved+lemons+moroccan&crid=2QXXKDKHBY2OJ&sprefix=preserved+lem%2Caps%2C191&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_13 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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