Moroccan Chicken with Lemon & Olives
A traditional Moroccan dish of chicken pieces braised with spices, garlic, onion, olives, and preserved lemon. Cooked in a tagine or cast iron casserole. This recipe shines with preserved lemons. If you don't have access to any, you can use thin slices of regular or Meyer lemon, and you may need to add quite a bit of salt to the dish at the end. If you use a tagine, you will need to soak it in water over-night before subjecting it to the heat of the stove. Doing so will help keep the tagine from cracking.
Prep time: 1 hour, 5 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Yield: Serves 4 to 6.
Ingredients
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 chicken, 3-4 lbs, cut into 8 pieces (or 3-4lbs of just chicken thighs and drums, the dark meat is more flavourful)
Salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
The rind from 1 preserved lemon, rinsed in cold water, pulp discarded, rind cut into thin strips (if you don't have preserved lemon, use whole thin slices of regular lemon)
1 cup green olives, pitted
1/2 C water
1/2 C raisins (optional)
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preparation
1) Combine all the spices in a large bowl. Pat dry the chicken pieces and put in the bowl, coat well with the spice mixture. Let the chicken stand for one hour in the spices.
2) If you are using a clay tagine (if you have one, you must soak the bottom in water overnight before using), place it on a heat diffuser on the heating element to prevent the tagine from cracking, and place the olive oil in the tagine and heat it on medium heat. If you do not have a tagine, you can use a thick-bottomed, large skillet with a cover. Heat the oil in the skillet on medium high heat. In either case, sprinkle the chicken pieces very lightly with salt (go easy on the salt, the olives and preserved lemons are salty) and place skin side down in the tagine or skillet for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and onions over the chicken. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.
3) Turn chicken pieces over. Add the lemon slices, olives, raisins, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat, then lower the heat to low, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and quite tender.
4) Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Serve with couscous, rice, or rice pilaf.
Adapted from Simply Recipes https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/moroccan_chicken_with_lemon_and_olives/