Moroccan Chicken, Preserved Lemon, & Olive Tagine with Dried Cherry & Almond Couscous

If you've followed this blog at all, you may be a bit surprised - or even, if you're vegetarian, disappointed - to see me writing about a chicken recipe. In fact, this is the first meat dish - other than fish - that I've ever featured here.

So, what has gotten into me? Let me explain ...

I mentioned some time ago that I would be working with meat in culinary school and eating it - albeit infrequently compared to most people - for my work. In school, a recent class focused on chicken fabrication - in other words, the right way to cut up a chicken into eight easy pieces. I thought (reasonably enough, I supposed) having only recently re-entered the world of the omnivore that I would be a little grossed out chopping up a whole chicken carcass.

Well, as it turns out ... I kind of liked it. It was interesting. And challenging. And not only that - I wasn't terrible at it. Go figure! No one, I assure you, was more surprised than I.

I guess I'm just a girl who appreciates the feel of a really sharp boning knife.

So I decided that it would be a good idea to practice my strangely compelling new skill, and given that my mother-in-law recently gifted Poppa Trix and me with a gorgeous handmade tagine, what better thing to make than Moroccan chicken with preserved lemon and olives?

As an aside, the chicken I bought at the farmers market had been pasture raised and fed a vegetarian diet free of antibiotics and all that junk. (I'm telling you, this guy's chickens and pigs probably live better than I do.) While I realize that my culinary school is likely not buying what I would consider to be ethically sourced meats due to cost concerns, on the rare occasion that I buy meat in my personal life I definitely believe in supporting ethical and humane purveyors.

But let's get on with it! *Wipes hands and puts away soapbox.*

I followed a fairly classic recipe, with some variations of my own. As always, for a savory dish like this, I didn't stick to precise amounts. I mixed up my marinade and before adding the chicken to it I tasted it and played with it until it was right.

First, I cut my whole chicken into 8 pieces - but I have decided to spare you the images! You could certainly buy chicken that's already been cut up if you want. For the marinade, I combined about 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 1/2 chopped preserved lemons (many recipes tell you to remove the peel but I don't see the point, it's tastes fine to me), 2 tsp fresh minced ginger, 5 cloves garlic, minced, 1 heaping Tbsp ras al hanout, 1/2 tsp Saigon cinnamon, 1 tsp turmeric, 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley, and a few healthy grinds of cracked black pepper. (I should have added 1 tsp saffron threads, but I forgot and added it afterward, to the tagine).

 

This should marinate for at least an hour; more if possible. Next, put a little oil in the bottom on your tagine, and add the chicken with all the marinade. Add one large onion, diced, a few handfuls of green olives, the saffron if you forgot it like I did, and a bouqet of parsley and cilantro:

Add another drizzle of olive oil plus 1/4 cup water.  Put the lid on your tagine, and bring the flame to medium - just enough to get the liquid to simmer. You then want to lower the flame to the minimum that will still keep the contents calmly simmering. The next part is simple - just leave it alone for about 90 minutes!

Isn't it cute?

After about an hour and a half, you can turn the chicken over, cover and let cook a little longer. While that's going on, make your couscous. I sauteed two good handfuls of dried cherries, 1/2 of a small chopped red onion, and a large handful of slivered almonds in olive oil over medium heat. I added about a cup of cooked couscous to the pan and stirred to coat. To finish, I tossed in some salt, pepper, and fresh copped parsley.

The sweet cherries were fab with the salty tang of the olives and preserved lemon from the tagine. And I never thought I'd type these words, but the chicken was falling-off-the-bone tender, and Poppa Trix and I loved it.  No, I haven't turned into a rapacious carnivore; quite the contrary, I still plan to feature plenty of vegetarian recipes here, as that is about 95% (or more) of what I eat in a typical week.  Hopefully, though, my forays into the meat-eating world will all be as scrumptious as this: