Moroccan chicken tagine with saffron potatoes, preserved lemon, olives and ras-el-hanout spices.
Moroccan Chicken Tagine | Couscous | Ras-el-Hanout Spice
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
This is a recipe I had earmarked to post with Sunday Supper for a dinner recipes for two over the weekend, but things didn’t work out as planned. It is something I cooked in a stovetop tagine- there are different kinds of tagines, you see. Some of them are purely decorative, some are for cooking and need to be seasoned, and others come with a ready-to-go cooking surface. I have all three kinds, plus another small one that would be nice for making a side dish in. The one I used today on the stovetop is a Le Creuset. Before you try to cook with yours on a stovetop, please make sure it is rated for a stove top. Check with your manufacturer, and if you cannot tell, err on the side of caution. You can always cook in a pan and transfer to a tagine for decorative purposes without damaging the tagine. Although the coned top of the tagine helps the steam move around the dish and cook the food effectively at lower temperatures through a natural convective action.
The ras-el-hanout I put together makes a larger amount, but you can also use this spice in other tagines, to season rice, couscous and vegetables, as well as mix with olive oil for a tasty dip for berbere bread.
The couscous is very basic- I just like making mine with stock instead of water for extra flavor.
Ras el Hanout Spice
Yield: 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Method:
- Mix and store in an airtight container.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
Couscous
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup dried couscous
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon butter
- pinch salt
Method:
- Bring chicken broth, butter and salt to a boil and stir in couscous.
- Cover, remove from heat and let stand five minutes, then fluff with a fork and serve.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
Chicken Tagine
Ingredients:
- 1 pound bone-in chicken thighs (about 4 small ones)
- salt and black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Yukon gold cream potatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons ras-el-hanout spice mix
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup chopped preserved lemons
- 1/2 cup pitted green Castelvetrano olives
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsely
Method:
- Season chicken with salt and black pepper.
- Heat oil in a stove top tagine (or deep skillet if you have no tagine) and brown chicken thighs on both sides; set aside for a moment.
- Add the potatoes and onions to the pan and cook a few minutes while the onions soften.
- Add the garlic, ginger, tomatoes and saffron (crush the saffron finely by rubbing it in your hands), tomato paste, ras-el-hanout, and chicken stock, stirring to mix.
- Place the chicken back into the tagine with the sauce and cover with olives and preserved lemon.
- Cover tagine and simmer over low heat for about 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender.
- Serve tagine with couscous.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
I Purchased a Tagin from a shopping network many years ago, can’t find instructions and didn’t know there was different kinds of them. Mine is like the one shown in the recipe but has poka dots on the top and bottom. Have always wanted to use it but never had a recipe i liked and definitely no spices ever mentioned. I absolutely love this recipe and the information. i WILL be making it this and started to defrost my chicken thighs. Now i want more of them and ways to use the spice I have kept preserved lemon in the refrigerator. i toss them after a long time and start over again. so glad i will now get to use them. Thank you so very much.