Tagine Night

Some weeks I have more recipes I want to try than nights for cooking and then there are other weeks where I am just at a loss as to what to cook. This week fell into the latter category. So, I started perusing some of my cookbooks, magazines, and several websites looking for some inspiration. I ended up finding it online at Cooking Light’s website. I love my tagine that Russ gave me for Christmas, so when I ran across a recipe that not only used my tagine, but also sounded super tasty I was sold. So, tonight we tried an older CL recipe for Chicken Tagine with Lemons and Olives.

To start with you let the chicken marinate in a little bit of lemon juice for about 30 minutes. I did use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs since I had some in the freezer that needed to be used. Once they have marinated then I cut them into large pieces and tossed them in the flour. Then I sprinkled the spice mixture (salt, pepper, cayenne, and tumeric) over them. Next you add a little oil to pan and brown the chicken on both sides. The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through at this point, but I wanted it mostly cooked. Then set it aside and add a little more oil to the pan and sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger until they are soft. Next add the olives, lemon rind, cinnamon stick, and chicken to the pan. Finally add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling then you reduce the heat to a simmer and put the top on and let it slowly simmer away for about an hour. Once it is done you add the cilantro to it, however, I forgot to do this so we just topped ours with the cilantro. I served it over cous cous with a side of steamed broccoli.

This was very tasty and flavorful. I really liked the subtle lemon flavor and the tang from the green olives. It makes plenty of sauce which I liked and it was nice to put over the cous cous which soaked it up. The chicken was tender and flavorful. We both really enjoyed this recipe and while I did feel like I used a million bowls and plates while I was preparing it overall it was fairly simple to make. Russ rates the dish a 9.

Dinner at Home

Russ and I have had a really busy schedule lately, so nights at home have been almost nonexistent. We’ve been celebrating Russ’ birthday, watching the Bachelor with our Bachelor group, various meetings at night, sewing class (that’s me, not Russ, and Sumner and it is so fun!), celebrating Russ’ birthday some more (I mean it is a big one and don’t worry we are celebrating it again tomorrow night and the next night), and the list goes on and on. Even our weekends have been packed with going to out of town to a wedding and up to Mentone. Everything is something that we wanted to do and I wouldn't change a thing about any of our plans, but at the same time I have really started longing for those nights (especially weeknights) where we come home from work and have nothing more to do that cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner, and relax together. Tonight I was supposed to have my last basic sewing class, but it got moved until next week. While I am loving my new hobby and hanging out with Sumner on a weekly basis I was beyond excited that this would allow for Russ, Cash, and me to have a plain, nothing special, regular, old night at home! I knew exactly what I wanted to do tonight… try out a new recipe using my tagine and relax with my boys.

Tonight’s recipe comes from a new source for me, one that I almost hesitate to tell you about as I am kind of embarrassed by it. You see I have this aversion to free recipes that just show up in the mail. In almost every way this blog has been a good and positive experience for me except one. What one you ask? Well, I’ll tell you… it has turned me into a little bit of a food snob. I’ve said it before here and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but at times and to be fair it is not very often I have a snobbish attitude towards certain things one of which is free recipes that show up in the mail. I am not sure why because it is not like I am some accomplished chef who can create amazing recipes, but still I somehow just can’t bring myself to try any of these recipes. Usually I just throw out any free recipes that show up in our mailbox, but there is one exception. I have received a sample issue of Cuisine at Home a couple times now and each time I not only flip through the issue, but also have something in it catch my eye. Usually it doesn’t strike my fancy enough for me to give it a try or want to subscribe to the magazine, but just enough for me to hang on to the sample issue for a week or so and then pitch it. A couple weeks ago I received another sample issue and I again thumbed through it and there was one dish that struck my eye for a couple reasons that I couldn’t forget about. The first was that it was a tagine recipe that they modified so you didn’t have to have a tagine to make it, but I do have the a beautiful, blue tagine that I am madly in love with so I just modified it back to a tagine recipe. The other reasons were the ingredients – kalamata olives, chickpeas, tomatoes, lemon wedges, cinnamon stick, and several fragrant ground spices – I mean my mouth starts to water just listing them off. This recipe kept sticking in my head, so despite my somewhat food snobbish tendencies towards free recipes that show up in the mail I decided to give this one a go.

To make the Spiced Chicken Thighs in Tomato Broth with Olives and Chickpeas you start by combining the spices in a small bowl. I normally am not good about measuring things out and go with eyeballing it, but this time I did measure it out and I think it is important in order to get a the balance of flavors that these spices bring to the dish. Next you rub it on the chicken and let it sit for a few minutes. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts simply because I had some that I need to use, but I do think that the thighs would work even better here. Next sauté the chicken for a few minutes on each side and then remove it and set it to the side. Then you sauté the onions for a few minutes and then add the ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon stick. Once you have sautéed these for a few minutes you add the white wine and tomato paste. Once the liquid has mostly cooked down you add the tomatoes, chicken broth, chickpeas, olives, honey, lemon, and bay leaf. Toss these together until they are all mixed in and then add the chicken to the top. Let this simmer for about 20 – 25 minutes. I served it over cous cous with a side of steamed broccoli.

First off let me say that I love my tagine and I have so much fun cooking with it (thank you sweet Russ!). Tonight’s dish really exceeded my expectations which were rather low since it was a free recipe from the mail even though I thought it looked good. The spices on the chicken were so fragrant that from the moment I started cooking the kitchen smelled warm and delightful. I really enjoyed this dish because it had several of my favorite ingredients in it, but I must say that what made the dish was the salty, meaty, a little tangy flavor and dark color of the kalamata olives. They not only looked beautiful in the dish, but they really did add great flavor. The dish as a whole had a nice balance of warm spices and heat from the cayenne and red pepper flakes. I do think I over cooked the chicken (which is why thighs would be even better in this dish), but all in all it was a very savory, delicious dish. Russ rates it a 9.

Spiced Chicken Thighs in Tomato Broth with Olives and Chickpeas, Cuisine at Home
Makes 4 thighs; Total time: about 45 minutes

Combine; Rub Over and Sauté in 1 T. Olive Oil:
1 t. paprika
1 t. ground coriander
½ t. ground cumin
¼ t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. cayenne
Pinch salt
4 chicken thighs (I used 2 breasts that I cut into medium size pieces)

Add and Sauté:
½ cup onion, diced
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1 T. garlic, minced
¼ t. red pepper flakes
1 cinnamon stick

Deglaze with:
¼ cup dry white wine
1 t. tomato paste

Add and Simmer; Season with:
1 cup tomatoes, chopped (I used canned diced tomatoes)
½ cup chicken broth
½ cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used the entire can)
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1 T. honey
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1 bay leaf
Sautéed chicken thighs

Finish with:
Chopped fresh parsley
Salt to taste (since I used canned tomatoes it didn’t need any extra)

Serve with:
Toasted pita bread (I served it over plain cous cous)

Combine spices and salt in a dish, then rub over chicken thighs; let stand about 5 minutes. Heat oil in a skillet (I used my tagine) over medium; add chicken, skin side down, and sauté until browned on both sides, 10 minutes total (less if using boneless, skinless breasts like I did). Remove chicken and pour off all but 1 T. drippings.

Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Stir in the ginger, garlic, pepper flakes, and cinnamon stick; cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Deglaze with wine and tomato paste, stirring to combine. Simmer until liquid evaporates.

Add tomatoes, broth, chickpeas, olives, honey, lemon, and bay leaf; stir to combine. Arrange reserved chicken on top, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low (low if using a tagine). Simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce is reduced, 20 – 25 minutes.

Finish with parsley and salt just before serving. Serve with pita bread.

The Christmas Tagine!

Russ is a wonderful husband in many ways one of which is that he is very supportive of my hobby of cooking. He cleans up the dishes after I cook, he fans the kitchen out and stops the smoke alarm from beeping more than I am sure he ever thought he would, he tries anything I make and calls Papa John when needed, he encourages me to try new cooking techniques or ingredients, he indulges my cookbook and cooking gadget habit… For Christmas this year he surprised me by giving me a tagine and a Moroccan cookbook to go with it. The tagine is a Le Creuset and blue and so beautiful it just makes me happy looking at it (part of the reason why it is still sitting out on the stove several weeks later)! I have been pouring over the Moroccan cookbook to try and decided what to try first. Several of my top picks all included preserved lemons which I don’t have yet (more about that later), so I ended up deciding to try Chicken with Apricots and Rosemary first.

To make this dish you sauté onions, ginger, rosemary, and chiles in a little butter and olive oil until they are tender. (Tip: I use a spoon to scrap the peel off of fresh ginger. It works really well and is very quick.) Then you add cinnamon sticks and rosemary sprigs to the dish. You then take the chicken thighs and brown them in the dish. Now a tagine is not very large on the bottom and will all the ingredients already in there I had a difficult time getting the chicken to brown since there was a layer of onions under it. Next time I’ll brown the chicken in a separate pan and then add it or remove the other ingredients and set them aside then brown the chicken and finally add the other ingredients back in the tagine. Once the chicken has browned on both sides you add a can of whole tomatoes and their liquid, the apricots, and honey. Then add the top of the tagine and leave it for around 25 minutes over very low heat. Once it is finished cooking you add the basil to the top and serve.

This dish was very fragrant as it cooked and was flavorful with the combination of sweet and savory when we ate it. The chicken was very moist and worked well with all the other flavors. I served it over cous cous which soaked up the extra sauce. The apricots made the dish to me as they were so moist and tender and had a very sweet, but mature flavor. While Russ and I really enjoyed this dish I am anxious to preserve some lemons (look for my attempt to preserve them to show up on the blog soon) and try several other recipes out soon. Russ rates tonight's dish an 8.

Spicy Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Rosemary, and Ginger

Tagine by Ghillie Basan, Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil with a pat of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 sprigs of rosemary, 1 finely chopped, the other two cut in half
A 1 and ½ inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 red chiles, seeded and finely chopped
1 – 2 cinnamon sticks
8 chicken thighs
¾ cup dried apricots
2 tablespoons clear honey
1 (14 oz) can plum tomatoes with their juice
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
A small bunch of fresh green or purple basil leaves

Heat the oil and butter in a tagine or heavy based casserole dish. Stir in the onion, chopped rosemary, ginger and chiles and sauté until the onion begins to soften. Stir in the halved rosemary sprigs and the cinnamon sticks. Add the chicken thighs and brown them on both sides. Toss in the apricots with the honey, then stir in the plum tomatoes with their juice. (Add a little water if necessary, to ensure there is enough liquid to cover the base of the tagine and submerge the apricots.) Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover with a lid and cook gently for 35 – 40 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Shred the larger basil leaves and leave the small ones intact. Sprinkle them over the chicken and serve the dish immediately.

My Notes: I used three large chicken thighs and left the other amounts the same.