Chicken Tagine

This is the Moroccan version of chicken curry, and usually it's supposed to marinate for hours and stew for hours and hours. Of course, I did not have the patience for this, so I did a quick version which I kind of made up myself! Well not really, I read a bunch of tagine recipes and combined ingredients which I thought were interesting. Again, this is a recipe I have only made once, so the more I make it, the more I will experiment and probably change it. So beware!

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can substitute with breast/tenderloins if you prefer, but thighs release a lot of oils into the stew which enhances the taste by a great deal and also makes for a thicker stew)

1/4 cup raisins (1/2 cup if no other dried fruit is used, they are sweeter than most other dried fruit, hence the smaller quantity)

1/2 cup other dried fruit (this is optional, but I absolutely recommend it. You can use dried mango, apricot, prunes, cranberries dates.... absolutely anything that is shriveled and sweet!)

1 cup dry red wine

Juice from 1 lemon (should be about 1/4 to 1/2 cup)

4 cloves crushed garlic

1 tsp salt

1 can chickpeas, drained (If using dried chickpeas, make sure you soak them in water for a couple of hours before cooking them. Cooking them takes a loooooong time, so it's easier to just use canned chickpeas. Try and find a can that has low sodium or no sodium, or wash them once you drain them from the can. This gets rid of any excess salt water that they have been sitting in and you get more of the natural chickpea flavor)

1 small onion, diced

1 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup zucchini chunks (optional)

1/2 cup diced potato (optional)

1/2 cup diced sweet potato (optional, adds a nice sweetness that compliments the spice)

(If using extra vegetables, you will need a little more moisture to cook in, so you can add some water or chicken broth)

1 tbsp oil (I would not recommend using olive oil or E.V.O.O. as it has a lower burning point. Use either vegetable oil or Canola oil or Corn oil. These have a higher burning point, so they are better for searing and frying)

For the Moroccan Curry Powder:

1/4 tsp saffron threads

1 tbsp cumin pwd

1/2 tbsp cinamon pwd

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp ground cardamom

1 tbsp chili pwd (can be substituted with cayenne pepper, or if you don't want it too spicy use paprika; it provides the same color minus the heat)

1/2 tbsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp ground black pepper

Preparation:

Marinate the raisins and other dried fruits in the red wine for at least an hour or so to rehydrate them. They will drink up the wine and become nice and plump! If they don't plump up, don't worry, they will during the cooking process.

Cut the chicken thighs into 1" chunks and combine with garlic, lemon juice and salt. Let this marinate for at least a half hour at room temperature. If placed in the refrigerator leave for twice as long, as the marination process slows down in the fridge.

While the chicken and raisins are marinating away, combine all the curry spices, and chop the carrots and onions.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cook:

In a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil on high heat.

Sear the chicken chunks on both sides fairly quickly so chicken is golden brown and partially cooked. Don't crowd the pan while searing, so do this in batches. Also, don't add any of the marinating liquid, you will use it later.

Set chicken aside and pat dry with paper towel to remove excess oil.

If oil is burnt and yucky, throw it out and use another tbsp of oil. Here you can use E.V.O.O. as there will be no intense searing or frying.

Add onions, carrots and potatoes to heated oil and saute until onions are transparent.

Add Moroccan spice mixture and stir quickly. Make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add the marinade to the vegetables and spices, so they are evenly combined and coated.

When the color of the spices darkens (should take about 5 mins), add the dried fruits and the wine they were soaking in.

Then add the seared chicken along with the chickpeas and zucchini and mix well with the other vegetables, juices and spices (zucchini cooks much faster than potatoes and carrots, hence it is added much later in the process).

If more liquid is needed, add some water or chicken broth until everything is ALMOST submerged.

Cover and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 10 mins.

Place covered skillet in oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Remove from oven and garnish with lemon zest, parsley and black olives (this is optional).

Enjoy with couscous or rice.

YUMMMMMM!