Moroccan Chicken Recipe

OK, maybe you're right, I'm stretching things a bit to include this Moroccan chicken recipe on a French food site. However, it is so yummy and unexpected, that I just had to share it with you. If you're thinking of trying a tagine recipe, this Moroccan chicken recipe is a great one to begin with.

Northern African Influences in France

France has long had close ties with, and even colonized for a time part of Northern Africa. After all it is just a boat ride away across the relatively calm Mediterranean Sea. A lot of people have migrated from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria to France and the reverse migration happens as well. So of course, the food in France has been influenced along the way.

Lots of French home cooks know how to whip up a couscous, a term used to refer not just to the wheat, but to the entire dish, which includes various meats and vegetables, as in the couscous recipe here. In the French grocery store, I can easily find key ingredients for Moroccan cuisine, such as the preserved lemons used in this Moroccan chicken recipe.

Tagine Cooking

A tagine is a heavy, earthenware cooking vessel with a round base and conical lid. It is slow to heat and slow to cool down. It's shape and material lends itself to moist, succulent dishes. Tagine also refers to the dishes that are cooked in this vessel.

The tagine is a very old method of cooking. Modern takes on the tagine inlcude an electric one. I can't imagine that an electric tagine could give you the results that a true earthenware one does. Also, cooking with a real tagine is a pleasure. Something about the simplicity and heaviness of its material is ever so appealing.

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Tajine de poulet aux olives et citrons confits
A Moroccan Chicken Recipe

Depending on your tagine, you could use it to cook the first part of this Moroccan chicken recipe. However, I used a heavy skillet and then transferred the ingredients to the tagine before putting it in the oven.

• 6 to 8 pieces of chicken, skinned (I use thighs and legs)
• salt and pepper
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 cups chicken bouillon
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 scant cup green or purple olives
• 3 preserved lemons, cut in small pieces

Season the raw chicken with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook the onions in the olive oil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle on the garlic, ginger, cinnamon and cumin, mix well, and cook covered for 5 more minutes.

Add the chicken and pour on the bouillon. Cover and let simmer on low to medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done as you like it.

Remove the chicken from the pan and place it in the tagine. Reduce the sauce by boiling it on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Mix the cilantro, parsley, olives and lemons into the sauce and than pour it onto the chicken.

Cover the tagine with its lid and place in a hot oven (450°) for 10 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

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