Frying • Simmering and Stewing • black pepper • chicken • chicken broth or chicken stock • cinnamon • coriander • cumin • garlic • ginger • lemon • oil • olives • onion • saffron • salt • Northern Africa • Morocco
Tagine of Chicken, Preserved Lemon, and Olives
This Tagine — the word, also spelled Tajine, refers both to the cooking pot as well as a stew cooked in it — is one of dozens of classic tagines prepared in Northern Africa, especially Morocco. The tagine cooking vessel consists of two parts: a round pot (traditionally clay), and a conical cover with a small hole which allows some steam to escape. A large dutch oven or something similar can also be used.
Tagine of Chicken, Preserved Lemon, and Olives Recipe
A savory North African dish.
Ingredients
3 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil (or any cooking oil) for pan-frying chicken and mixing marinade
3 lbs chicken, cut into serving sized pieces
2 onion, finely chopped
2 cups chicken broth or chicken stock (or water)
1 cup green olives
2 preserved lemons, cut into slices (see below)
salt (to taste)
Spices
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp ground ginger
pinch of saffron
1 tsp cumin (optional)
1 tsp turmeric (optional)
1 stick of cinnamon or a few pinches of ground cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp coriander (optional)
Instructions
1
Mix the garlic, some black pepper, and a spoonful of oil. Rub the chicken with the mixture and set aside for a few hours or overnight.
2
Heat the oil in a large dutch oven (or tagine cooking pot, if you have one). Fry the chicken until all sides begin to brown. Add spices. (The black pepper, ginger, and saffron are most typical. If you have no saffron, consider one or two of the optional spices, which can be added according to you liking.) Add onions. Stir-fry over high heat for a few minutes.
3
Add chicken broth, stock, or water. Bring to broil. Reduce heat. Cover, but leave a crack for steam to escape. Simmer over low heat for thirty minutes or more.
4
Add olives and preserved lemons. Add salt and adjust seasoning. Continue to simmer. Remove chicken and set aside. If necessary, bring sauce to boil, stirring continuously, until thickened.
Ingredients
3 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil (or any cooking oil) for pan-frying chicken and mixing marinade
3 lbs chicken, cut into serving sized pieces
2 onion, finely chopped
2 cups chicken broth or chicken stock (or water)
1 cup green olives
2 preserved lemons, cut into slices (see below)
salt (to taste)
Spices
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp ground ginger
pinch of saffron
1 tsp cumin (optional)
1 tsp turmeric (optional)
1 stick of cinnamon or a few pinches of ground cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp coriander (optional)
Directions
1
Mix the garlic, some black pepper, and a spoonful of oil. Rub the chicken with the mixture and set aside for a few hours or overnight.
2
Heat the oil in a large dutch oven (or tagine cooking pot, if you have one). Fry the chicken until all sides begin to brown. Add spices. (The black pepper, ginger, and saffron are most typical. If you have no saffron, consider one or two of the optional spices, which can be added according to you liking.) Add onions. Stir-fry over high heat for a few minutes.
3
Add chicken broth, stock, or water. Bring to broil. Reduce heat. Cover, but leave a crack for steam to escape. Simmer over low heat for thirty minutes or more.
4
Add olives and preserved lemons. Add salt and adjust seasoning. Continue to simmer. Remove chicken and set aside. If necessary, bring sauce to boil, stirring continuously, until thickened.
Serve chicken, covered with sauce, over Couscous or Rice. Have Green Tea with Mint with or after the meal.
Also, see Senegal’s classic chicken-lemon-onion dish, Poulet Yassa.
Preserved Lemons
Preserved lemons are used in many recipes from Northern Africa. A recipe:
Ingredients: lemons and kosher salt.
Directions: Cut slits into lemons, cutting through the skin and into the fruit. Pack alternating layers of lemons and salt in a clean glass jar. (The jar and lid should be sterilized in boiling water.) Cover tightly and set aside. After one day add more salt if possible. Set in cool, dark place for two to three weeks. During this time check every few days and, if needed, add salt as necessary to keep lemons tightly packed. After the two to three week period, remove lemons from the salt and store them in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. They may be kept in refrigerator for a few months.
Tagine Cooking Pot Alert
From The Washington Post (Wednesday, November 1, 2000, Food Section):
A tagine slaoui–a glazed, often rust-colored, round earthenware platter with a tall, conical lid–is the traditional vessel in which a Moroccan stew, or tagine, is cooked and served. They are sold at every open-air market, or souk, in the cities and towns of Morocco. In the countryside, along the road, proper tagine pots are piled at pottery workshops, ready for sale.
In the United States a traditional tagine slaoui is a bit harder to come by. And for good reason. The Food and Drug Administration issued an import alert in March on tagines manufactured and imported by Dar Si Aissa Centre Artisanal, based in Marrakesh, Morocco. Its tagines were found to contain high levels of lead that can “leach into foods in significant amounts when the glaze is improperly formulated, applied or fired.”
According to an FDA spokesman, “It’s prudent for consumers to purchase a lead test kit for pottery purchased in foreign countries that may contain high levels of lead. That is the best way to protect yourself.” Lead test kits are available in many hardware stores.
Regardless, a perfect, Moroccan-style stew does not require a special pot. A Dutch oven, casserole dish with a lid, baking dish covered with aluminum foil or a Crock-Pot® or other slow cooker will do the job. Still, for the cook who covets a conical-covered pot, there are safe copies of the tagine design available. …