Chicken Tagine
Ingredients:
4-6 Chicken thighs
2 Carrots
1/2 head Cauliflower
1 Onion
6 Garlic cloves
12 Dried Apricots
6-8 Medjool dates or 1/4 cup honey
1/2 bunch Parsley
1/2 bunch Cilantro
Spice Blend:
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Pepper
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Cloves
1 tsp ground Ginger
1 tbsp Turmeric
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tsp Red pepper flakes
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tsp Mustard powder
10-15 Green olives
1 Preserved lemon, sliced
**you will need a traditional moroccan tagine to adequately make this dish, a dutch oven will work but the dish will then be a stew rather than an official tagine**
Instructions:
Dust each seasoning over the chicken until chicken is completely covered in spices.
alternatively you can mix the spice blend first and then dust over chicken
Sear chicken in a cast iron,
Heat cast iron and add a little high smoke point oil such as avocado, grapeseed, canola etc until oil is very hot. Use plenty of oil, this will become fragrant very quickly.
Put chicken in hot pan for approx 3-4 mins on each side depending on how hot your pan is when you put the chicken in (I know we all get impatient)
Roughly chop carrots, cauliflower, onion and peeled garlic, put all in a large bowl or ziplock bag and add a dusting of each spice (or the blend) and a glug of oil, toss all until evenly coated
Spread a thin layer of veggies on bottom of tagine base adding some dates and apricots
Put seared chicken on top of veggies and add remaining veggies over the top of chicken
Add medjool dates (or a drizzling of honey) and apricots
At this time if you are adding green olives and preserved lemon add them to any holes you see
Put top on tagine and put in the oven at 325* for several hours, at least 2. Do not take the cover off during this time as it will disrupt the cooking
When you remove from oven put parsley and cilantro on top not just as garnish but to finish the overall flavor of the dish.
Serve with couscous or flatbread or eat by itself! You do you!