Chicken Tajine with Olives and Preserved Lemons
photo by mersaydees
- Ready In:
- 1hr 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 1⁄4 cup olive oil
- 2 (3 lb) chicken, each cut into 6 pieces
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 2 small onions, finely grated
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 inches cinnamon sticks or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon saffron thread, crumbled
- 2 medium tomatoes, peeled,seeded and coarsely chopped or 1 1/2 cups drained, canned tomatoes
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 3 preserved lemons
- 1⁄2 lb kalamata olive
directions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add them to the pan along with the onions, ginger, cinnamon and saffron.
- Cook over high heat, turning the chicken occasionally, until browned all over, about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, parsley, cilantro and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is tender, about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, rinse the preserved lemons under running water; pat dry.
- Cut the lemons into quarters.
- Discard the pulp from one of the lemons and finely chop the peel.
- Reserve the quarters for garnish.
- Transfer the chicken to a large plate.
- Strain the cooking liquid and return it to the casserole.
- Boil over high heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Add the chopped preserved lemons and the olives and simmer over moderate heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken pieces and simmer until heated through.
- Arrange the chicken pieces on a serving dish.
- Pour the sauce on top and garnish with the lemon quarters.
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Reviews
-
Truly a wonderful dish. I used about 2 pounds of skinless boneless chicken breast. Otherwise I followed the recipe, although I did use the finely chopped peel from two preserved lemons and did not strain the sauce. I was doubtful about the whole cup of cilantro, but trusting Evelyn, did as instructed. The resulting sauce is not predominately cilantro or lemon--but rather a quite wonderful fresh, bright sauce, very aromatic. The chicken remained moist and tender. This was wonderful the first night with rice, and even better, warmed up and served another night with couscous. Thanks again, Evelyn.
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OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages!
I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure.
So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call.
What did I do wrong?
Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths.
I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time.
That's all for now.