Chicken And Date Tagine Recipes

MOROCCAN CHICKEN TAGINE

Steps:

• Combine the spices in a small bowl and set aside. Zest the lemon. Combine 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest with 1 minced garlic clove; set aside.
• Season both sides of chicken pieces with 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or pan over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke. Brown the chicken pieces skin side down in single layer until deep golden, about 5 minutes; using tongs, flip the chicken pieces over and brown the other side, about 4 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a large plate; when cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and discard. Pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have browned at the edges but still retain their shape, 5 to 7 minutes (add a few tablespoons of water now and then if the pan gets too dark). Add the remaining minced garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spices and flour and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the broth, honey, remaining lemon zest, and ¼ teaspoon salt, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Add the chicken (with any accumulated juices) back in, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the carrots, cover, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots are tender-crisp, about 10 minutes more.
• Stir in the olives, reserved lemon zest-garlic mixture, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice; taste the sauce and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired. Serve with couscous.
• Note: Don't fret too much over trimming the chicken thighs. The skin gets removed midway through the cooking process and most of the fat will cook off and get drained. I usually just take kitchen shears and quickly snip off any excess skin or fat. Cracked green olives are olives that have been 'cracked' or split open before curing, allowing the brine or marinade to penetrate. You can find them in your supermarket's olive bar, or substitute any green olive that you like.
• Make-Ahead: After you have completed the step of cooking the carrots, the dish can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. To serve, gently warm on the stove until the chicken is heated through, then proceed to the step where the olives and remaining ingredients are added.

CHICKEN TAGINE WITH OLIVES AND PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Mix garlic, saffron, ginger, paprika, cumin and turmeric together. If not using kosher chicken, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add pepper to taste. Rub chicken with mixture, cover, refrigerate and marinate 3 to 4 hours.
• Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add chicken, and brown on all sides. Remove to platter. Add onions to skillet, and cook over medium-low heat about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to tagine, if you are using one, or leave in skillet. Add cinnamon stick.
• Put chicken on onions. Scatter with olives. Quarter the lemons, remove pulp and cut skin in strips. Scatter over chicken. Mix stock and lemon juice. Pour over chicken.
• Cover tagine or skillet. Place over low heat, and cook about 30 minutes, until chicken is done. Scatter parsley on top, and serve.

CHICKEN AND CHICKPEA TAGINE

Steps:

• Put oil and butter in a large skillet or casserole, which can be covered later, and turn heat to medium high. When butter melts, add onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, a large pinch of salt and spices. Cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, raisins and vanilla, and bring to a boil. (If mixture is very dry, add about 1/2 cup water.) Taste, and add salt as necessary.
• Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt, and nestle them into sauce. Cover, and 5 minutes later adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cook until chicken is very tender, 45 minutes to an hour. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Then garnish, and serve with couscous.

HONEY CHICKEN & DATE TAGINE

Steps:

• Cut the chicken into 6 equal pieces and then rub in the paprika and turmeric. Let the chicken sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
• Add the butter, olive oil, diced onions, coriander, cumin and sliced lemon to a frying pan and sauté for 3 minutes.
• Brown the chicken pieces in the same frying pan for 2 minutes on each side, then place the chicken in the tagine base.
• Turn off the heat and add the honey, roughly chopped garlic cloves, dried dates and mint leaves and season. Stir and then add this to the tagine base, before adding two cups of water. Season with cracked black pepper and place the tagine lid onto the base.
• Turn oven to 160 degrees and bake for 3 hours.
• If you are using an earthen tagine, it is important to bring the oven and tagine up to heat together i.e.: do not place tagine in a hot oven. If you are using a tagine with a cast iron base, you can prepare using that on the stove top and put it straight into a pre heated oven.
• If you do not have a tagine, you can follow the recipe above exactly and use an earthen or ceramic casserole dish instead.

CHICKEN TAGINE WITH DATES AND HONEY

Steps:

• Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Heat 1/2 of the olive oil in a saucepan or casserole and gently fry the chicken until browned all over.
• Heat the other 1/2 of the olive oil add fry off the onion and garlic. Add the spices, stir well and fry gently for another minutes.
• Return the chicken to the saucepan / casserole. Add the stock, water and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour with the LID ON.
• Remove the lid. Simmer for a further 30 minutes or until the chicken is nice and tender and the sauce has thickened a little.
• Add the dates, honey and nuts. Mix well. Sprinkle with coriander and serve with steamed cous cous, rice, or fresh bread.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN AND DATE TAGINE

Steps:

• Cut the dates in half, discard the stone and then chop into six pieces.
• Slice the chicken into short strips.
• Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and stir in the onion.
• Cook until slippery and soft, then add in the pine kernels and lemon zest, salt and pepper.
• Turn down the heat and cook for about five minutes, before adding in the chicken.
• Cook until the meat is lightly browned.
• Squeeze the juice from half the lemon over the top, stir in the harissa, stock and dates.
• Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the water is reduced by half.
• You should end up with a thick, rusty coloured sauce.
• Meanwhile, prepare the couscous by placing it in a bowl and adding 300ml boiling water, remaining olive oil and salt.
• Cover and leave for 15 minutes, then use a fork to loosen the grains and mix in the butter.
• Serve the chicken mixture over the couscous, garnished with some chopped coriander and a lemon wedge.

CHICKEN AND DATE TAGINE

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oil until hot in a large flameproof casserole or saucepan add the onion, garlic, Ras el Hanout and Cumin Seeds and fry gently, stirring, for 15 minutes. 2. Add the bay leaves and stock and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes until reduced by one 3rd. 3. Add the chicken mix well, cover and simmer for a further 1 hour, adding a little water or stock if necessary but not so much as to make the liquor too runny. 4. Add the dates, almonds, honey and salt to taste, mix well and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Serve hot over couscous or rice.

CHICKEN AND DATE TAGINE

Steps:

• Heat large dutch oven or tagine over medium high heat. Season thighs and legs with salt and pepper liberally. Sear chicken on all sides starting with skin side down until browned on all sides. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to medium. Add chopped vegetables to pan and saute until soft. Add spices and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour, cook slightly. Slowly stir in stock (you may have to eyeball how much liquid you need, if you want a thicker "stew" use less, if you want it thinner use more), mixing well to incorporate flour. Stir in tomatoes, dates, and lemons. Place chicken back in pan, bring back to simmer, cover and cook for about 15-20 min. If using a tagine place tagine in oven (at 400) and cook about 20 min. Top with chopped cilantro. Serve with couscous