Moroccan chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine with almond couscous

What to do with preserved lemons, homemade or otherwise? Make a Moroccan chicken tagine, of course.

Perhaps the most predictable dish one can make with preserved lemons but honestly, it’s so tasty and satisfying, who wouldn’t want to enjoy it? When I made my own quick preserved lemons a few weeks ago, I couldn’t wait to try them in this dish.

Juicy, melt in the mouth chicken, briny, plump olives and zingy preserved lemons providing acidity and a heady aroma, sweetness from the honey and warm spiciness from the fresh ginger, the coriander and the cinnamon.

I accompanied it with couscous topped with almonds that I sautéed in butter and the pairing was absolutely gorgeous. The nutty sweetness of the butter and the crisp texture of the almonds complemented the chicken in a perfect way.

Enjoy!

Moroccan chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine with almond couscous

I used a traditional Moroccan tagine/tajine earthenware pot to make this dish; if you don’t have one, you can use a Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed baking pan.

I used my homemade quick preserved lemons but I have made this dish many times in the past using the traditional preserved lemons. It works great with both. The only difference is that the quick preserved lemons are a bit more sour and acidic than the traditional whole preserved lemons. Both, however, provide that aromatic, fresh lemon flavor that you want.

I prefer using bone-in chicken thighs because cooking any kind of meat on the bone adds more flavor to a dish, but you can certainly use boneless.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the chicken tagine
for the marinade
8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
1 onion (about 150 g), grated or processed in a small food processor
3 garlic cloves, mashed
25 g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
A large handful (about 20 g) of flat-leaf parsley (stalks and leaves)
A pinch of saffron strands
1 Tbsp runny honey (I used Greek wild thyme honey)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground coriander
Juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed
2 Tbsp olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt (I always use sea salt in my cooking)

2 Tbsp olive oil
40 g quick-preserved lemon rind (or the rind of 2 traditional preserved lemons), cut into thin strips
20 Kalamata olives with pits (about 100 g)
½ tsp Greek dried oregano, plus extra for sprinkling on top

for the almond couscous
25 g unsalted butter
3 Tbsp blanched, split almonds
2 cups couscous
2 cups water
1 tsp salt

Special equipment: small food processor, plastic wrap, Moroccan tagine/tajine pot (or Dutch oven or other large heavy-bottomed baking pan), sieve


Preparation

for the chicken tagine
Make the marinade by adding in a small bowl the onion, garlic, ginger, parsley, saffron, honey, cinnamon, coriander, lemon juice, 2 Tbsp olive oil, pepper and salt and mixing well.

In a baking dish, add the chicken thighs in one layer and pour over the marinade. Massage the chicken so the marinade coats them evenly and cover the dish with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Take the chicken out of the fridge and leave to come to room temperature, for about 45 minutes.

Add 2 Tbsp olive oil in the tagine (or large, heave-bottomed baking pan) and place over a medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the chicken thighs to the pan (without the marinade juices) and brown them on all sides. Then, pour over the marinade that’s left in the dish and add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the chicken thighs. Bring to the boil and turn heat down to low. Cover the tagine (or baking pan) with the lid and simmer the chicken for about 45 minutes, turning the chicken from time to time.
Add the preserved lemon, the olives and ½ tsp dried oregano to the tagine, cover and simmer for further 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is very tender.
Have a taste and add salt and pepper if needed and sprinkle with a little extra dried oregano.

Serve with the almond couscous.

for the couscous
In the meantime, prepare the couscous.

Heat the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Once it melts and starts to foam, add the almonds and stir continuously with a wooden spatula until they take on a golden color, being careful not to burn them because they will turn bitter.
Strain the almonds in a sieve and keep the butter in a bowl.

Add the couscous in a medium-sized bowl and pour the butter from the almonds over it.
In a small saucepan, add the water and place over high heat. When it comes to the boil, pour it over the couscous, add the salt, stir with a spoon and tightly cover the bowl immediately with a piece of plastic wrap. Leave it like that for about 10 minutes or until it has soaked the water. Then uncover it, taste it, and if it seems a bit hard, cover and leave it for a few more minutes.
When ready, remove and discard the plastic wrap and fluff the couscous with a fork. Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.
Serve with the almonds scattered on top of the couscous.

Chicken and walnut stew with petimezi, and saffron basmati rice (A different Persian Fesenjan)

There are certain dishes that you fall in love with instantly. It may be a dish you’ve had at a restaurant or at that friend’s house who’s a great cook, a recipe you tried from a blog or cookbook, or even something you created yourself that turned out unexpectedly good. This dish is a mix of the above. It’s one I have tried at a friend’s house years back and that when I found the recipe for in a cookbook I got for my birthday last month, I played around with a few times, adapted it to suit my taste and the result was fantastic. I fell in love with it.

It is a chicken and walnut stew with petimezi (Greek grape molasses/grape-must syrup), and it may not be the best-looking dish you’ll ever come across, but it is seriously delicious. It is everything a stew should be and more; warming and comforting but also exciting and different.

It is based on a traditional Persian recipe named Khoresh-e Fesenjan, or just Fesenjan, which is a chicken and walnut stew with pomegranate molasses. I changed it to suit my Greek tastes by substituting the very tart pomegranate molasses with the sweeter Greek petimezi that has a far more interesting and intricate flavor in my opinion, and in order to counteract that sweetness and to provide sharpness and spiciness, I also added red-wine vinegar, tomato paste, saffron and ground turmeric.

I may be against messing with traditional recipes, and I hope any Persian friends out there don’t hold it against me for playing around with such a beloved recipe of theirs, but this was incredibly good. The Persians eat this at celebrations and weddings and I can totally understand why. It is a marvelous stew.

The walnuts are ground and then cooked in water for an hour until they soften. The petimezi, the chicken and the rest of the ingredients are then added and they slowly simmer for about two hours, until the chicken becomes so tender that it falls apart with the touch of the fork and the walnut sauce takes on a deep, dark color.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth and this savory dish hits all the right spots. It’s a multilayered dish, mainly earthy and nutty from the walnuts, sweet from the petimezi but not overwhelmingly so, with subtle sharp notes from the vinegar. It’s meaty and deep-flavored, with the chicken falling off the bone but without losing its texture, and with the slightly bitter walnuts being thick and pleasantly grainy creating an almost chocolatey sauce.

The metallic flavor of the saffron and the turmeric adds another layer of complexity to the dish while the fresh pomegranate seeds on top provide acidity and crunch. They are not decorative, mind you, they do serve a purpose flavor-wise and texture-wise. The fresh mint that’s sprinkled on top adds freshness and vibrancy to the rich and thick sauce, and all those deep flavors and heady aromas are then paired with a saffron-scented basmati rice to ultimately create an intriguing dish.

P.S. As mentioned in my four previous posts, apart from your votes, there’s a panel of judges at the Greek VIMA Gourmet Food Blog Awards competition, who will judge specific recipes submitted for the competition using sponsors’ ingredients. One of the sponsors is #Knorr. So, this dish is submitted for one of the categories I’m nominated in, “Best Cooking Blog”. If you wish, you can still vote for me here for Best Cooking Blog, here for Best Sweet Treats and here for Best Food Photography & Styling by clicking the “like” button below the Greek text and next to where it says “Like for Vote” in each category. You will make me very happy if you do. Thank you very much for your support!!

Chicken and walnut stew with petimezi (grape molasses), and saffron basmati rice (A different Persian Fesenjan)

This is a chicken and walnut stew meaning that the walnuts are an integral part of the dish and they are as much of a main ingredient as is the chicken; they’re not just the sauce you pour over the meat, so don’t be sparse with the walnut sauce, add it to your plate plentifully.

This stew needs 3 hours of cooking so take it into consideration when you decide to cook it. Also, as with every stew out there, it is at its best flavor the next day and the day after.
This dish is perfect for a holiday/celebratory dinner, and since you can make it a couple of days ahead of time, it will free you up for other dishes you wish to make, chores, etc.

Don’t be tempted to use chicken with the skin on because the stew will be too fatty. The walnuts have enough natural oil to flavor the dish.

If you have any leftover walnut sauce you can serve it with rice, buglur, couscous or quinoa and some steamed or boiled root vegetables.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

for the stew (heavily adapted from Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour)
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
550 g walnut halves
1.2 liters cold water
1 chicken stock cube
1 heaped Tbsp tomato paste
9 chicken thighs (1.3-1.4 kg), bone-in, skin removed
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbsp olive oil
2 large red onions (260 g net weight), peeled and thinly sliced
1½ Tbsp ground turmeric
450 ml petimezi (Greek grape molasses), make sure it is of good quality
40 ml red-wine vinegar
A good pinch of saffron strands

for the rice
2 cups basmati rice
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
2½ cup boiling water
1 tsp salt
A good pinch of saffron strands

to serve
Pomegranate seeds (from 1 pomegranate)
Coarsely chopped walnuts (about 70 g)
A handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

Special equipment: food processor, large (about 6.5 liters capacity) heavy-based pan with lid (I use a Dutch oven)


Preparation

make the stew
Finely grind the walnuts in a food processor, in batches if your processor is small. Be careful not to over-process them and they become a paste. You want them finely ground but dry.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan (like a Dutch oven), add the flour and place over a medium heat. Toast flour, stirring continuously with a wooden spatula, until it turns a light beige color. Add the ground walnuts to the pan and cook stirring continuously for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn them. Add the cold water, the chicken stock cube and the tomato paste and bring the mixture to a simmer. Put the lid on the pan, turn heat down to low and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes in order to soften the walnuts, stirring every 20 minutes and scraping the bottom of the pan to ensure the walnuts don’t stick to it.

While the walnuts are cooking, prepare the chicken. Take the thighs and inspect if there are any rogue little pieces of bone attached to the flesh of the chicken (apart of course from the main thigh-bone in the middle) and remove it with a knife. Also, trim off any fat that is still attached on the meat. Season the chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper and in a large frying pan, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and place over a medium heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the chicken thighs, working in batches to avoid over-crowding the pan, and brown them lightly on all sides. Transfer them on a plate and set aside. In the same pan, add 2 more Tbsp of olive oil and when hot add the sliced onions and the turmeric. Sauté the onions until they soften and take on a light brown color, for about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and place the chicken thighs on top of the onions.

Continuing with the walnuts, once they are ready, add the petimezi, the vinegar, the saffron and 1 tsp salt to the pan, stir to mix well, cover the pan and continue to cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Then, add the chicken thighs and the onions and stir. Cover with the lid and cook on low heat for about 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes and scraping the bottom of the pan in order to ensure that the walnuts are not sticking to it. You need to be vigilant because they tend to burn easily, so don’t forget to stir, but be careful not to mess too much with the chicken because it will break apart, especially during the last hour of cooking when it’ll be tender. When ready, the mixture should have the rich, dark color of chocolate and the walnut sauce should be thick. Check the seasoning and add more salt if it needs it.

If you don’t serve it the day you cook it, leave it to cool completely in the pan, with the lid ajar, and then transfer it to an airtight container and place it in the fridge for up to 3 days.

make the rice
I always make this rice following the 1:1¼ method of measuring. Which means that for every 1 cup of rice, I add 1¼ cup water. It works perfectly each time for me.

Add the rice to a sieve and place it under cool running water. Rinse the rice until the water runs clean. Leave to dry for 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, add the sunflower oil and heat over medium-high heat. When it starts to shimmer, add the rice and toast, stirring constantly with a spoon or spatula for 1 minute. Add the boiling water, salt and the saffron and stir well. Bring to the boil and turn heat down to low. Put on the lid and simmer for about 20 minutes. At this point, the rice should be cooked. If you see water still in the pan, boil for longer but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t dry up and catch at the bottom.

Remove from the heat and leave with the lid on for a further 5 minutes. Then, using a fork, fluff up the rice, put the lid on and let it stand for 5-7 minutes, as it will continue to steam.

serve the dish
Serve the rice immediately in individual plates. Top with the stew and sprinkle some pomegranate seeds on top, a few chopped walnuts and some chopped mint.

Roast chicken with harissa and couscous

The last few days have been extremely hard for various reasons. I’ve been feeling exhausted, disheartened and a bit disoriented by the circumstances, and as a result, it’s been impossible to come here and share anything.

This place, however, has always been a refuge for me and it brings me joy to communicate with all of you through my food, so I decided to come here, to this beloved blog of mine, and share this dish.

This roast chicken with harissa and couscous has graced our dinner table many a time and not without good reason. S and I love spicy flavors and harissa is nothing if not spicy. It is a chilli pepper paste hailing from Tunisia although versions of it can be found in other North African countries like Algeria, Libya and Morocco. Each country has their twist to it which makes it their own, but the basic ingredients are the same. Hot red chilli peppers, olive oil, garlic, salt and spices like cumin, caraway and coriander. In some regions harissa is smoked, in others it is not. The texture varies as well from region to region with the paste having a thick or looser texture, or being smoother or chunkier.

Harissa is served with all kinds of meals and snacks, on top of bread, in stews, with meat or fish, grains and vegetables. I love smearing it on top of my bread like I showed you in this post, but also in meat and legume stews. One of my very favorite, though, is this one with chicken which is simply delicious.

The chicken gets a good rub with a mixture of harissa, garlic, olive oil, lemon and honey, and is roasted in the oven on a bed of thinly sliced lemon. The result is a highly addictive chicken with juicy flesh and crispy skin —oh that skin!— with spicy notes from the harissa but also sweetness from the honey and acidity from the lemon that tempers the fiery flavor of the Tunisian chilli paste.

The purpose of the lemon slices at the bottom of the pan is not only to make the chicken juicy and aromatic but to also accompany it in the finished dish. The lemon, in small doses, provides that pleasant sharpness that complements beautifully the heat of the harissa. The mint couscous is there to soak up all the lovely juices from the chicken, provide freshness and elevate the dish.

P.S. The situation in my country, Greece, saddens me deeply. I won’t go into details. I’m just hoping for the best…

Roast chicken with harissa and couscous

I always use the authentic Tunisian harissa but you can use whatever you can find. The harissa I use is very hot and spicy. If you find that yours is not very hot, add ½-1 Tbsp more than the amount indicated in the recipe.

The general proportions for cooking couscous is 1:1 which means 1 cup water for 1 cup couscous. I, however, enjoy my couscous on the dry side, especially when I serve it with saucy dishes like this one, so I prepare it with 1 cup couscous and ¾ cup water. If you want your couscous to be softer and slightly sticky, then you may want to add a little more than 1 cup. It would be wise, though, to read the instructions on the packet as not all couscous is the same.

Yield: 2-4 main-course servings

Ingredients

for the chicken
1 chicken, about 1,200 g, cut into 6-8 pieces*
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1½ Tbsp harissa
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp runny honey
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small lemon, thinly sliced

for the couscous
1 cup couscous
1 cup water
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
A handful of chopped fresh mint leaves

* I always cut the chicken into six pieces; legs, wings and breasts. You can also cut it into eight pieces, separating the legs into thighs and drumsticks, but I prefer not to because they remain juicier.

Special equipment: large barking tray, plastic wrap


Preparation

make the chicken
Preheat your oven to 190-200°C.

In a large glass bowl, add the garlic, harissa, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper and mix well with a spoon. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and coat them well with the mixture.

Take a large baking pan (large enough to fit the chicken pieces in one layer) and arrange on the bottom the lemon slices. Place the chicken pieces on top, skin-side up, and pour the juices from the bowl over the top.

Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and roast the chicken for about 50 minutes, until it takes on a golden brown color and the skin becomes crispy and caramelized. Also, if you insert a knife or skewer on the thickest part of the chicken pieces, the juices should run clear and not be reddish in color. Don’t cook for longer because the chicken will dry out and become tough.

make the couscous
In the meantime, prepare the couscous.

Add the couscous in a medium-sized bowl.
In a small saucepan, add the water and olive oil, and place over high heat. When it comes to the boil, pour it over the couscous, add the salt, stir with a spoon and tightly cover the bowl immediately with a piece of plastic wrap. Leave it like that for about 10 minutes or until it has soaked the water. Then uncover it, taste it, and if it seems a bit hard, cover and leave it for a few more minutes.
When ready, remove and discard the plastic wrap and fluff the couscous with a fork.

Just before serving, check the seasoning and sprinkle with the chopped mint.

When the chicken is ready, serve in dishes on top of the couscous, not forgetting to pour over the whole dish the delicious juices from the pan. Also, do not forget to add a couple of lemon slices from the pan to each plate, which will give that pleasant acidity to temper the spiciness of the harissa.

Chicken and beetroot salad with orange, fennel and feta

From the layer cake of my last post to a salad. Huge difference, right? But there needs to be some kind a balance to what we eat. So, salad it is, and my favorite type of salad at that. One that is a full meal, with chicken, to fill you up and make you happy.

This is the type of meal I like on these early spring days, when it’s getting warm and I don’t want heavy dishes but rather light and bright ones. Salads are my go-to dishes during this time of year.

Colorful beetroots—golden, white, chioggia—that make the salad even more appetizing, greens, because I like my salads with a bit of green, feta, because I’m a feta fiend, and chicken, my favorite kind of meat.

With fresh, liquoricy fennel and a citrus dressing with orange zest, lemon juice, honey and olive oil to tie everything together. With crunchy walnuts, because when we eat something it’s not only the flavor that counts but also the texture, and some juicy orange segments, because, yes, we may all have fallen head first into the seasonal strawberries, but there are some luscious and tasty oranges left for us to savor too. So grab them while you still can.

The play of flavors is quite interesting in this salad—refreshing, sweet, sharp, earthy—making it a salad ideal for my palate. I hope it suits yours too.

Chicken and beetroot salad with orange, fennel and feta

Feel free to substitute the types of beetroot I used for regular red beetroot. Just be aware of the fact that red beets stain any other ingredient that has the audacity to share the same plate with them, so if your salad takes on a pink hue, don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Adding it at the last minute and tossing the salad ever so slightly, will save the situation though.

Use a mandoline, if you have it, to achieve those paper-thin slices. A mandoline would also be ideal to cut very thin slices of the onion and fennel.

If you don’t like feta—you don’t like feta????—use any other creamy white cheese you like that is sharp, not sweet.

I used two boneless and skinless chicken breasts that I seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne, and cooked them in a frying pan with a little olive oil. You can use, however, any leftover chicken you may have, from roast chicken to grilled chicken, and it can be any part of the chicken as long as you cut it into bite-sized pieces.

This salad can be eaten either for lunch or dinner as it is quite filling yet light.

Yield: 2 main-course or 4 salad servings

Ingredients
2 large oranges
350 g raw beetroots (golden, white, chioggia), peeled and very thinly sliced
2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 Tbsp orange juice
Salt
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp runny honey
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
Freshly ground white pepper
150 g mixed baby leaves
½ large fennel bulb, trimmed and very thinly sliced, fronds reserved
1 medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
300 g cooked chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
80-90 g feta, cubed
50 g walnuts, roughly chopped

Special equipment: mandoline (optional yet preferable), rasp grater


Preparation
Grate the zest of one of the oranges and place it in a small bowl.

The way to cut the 2 oranges is by using a sharp knife. First, cut off the peel, then the white pith all around the fruit, exposing the flesh, and finally, cut free the flesh of the fruit from the membranes that are in between the wedges. Squeeze the juice out of the membranes and into a large bowl. They should be about 2 Tbsp. Add the thinly sliced beetroot to the bowl along with 1 Tbsp lemon juice and ¼ tsp salt and mix well. Let stand for 15 minutes so the beetroot softens a bit.

Make the dressing. In the small bowl that you added the grated orange zest, add the olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, honey, the remaining 1 Tbsp lemon juice, a good pinch of salt and some white pepper, and using a wire whisk, blend well.

In a large bowl, mix gently with your hands the baby green leaves, fennel, red onion and the chicken. Add the oranges and the beetroot with its juices and mix gently with your hands. Scatter the feta and walnuts on top and finally pour over the dressing. Sprinkle with the reserved fennel fronds and again, using your hands, toss gently to combine all the ingredients.

Serve immediately with some fresh bread and a glass of dry white wine.