Thursday, April 4, 2013

Moroccan Chicken Stew



Moroccan chicken stew is a tagine, simmered with vegetables, olives, oranges, lemons and garlic. It’s citrusy, sunny appearance was a welcome addition to our dinner table last week when even south Florida had a chill in the air, our sweaters had to come back out, and we were, like the rest of the country, longing for springtime.

Traditionally served over couscous, the stew goes together very quickly and can easily be on the table in about 45 minutes. This is simple enough for a weekday dinner or fancy enough for company. Speaking of which we will be having this week, so if you don’t see as much of me as usual, we’re out showing our house guests the sites and hoping for plenty of sunshine on the beach.



Moroccan Chicken Stew 
Adapted from Wine, Food & Friends by Karen MacNeil – serves 3 to 4

1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup fat-free, low sodium chicken broth (or homemade)
½ cup orange juice
¾ cup chopped orange sections (about 1 orange)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sliced pitted kalamata olives
1 tablespoon chopped lemon sections (about ½ of a lemon)
2 ½ cups hot cooked couscous
Flat-leaf parsley springs for garnish

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the chicken, bell pepper, spices and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 12 minutes. Stir in broth and orange juice. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the heat. The stew can be made ahead at this point. Stir in orange, parsley, cilantro, olives and lemon sections. Serve over couscous and garnish with parsley if desired.




This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone.

37 comments:

  1. Beautiful and so appetizing! This is one wonderful tagine.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. I do enjoy this kind of dis..my friend introduced them to me..ad to buy a book I loved it so.

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  3. This sounds delicious, I will cook it in my tagine. Yum yum. Have a good day, Diane

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  4. Thank you for this recipe Sam. If you remember, I bought a tagine after Christmas. I've used it once and made the most delicious meal and I've been meaning to look for more recipes. I'll be making this one.

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  5. Looks delicious, Sam. A rainy day today and then....finally...I think we will turn it around down here weather-wise. Enjoy your guests.

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  6. This has my mouth watering at 6:00 am, Sam. I love this kind of dish and can't wait to try it. Yum.

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  7. Good Afternoon Sam, I love cooking tagines.....although my first experience was a little bit of a disaster as I put too much liquid in the dish and consequently as the dish heated up the liquid spilt over the sides. I have never made that mistake again. I do make chicken in my tagine, but I use chicken thighs on the bone, although it does take longer to cook....I shall try this dish without the bones as it is much speedier. Thank you for another lovely recipe.
    Best Wishes
    Daphne

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  8. I know this has to be as fragrant and tasty as it is colorful. Lots of love on a plate!

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  9. I believe my only Moroccan food was at a Tangiers restaurant as part of a day long tour out of Gibraltar about a dozen years ago. I remember it as very different than what I was used to eating but quite good and I believe it was chicken and couscous. Your dish looks and sounds like one I would also enjoy. Was it served with a belly dancer as ours was?

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  10. Moroccan flavors are bold and exotic. I have only one recipe that utilizes a lot of those aromatics. This one has beautiful color and looks amazing. I hope you find plenty of sun. It's raining here. I don't mind, since I'm relaxing at home on vacation.

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  11. The combination of the ingredients sounds delicious Sam!

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  12. Mmmmm...this sounds just perfect! I love the citrus and wonderful spices! I am pinning this one.

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  13. Enjoy your time with your company Sam. I am sure that this dish would be very welcome.

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  14. Love the citrus flavour! The stew looks flavourful and summery with all the bright colours.

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  15. Sam, this looks and sounds delicious. Wish I had been coming for dinner.

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  16. I absolutely love the ingredients and the seasoning in this recipe. I made something that reminds me of this dish but it is still different enough that I'm giving you the link. You might be interested in it. http://www.simplelivingeating.com/2012/10/french-fridays-with-dorie-chicken.html

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  17. Sam, This stew looks delicious but I also wanted to tell you, I did the asparagus with the Fig Balsamic vinaigrette to go with my Easter dinner and it was fabulous. I love having a new and different way to serve asparagus and the dried figs were such a nice compliment.Thanks for the recipe, it is definitely a keeper.

    Carolyn/A Southerner's Notebook

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  18. This sounds very flavorful and truly looks beautiful Sam, I'd love to give it a try! Enjoy your company:@)

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  19. Yum! Looks good. Hard to believe it's been cold even in Florida. I am starting to fear that spring is not going to come to western North Carolina this year. Would you believe that we had ice again today?? At my house it looks like January. Last year at this time the azaleas and dogwoods were blooming, and leaves coming out on the trees. I was just looking at some photos from last year labeled "April 5th" and could hardly believe my eyes. What a difference a year makes!

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  20. Incredibly diverse ingredients with wonderful herbs and spices! I can smell the aroma in my mind Sam! And yes, it's still too darn cold. But then once it gets hot here it will stay hot, so I have to be careful what I wish for! I read what Brenda (above) commented, and it was 37 degrees here in SC and I can imagine how much cooler it is in NC. Thank goodness, I learned my lesson 5 years ago when we had a hard freeze in mid-April and every vegetable plant that I had in the garden FROZE (so did the buds on the peach trees!). Thus nothing is in my gardens anymore until after April 15-20th!

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  21. This not only looks delicious but sounds so warming. Lovely flavors!

    Enjoy your guests and let's hope it warms up soon for all of us :)

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  22. I love morrocan spices, Sam. They are so savory and aromatic. This looks fantastic! Enjoy your company!

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  23. Sam, you've captured the charm of Morocco in this vibrant dish. I'm so glad you were able to link up!

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  24. Looks and sounds delicious! I’ll have to make that stew but, to be frank, I’d rather be in Morocco to eat it! I just finished reading “My Life in France” by Julia Child and now am reading “A Covert Affair – Paul and Julia Child in the OSS” so I went back to take a look at my old The French Chef and 3 or 4 more books that I have by her and have not looked at for a long time. She was quite a cook.

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  25. I am so glad this country is finally discovering Moroccan food. A great menu for a dinner party. I have only made one tagine and that was a couple of years ago. Mother loved it! It had lamb and apricots among other things.

    I will definitely try this one. Great excuse for finally buying a real tagine pot.

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  26. I've wanted to make a tagine for ages, Sam. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. What a marvelous combination of Moroccan flavors.

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  27. Yeah, what was up with that cold weather when we came there last week? I hope your guests are enjoying much warmer weather:)

    I like the citrus kick this brings, it makes food so bright.

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  28. Sam, this looks delicious! I've made a similar stew only it was Mexican and had beef - well, maybe it wasn't so similar now that I think of it! LOL, but it was delicious!

    I'll bet your home smelled amazing while this stew was simmering away!!! We still have some cold nights in New England, and I can't wait to try this!

    Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

    Mary

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  29. HMMM - chicken, olives, and citrus! Such bright flavors for spring. Hope spring has arrived where you are. It's ALMOST here in the Northeast!

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  30. Hi Sam,
    Your recipe is awesome and thank you so much for sharing it at the table with Full Plate Thursday.
    Hope to see you again soon!
    Miz Helen

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  31. I never made a moroccan dish but this looks wonderful! I have been MIA for a while, but I am well and getting back to my blog. Hope to see you soon again! :) anna

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  32. Your stuff is so beautifully fresh - love the take on this. The spices sing. Saving it because I have great luck with your recipes. (Did you asparagus with figs for Easter. And will do it again.)

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  33. The flavours of this dish sound yummy!

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  34. oh i was so mad with the cold weather last week. I had put up all our cold weather clothes and had to drag them back out. I just love hot weather- bring on the summer heat:) Love this stew- the moroccan flavors make it the perfect weeknight meal

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  35. Another winner, Sam. My mouth is watering...

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  36. Oh, yummy. This looks delicious. I have everything except the olives. Time to shop! ;-)

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