Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Fresh Figs served over Couscous

southern mediterranean chicken stew with figs

Exploring new cuisines is exciting and we're always searching for new tastes. We went to our local Farmer's Market and found some fresh figs. What a treat! So we needed a recipe that sounded interesting that would include the figs. This Moroccan chicken recipe hit the target. We barely changed anything and it was fabulous! Daniel Rosati published the recipe on www.nj.com.

Tagine is a North African dish that is named after the earthenware pot in which it is cooked. The traditional method of cooking in a tagine is to place it over hot coals with a space left between the pot and the coals to avoid the temperature rising too fast. Since we don't have a tagine nor do we have a cooking area with coals, we chose to cook it in a Dutch oven on the cooktop. It's hard to imagine it could have tasted better if cooked the traditional way because it was so delicious the way we cooked it. Well, on to the recipe.

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
For the chicken:
4 chicken thighs (use whatever chicken parts you prefer)
4 chicken wings
salt
fresh ground black pepper
granulated garlic
For the remaining ingredients:
Olive oil to wet bottom of the Dutch oven
2 large onions (we used 1 white and 1 red)
mission figs and flavorings

2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t salt
1 T fresh ginger, minced fine
1 t paprika
1 t saffron, ground
3/4 t turmeric
3/4 t cinnamon
3/4 t cumin
1/4 t fresh ground black pepper
2 1/2 C unsalted chicken broth
1 lemon juiced and zested
12 figs, halved
3 green onions, thinly sliced
Italian parsley for garnish
3/4 C slivered almonds, toasted
16 - 20 ounces uncooked Couscous (we use about 8 ounces for 2 people)

PREPARATION:
1. Rinse chicken under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and granulated garlic and set aside. Cut onions, garlic and ginger. Put the spices in a small bowl with the garlic and ginger. Set aside. Measure out the chicken broth and lemon juice and zest. Set aside.
The browned chicken

2. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken pieces to fill bottom but not overlap and cook until well browned on both sides. Transfer to a plate and reserve. Repeat until all the chicken is browned.

3. Add the onions to the Dutch oven and cook over low heat until golden brown. Add the garlic, salt, ginger, paprika, saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin and black pepper. Cook spices and onions another 2 minutes, stirring to combine. Return chicken to the pot and coat with the spice mixture. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice and zest and simmer for 50 minutes, covered. Turn the chicken pieces every 10 minutes.

4. Add the figs to the mixture and cook another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring the water for the couscous to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

SERVING:
Put a serving of couscous on the plate and place chicken partially covering couscous. Add the 3 figs to each plate and cover chicken and cous cous with gravy. Sprinkle with slivered almonds and garnish with Italian parsley. Then enjoy this exotic dish.

Bon Appetit,
Tom and Anita

Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Fresh Figs served over Couscous