Afterwards, I wanted to find out what a tagine really was, so I looked it up. Not only does it refer to the dish I had just made, it also describes the cooking vessel traditional Moroccan chefs make their tagines in! Here is a photo of one:
I wanted to buy one right away so I could use a really exotic looking clay dish to cook my tagines in, but unless I planned on making a lot of tagines, it wasn't worth the expense. Maybe someday!
The recipe:
Remove the skin from, rinse, and pat dry:
3 1/2-4 lbs chicken parts
Heat in a large, heavy pan over medium-high heat until fragrant and golden:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Lightly brown the chicken in 2 batches in the hot butter and remove to a plate. Add to the pan:
2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped scallions
Cook, stirring often, until the onions are tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in:
One 19-ounce can chickpeas, drained and lightly rinsed
1 cup water
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
Return the chicken pieces with all accumulated juices to the pan and gently turn to coat.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the liquid just simmers. Cover tightly and cook, turning the chicken once or twice, until the dark meat releases clear juices when pierced with a fork, 35-45 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in:
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley and/or cilantro
Season with:
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
We served our tagine with couscous, which was great for soaking up all the yummy juices and flavors. My only complaint about this dish is that it was a little too greasy with all the fat from the dark chicken meat. Any tips on how to eilminate/reduce the amount of fat?
2 comments:
um, try using less dark meat? Maybe more light meat, in your tagine.
According to the Tagine article on Wikipedia, "the cooking liquid must contain some fat, which may be skimmed off later."
Post a Comment