Braised Moroccan Chicken and Olives
The inside of a preserved lemon, rarely used, can be very gelatinous. But it's easy to scoop it out, and can even be pushed out with your fingers.
A study in yellow.
Somehow, Merrill is always stuck with browning duty. Amanda claims it's because she's so good at it. Mhmmm.
We at food52 want to know if there's anyone out there who actually enjoys picking, washing, drying, and chopping herbs. If so, you're hired. Kidding. Kind of.
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Author Notes: This flavorful dish was inspired by two of my favorite Moroccan ingredients- olives and preserved lemons. They work beautifully together in this dish to add a ton of flavor to the sauce. In addition, braising the chicken makes the meat wonderfully tender and juicy. Serve this dish over a bed of couscous to soak up all of the delicious sauce. - Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
Food52 Review: This is a pitch-perfect take on a classic dish. Sonali assembles a mouth-tingling spice mixture of ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne, saffron and then adds green olives and preserved lemons to the party. The chicken is browned in oil (it's worth taking your time with this step, as you don't want it to burn) and then coated in the spice base before simmering gently in chicken stock until tender. Adding the lemons and olives towards the end helps retain their integrity and perfume. You may want to discard some of the fat after browning the chicken (this will depend on the meat you buy) -- we kept about 2 tablespoons. And couscous is a must. We used our favorite Israeli couscous (which Amanda blogged about a while back) and it was such a perfect foil for the rich, spicy sauce that we couldn't resist forking up every last grain. - A&M - A&M
Serves 4
- 4 tablespoons canola oil
- 2.5 pounds chicken legs and thighs
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1 1/2 cup small diced onion
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2-3 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron
- 1/2 cup green olives, rinsed
- 2 preserved lemons, pulp removed; rind cut into strips
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven or large, deep skillet or over medium high heat. Dry the chicken pieces and season them with salt and pepper. Place them in the skillet in batches and brown on all sides. Remove the chicken and place on a plate.
- Add the onion to the skillet and cook until slightly softened. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and cayenne pepper and stir together. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat with the spice mixture. Pour the chicken stock into the skillet so that 2/3 of the chicken is submerged. Add the saffron and stir to combine. Bring liquid to a simmer, cover the skillet and simmer on medium low heat 20-25 minutes. Add the olives and preserved lemons. Cover and cook another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and turn the heat to high. Cook for another 6-8 minutes until sauce reduces slightly. Stir in the cilantro. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Serve chicken on a bed of couscous. Spoon sauce over the top. Garnish with cilantro.
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about 13 hours ago Knokachoo
Thanks to The Wimpy Vegitarian...Kudos!
1 day ago Knokachoo
Just a comment. Was my first and probably my last. Didn't mean to offend anyone.
1 day ago TheWimpyVegetarian
No offense taken here, Knokachoo! I've been to culinary school, and I'm actually one of the ones that did get this (the herb picking, washing, etc) as my first job. But obviously not everyone in my class got this job; we didn't need THAT much herbs :-) LOL. I really, really hated it. Luckily, halfway through our culinary program we all got new assignments. My Chef told me I might have to keep the job if noone else wanted it. I told her, with all due respect of course, that I would pay cold hard cash to someone, anyone, to do it. Luckily it didn't get that far, but she got the point. There were no regulations that would have prevented me from doing it, and clearly I was done. Next, I got the lucky job of making sure all the flour, sugar, salts, and a long list of things was always filled in the kitchen and was ordered on time. I liked that a LOT better :-). Never be afraid of commenting here - we all have opinions, but it's a big, supportive group on the whole, and it's a great opportunity to connect to some of us here.
1 day ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
I agree with TheWimpyVegetarian and I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my dish!
2 days ago Knokachoo
I've never been to an official "Culinary School" but every time I am picking, washing, drying and chopping fresh herbs I think..."This must be the first job they give a student"...If they stick it out they must be serious!
1 day ago YoungChef23
Well I have been to culinary school and its not the first job they give you
about 1 month ago rinkatink
I haven't been this excited by a recipe for a while and to my great pleasure, my anticipation was well-rewarded. I made this dish last night and have a sneaking suspicion that it'll make a reappearance later this week (and many many times more). I have two large jars of yujacha, a Korean citrus marmalade, that I spooned roughly 6 tablespoons of in place of the preserved lemon; I also used stuffed green olives. I imagine the flavor profile was a bit different from the original, but it was eyeball-rollingly tasty nonetheless. Thank you so much for sharing!
1 day ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
That sounds like an interesting interpretation of the dish, yum! So glad you liked it!
about 1 month ago YoungChef23
Anyone know if you can put this in the slow cooker and how long it would take ?
about 1 month ago MoroccanHomeCook
I would not recommend it, slow cookers have this magical ability to bland and mush everything up. If you don't want to cook it on the stove top, you can put it in the oven with barely enough liquid to cover the bottom of your oven pan (a cast iron is my ultimate favorite), and please don't follow the recipe for the liquid quantities, nobody IN morocco would ever put 2-3 cups of stock in a braised chicken recipe!!. Cover it (just a wet wax sheet will do), and then let it cook on low for about 40 to 50min. Put the olives in 10 minutes before it's done and serve with wedges of preserved lemon on top.
1 day ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
I don't own a slow cooker so I don't know how it would turn out. I usually braise my dishes on the stove or in the oven. Did you end up trying it?
3 months ago Lemoni
Ugh, I accidentally bought pimiento-stuffed green olives. Are they useable in this?
3 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
I would taste them and see how you like them. You can use any type of green olive in this dish so if you like them, I would say yes, give it a try!
3 months ago vivavo
This is my absolute favorite thing to make. I made a small modification (using citrus marmalade instead of preserved lemon). This is my go-to meal for guests...although I need to start keeping a list of who I've made it for to make sure I don't serve it to the same people twice! My version here: http://www.thingsimadetoday...
3 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
So glad you like it and great post!
4 months ago artmarysf
Great!!! Love it ..followed the original recipe.The sauce has so many layers of flavor..I have made this twice with large Israeli couscous.A new crowd pleaser..
4 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
Thanks for your comment, so glad you enjoyed it!
4 months ago Madame Sel
I just made this and it was AMAZING! I didn't have olives or preserved lemons on hand so I left them out. I can only imagine what they add to the dish. I served it on top of couscous with Meyer lemon zest, peas and pine nuts with lemon broccoli on the side (steamed broccoli with a little squeeze of Meyer lemon). I think I enjoyed the sauce more than the chicken!!
4 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
So glad you liked it! I think you'll like the sauce even more with the olives and preserved lemons- they add a unique flavor.
5 months ago student epicure
this is one of my food52 favorites! only two changes i make: about 4x as many olives (my husband wishes i would add 8x as many!) and i don't discard the preserved lemon pulp, but just toss it in. really a stand out recipe!
5 months ago student epicure
p.s. as a medical student, i got to love it even more because sonali is a physician foodie!
4 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
Thanks! My husband's not a huge olive fan otherwise I would add more too!
7 months ago cindylaning
I have made this about 20 times now. Absolutely delicious. I always feel like I have too much liquid but letting things cook down and burn off for 20 minutes does the trick
7 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
Thanks Cindy, so glad to hear that you like it! I suppose you could add a thickening agent at the end to thicken up the sauce but I prefer to just let it reduce. I like lots of sauce to soak up the couscous!
8 months ago EmilyC
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! Instead of adding the spices in step 2, I rubbed them into the chicken about an hour before I started cooking the dish. I served it with couscous and broccoli with lemon and toasted almonds. Looking forward to leftovers!
8 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
That's a great idea! Glad you enjoyed it- the leftovers taste even better.
8 months ago MoroccanHomeCook
There is no doubt, this is a wonderful moroccan dish, I'm just surprised when you say it's "inspired by two moroccan ingredients" and the it's a "take on a classic dish" when it's exactly the traditional moroccan recipe of chicken with preserved lemon and olives, known for centuries. The only thing that is not authentic is the couscous, we never serve it with that dish but who says it can't be good either.
To be even more authentic, you can omit the cayenne pepper and use less chicken stock, and of course olive oil instead of vegetable oil.
8 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
Well actually you misquoted me twice. I didn't say that my recipe was inspired by two Moroccan ingredients, I said that it's "inspired by two of my favorite Moroccan ingredients." I also did not write the line about it being a take on a classic dish, rather the editors wrote that in their notes. Even classic dishes have several versions and I was merely trying to say that this dish is my interpretation of a classic dish with some changes I made to suit my taste. As you pointed out in your comment, there are several changes you would have made to the recipe to make it more "authentic." Thanks for your comment and I hope you like the dish if you give it a try!
9 months ago irinaleibo
I make this with Ras el Hanout and add dates.
Fantastic!
Cheers
irina
8 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
Those sound like great additions- so glad you liked it!
10 months ago chefkayser
I'm eating this as leftovers as I write this. I thought it was good last night... but today I think it is amazing! I didn't have preserved lemons so I substituted for zest of one lemon, and I think that worked just fine. Thanks so much for the recipe!
8 months ago Sonali aka the Foodie Physician
So glad you liked it and I agree that the flavors are even better the next day!
over 1 year ago meglet
Argh, multiple comment postings, can't delete! *pokes eyes out with apple corer*
over 1 year ago meglet
I made this last night, and we liked it very much indeed.
My cumin was fresher than the other spices, so it overwhelmed the dish and made it taste more subcontinental than Saharan. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I made a last-minute correction by adding a couple of tablespoons of orange marmalade. It worked a treat, and I'm childishly proud of myself for being able to predict the ingredient that would be able to shift continents, if not mountains.
The recipe will go in the regular rotation, with a note saying "Use stale cumin." Maybe I'll go buy some stale cumin just to keep on hand for this recipe -- should be easy enough to find in the stores.
over 1 year ago meglet
I made this last night, and we liked it very much indeed.
My cumin was fresher than the other spices, so it overwhelmed the dish and made it taste more subcontinental than Saharan. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I made a last-minute correction by adding a couple of tablespoons of orange marmalade. It worked a treat, and I'm childishly proud of myself for being able to predict the ingredient that would be able to shift continents, if not mountains.
The recipe will go in the regular rotation, with a note saying "Use stale cumin." Maybe I'll go buy some stale cumin just to keep on hand for this recipe -- should be easy enough to find in the stores.
over 1 year ago meglet
I made this last night, and we liked it very much indeed.
My cumin was fresher than the other spices, so it overwhelmed the dish and made it taste more subcontinental than Saharan. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I made a last-minute correction by adding a couple of tablespoons of orange marmalade. It worked a treat, and I'm childishly proud of myself for being able to predict the ingredient that would be able to shift continents, if not mountains.
The recipe will go in the regular rotation, with a note saying "Use stale cumin." Maybe I'll go buy some stale cumin just to keep on hand for this recipe -- should be easy enough to find in the stores.
over 1 year ago meglet
I made this last night, and we liked it very much indeed.
My cumin was fresher than the other spices, so it overwhelmed the dish and made it taste more subcontinental than Saharan. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I made a last-minute correction by adding a couple of tablespoons of orange marmalade. It worked a treat, and I'm childishly proud of myself for being able to predict the ingredient that would be able to shift continents, if not mountains.
The recipe will go in the regular rotation, with a note saying "Use stale cumin." Maybe I'll go buy some stale cumin just to keep on hand for this recipe -- should be easy enough to find in the stores.