Amazing Chicken with Preserved Lemons & Green Olives
This utterly delicious Moroccan classic deserves to be recreated at home. The good news is you can play with the spices – perhaps you like your chicken smokier, or with a subtle cinnamon uplift, or maybe you like a hint more chili. As long as you find yourself one jar of preserved lemons and one of green olives, you can’t really go wrong with this dish. Buy a nice fat Organic chicken and portion it yourself, using the carcass for a nice turmeric and ginger bone broth. I made both the night before a family lunch, and then used the stock to loosen up the dish the following day. The flavours were wonderful! The fresh herbs really set it off at the end.
Serves 4-5 people
You will need:
1 large free range or Organic chicken, portioned and skin removed
2 large onions
3 fat cloves of garlic
4 medium sized preserved lemons –sliced, no pips
2 tablespoons of green olives, halved
1- 2 tsps ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1-2 tsps cinnamon
1 -2 tsps smoked paprika
1 – 2 tsps turmeric powder – or one root grated in
400mls chicken stock
5 medium potatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 handful of chopped parsley and
1 handful of chopped coriander
Mix the dry ingredients together, adding a little salt and lots of black pepper. With a dash of olive oil, massage the mixture into the chicken pieces. Leave to marinate for as long as possible – min 30 mins. Meanwhile, peel and roughly slice the onions and garlic cloves and prep the lemons and olives. Peel the potatoes and roughly chop.
When you’re ready to go, heat a large glug of olive oil in a large heavy lidded casserole or pan. Add the onion and then the garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add the chicken pieces slowly, one by one, allowing the heat to come up each time. Chuck in all of the remaining marinade and spice mix, then the stock, tomato paste, olives and lemons.
When you’ve given it a gentle stir, tuck the potato chunks in amongst the chicken and bring it all to a good simmer, adding more liquid if necessary. Then turn down the heat, put the lid on and cook for 40 minutes without removing it. Gently stir in the fresh herbs a few minutes before you serve with cous cous or just a lovely green salad. Enjoy. xx