Recipe: Clay Coyote's chicken, preserved lemons, green olives, and thyme tagine
A traditional dish of Morocco, tagine is both the vessel and the dish created in it. The conical top of a tagine creates a self-basting environment, so the moisture will constantly circulate and create tender meat and a thick sauce. The tagine is a stovetop dish, it would be unheard of to cook tagine in an oven in Morocco.
The Clay Coyote makes the only handmade, clay, stovetop tagine in the USA. It can go on gas, glass, or electric stovetops. When not making a tagine, the bottom is great for savory pies, hot dishes, egg bakes and can go in a 500F+ oven.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of saffron, crushed
- 1⁄8 cup olive oil
- 1-1½ pounds chicken thighs with bone and skin, use boneless thighs when you want to feed a crowd, but bone-in offers more flavor
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 preserved lemon, most of the pulp removed; the rind cut into thin strips (you can substitute 1 tablespoon of Preserved Lemon Paste, we use NY SHUK)
- 1 cup unpitted olives
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Thyme, chopped Fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Recipe:
- In the bottom of a Clay Coyote Flameware Tagine, mix the onion, herbs, and spices to create a chermoula (a paste).
- Add oil and heat on medium-high heat.
- Cook the chicken until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side
- Spread chicken so it's in a single layer.
- Add broth and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the preserved lemon strips, thyme, and olives.
- Cover and simmer on low, until the chicken is cooked through and very tender and the sauce has broken down 20-30 minutes
- Serve the chicken over couscous, with spoonful's of sauce and chopped fresh cilantro
