Travel Stories :: Chicken Tagine w/Preserved Limes

Our friend E. just got back from an amazing trip to London and Paris!  She came over for dinner to tell us all about her adventures.  Don't you ♥ hearing travel stories?  I do! It makes me want to hop on a plane immediately!  I secretly wish people still have get togethers to look at travel pictures instead of just posting them online.  :-)

Anyway.... in the spirit of far-off travels, for dinner, I decided to make something I've been daydreaming of for a while: a chicken tagine!  I had seen a wonderful recipe by Sunday Suppers a while back and was especially excited because it's the perfect plate for the preserved limes  I had in the fridge.

Since I don't have a proper tagine pot (on my wishlist... and after this experiment it has quickly risen to #1 on that list!), I made it in an oven baking dish.  While the presentation might not be as dramatic, the flavor was as delicious as I imagined, and much easier than I had thought!  The seasoned chicken is perfection with the sweet raisins and tangy limes and olives.  It's amazing how soft the limes/lemons become when preserved.  

I paired the tagine with a simple almond rice (by simple I mean I just toasted 1/2 cup almonds, 2 cloves garlic with 2 cups rice before adding the water).  It was so delicious, I couldn't bring myself to throw away the leftover tagine sauce. I froze it... I think it would be delicious over couscous!

Enjoy!

CHICKEN TAGINE (adapted from Sunday Suppers)

1 whole chicken, cut

1 tsp turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, dried cilantro, and coriander

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon/lime juice

1/2 cup preserved lemon/limes

1/2 cup olives, pitted

1 white onion, slices

1/2 golden raisins

2 cups chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Mix the  olive oil, lime juice, and spices and season the chicken.  Let the chicken marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

On high heat in a non-stick skillet with bit of olive oil, sear the chicken.  Make sure you sear all sides.  This will take about 15 minutes.  You want a nice golden brown color.

Place the seared chicken in the tagine or baking dish (covered with foil) along with the raisins, olives, onion, preserved limes, and chicken stock.  Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until chicken is done.