Moroccan Chicken with Perserved Lemons

I went to Morocco almost five years ago... for ONE day.
I know lame... right?
It was a stop on a cruise ship, more lame.
Then...  I had to take a bus tour with everyone else.
On the bright side (lots of those in Morocco) , I got to see lots of sights, wandered through the casbah, kissed my love in a mosaic grotto, shopped for hand painted dishes, Persian rugs,spices and carved wooden camels- - we packed a bunch into one pitiful day.
I had fun, but all's it did was whey my appetite to go back for as long as possible.
Worst part was, I really didn't get to eat any great food... just silly sweet mint tea and sweets in the dancer and firewalker tent right before everyone rode camels.  In the interest of full disclosure, I did NOT get on that squawking camel, just took everyone else's pictures doing it. Camel's smell and they have very large teeth. 

This dish epitomizes what I think the food I would have eaten was like that; exciting, exotic, spicy and filled with glowing warmness. This dish will appeal to many people as Moroccan food is not known to be overly spicy in the fiery sense, and this dish is no exception.  If you are very sensitive to spicy hot, then I might recommend leaving out the red pepper flakes.  I inadvertently made this for a friend who isn't a big lemon/citrus kind of guy, but he really liked it too.

This original recipe for Moroccan Chicken from Tyler Florence got great ratings, but I wanted to make it more simple.  I totally love roasting your spices and grinding them up yourself... except somehow, that almost never happens at my house.  So, I replaced his spices with the more conventional spices in peoples cupboards and we were happy with the outcome. I made the preserved lemons but it takes about a month to make them, so unless you found them in a shop, you may need another way to go. I also believe this dish would be delicious using lemon juice and lemon zest instead, so I have included that option as well. 

One note about any leftovers, I used up the small amount I had leftover by reheating it slowly in a saucepan with a 1/4 cup of Quinoa until it was tender.  It made a terrific dinner for one. I got the idea because I am planning to do a Chicken, Butternut Squash and Quinoa Stew later this week. Stay tuned...

Ingredients
Serves 4

1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet or hot paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
4 cloves garlic,minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 large pinch saffron (if you have it)
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 preserved lemon, sliced into small strips OR 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
1 cup chicken stock

Couscous, or Quinoa for serving

In a bowl large enough to accommodate the chicken, add the oil, spice mix, garlic, ginger, cilantro, bay leaves and saffron. Mix to a paste. Add chicken, rubbing the marinade over all the pieces. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and reserve any leftover marinade. In a tagine or large casserole over medium high heat add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Put in chicken pieces and lightly brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate.

Add onions and cook until just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Rinse preserved lemon well. Scoop out flesh and discard; cut peel into strips and add to pan. Add any reserved marinade, olives, and chicken stock. Add the pre-browned chicken and any juices.

Bring to a boil and cover tightly and cook over medium low heat for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove bay leaf and discard. Taste juices and adjust seasoning. Place chicken on a warm platter. Spoon juices with the preserved lemon, olives, and onions over chicken and serve with Couscous.

Here are some other dishes that I love with Moroccan flavors:
Moroccan Vegetable Stew
Chicken Marbella (OK... technically Spain, but close!!!)
Moroccan Pot Roast (My favorite pot roast recipe of all time!)  

Simple Salmon Chowder

I love easy soup.
This past week has been so crazy, I haven't had as much time to cook as I'd like.  Friday night, even though we were going out to dinner with friends, I still wanted... no needed.. to cook something.

I wasn't going to blog about this one as it feels like I make it all the time, but I see that I haven't done a simple chowder.  This technique would work for almost any fish or seafood but I liked salmon and had fillets in the freezer.  I like the Costco salmon fillets as they are individually packaged, easy to thaw and I already had them.  With this soup, I only thawed the salmon for about 15 minutes, then cut up the fillets while mostly still frozen.  The pieces were easy to cut up and held their shape in the chowder.  I liked having the big tender chunks in the soup. Any type of salmon would work; fresh, frozen, canned or leftover pieces. Leftover or canned salmon would give you flakes of salmon instead of the chunks.

This soup is creamy and satisfying, but it really does not have a lot of cream in it. If you prefer to use milk, then I would reduce the amount of stock to about 4 cups and use 2 1/2 cups of milk. I used potato flakes at the end because I wanted a thicker soup and it adds even more potato flavor.

Ingredients
Serves about 4-6
3 Tbsp olive oil or butter
1 cup white onion, minced

1 cup celery, minced (I use inner stalks and leaves)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp flour

2 Tbsp lemon juice
6 cups stock (fish or chicken)

3 cups yukon gold potatoes, diced (about 5-6 potatoes)

2 salmon fillets, about 1 lb., cut into pieces

2 tsp. dill weed, dried or fresh

Salt and Pepper (I used about 1 1/2 Tbsp of salt because my stock was no-salt fish stock)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup instant potato flakes

In a medium stock pot, add the olive oil and heat over medium high heat.  Add the onions and saute for about 3-4 minutes until starting to become limp and translucent.  Add the celery and minced garlic and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Add the flour to the veggie mixture and stir until it starts to thicken up about 2-3 minutes.  Add the lemon juice, stock and the dill weed and bring to a boil.  Add the diced potato and cook until they are tender, usually about 10 minutes. Drop in the salmon and reduce heat to medium low.  Add the cream and salt and pepper to your likening.


Add the potato flakes to thicken up and serve.


Note- You could simmer this on low heat for another 5-10 minutes if desired, but I found that even the partially frozen salmon pieces cooked almost instantly in the hot soup, and were nice and tender when we tried it.  If you cook it too long, your salmon could become tough.