Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Before we dive into this, I sincerely wanted to thank everyone who read and voted for my first entry in the Project Food Blog Challenge! I am so humbled and excited to have made it to the next round. Me, an amateur cook! :)

With that being said, Round 2 prompts us to "tackle a classic dish from another culture" that is "outside of your comfort zone" -- uh oh.

Obviously French food is no-go for me in this round, given my French heritage and the fact that I grew up on crêpes! Italian would be way too easy. Lately I've been playing around with Asian dishes, so I think that, too, had been ruled out.

I fear that leaves me with Moroccan tagine, dear readers. Used by the nomadic Twarg people in the Moroccan desert, a tagine is typically a portable oven, conical pot and serving dish all-in-one. All the ingredients are cooked together in this vessel keeping all the flavor inside the dish. The name tagine also now refers to the combination of stewed meat with various vegetables, dried fruits and nuts.

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While my feet have never landed on Moroccan soil, I like to think I know a thing or two about its traditional cuisine. And hey, I'm a desert dweller myself! Although half of my dad's family is French, the other half is of Moroccan descent. Without a doubt, I want to dedicate this post to my French-Moroccan family, past and present. It is entirely because of them that I even have a second entry!

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Of Jewish heritage, my family fled European and African soil during and after WWII. They landed here, in America. Through the original members who immigrated here the branches of my family tree have spread from the East Coast, up into French Canada and to my direct family on the West Coast.

Whenever big milestones happened on my father's side of the family, we would always celebrate at Moroccan restaurants! The kind where you sit on pillows and eat with your hands. As a little girl, I dug that. I still do today.

The very first time I dined at a Moroccan restaurant was in California with my great-uncle, Maurice. We had a mini family reunion several years later to meet our Canadian family and guess where we ate? Would you believe me if I said a Moroccan restaurant in Montréal?? When my dad and I coincidentally moved to France to pursue separate jobs in 2007 we'd meet halfway in between our towns and catch up at swanky French restaurants and eateries owned by Moroccan and Algerian immigrants. Although I fancy myself an avid lover of Moroccan cuisine, I've never tackled it myself. I think I'm more apprehensive to make/ruin Moroccan food because I know how it should taste. And I want to do my family's heritage justice.

I watched my mom make it time and time again as a little girl and it's unfortunate I've waited 25 years to create my own Moroccan dish!

So here it goes. My first ever attempt at Moroccan Chicken Tagine.

It's really not as scary as it sounds! Moroccan food is lovely. It has far away spices with incredibly complex aromas and flavors that instantly wrap me in memories of my family.

And belly dancers.

My dad, the restaurant's belly dancer and my great-uncle -- in Montréal

But seriously. It really doesn't have to be that difficult to make. Most grocery stores already have boxed couscous with spice blends and marinades. Just fluff couscous up like rice, heat the sauce, add meat and voilà -- you have a semi-home made tagine with couscous. You don't even need a tagine to make the dish at home. Clean-up and prep are very simple because everything goes in one pan. Although, it wouldn't hurt to have a tagine dish to make it look absolutely beautiful and authentic ;) I should have "accidentally packed" my mom's tagine before I moved down to Arizona. Now if you're ready to try it entirely on your own...

Moroccan Chicken Tagine * adapted from Simply Recipes:

• 2 t paprika
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1 t tumeric
• 1 t curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 pieces of chicken (I used about 4 thighs)
• Salt
• 1 medium to large sweet potato
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• Lemon peels, cut into thin strips
• 1 c green olives, pitted
• 1 c water
• 1/2 c raisins
• 1/4 c dried black currants
• 1/4 c dried apricot
• 1/4 c chopped cilantro

Directions: Heat one cup of water on the stove. Once the water comes to a boil, add all the spices. Reduce heat and let simmer over a medium low flame until the mixture thickens. Thaw/dry chicken pieces and marinate in about half of the spice mixture for 35 minutes to an hour in the fridge.

While the chicken is marinating, peel and chop the sweet potato. In a large pan heat olive oil on medium high heat. After the meat is done marinating, add the chicken with the marinade to brown chicken for five minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic, sweet potato and onions. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.

Turn chicken over. Add the lemon peels, olives, dried fruit and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat, then lower the heat to low, cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and quite tender. When it is the meat should shred easily into bite-sized pieces.

Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serves 4 to 6. Serve atop a plate of couscous and enjoy!!

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To go with my tagine I made a quick Feggous and Tomato salad, the recipe for which can be found here.

As I said earlier, Moroccan food is not eaten with utensils! So serving the meal with a piece of flat bread offered a creative way of eating the veggie salad.

And of course, no Moroccan meal is complete without sweet mint tea!

This was such an amazing journey. Thank you to all the people at Foodbuzz, the judges and of course, my wonderful readers for giving me a chance to move to this round and explore my family's cuisine! Oh yeah, and also the excuse to purchase some beautifully-hand painted dishes for my collection.

Now it's your turn! Give it a try :) Morocco doesn't have to be as far off as it seems. I can almost smell the fruity hookah wafting through the air...

Like what you see? Then please vote for my entry at Foodbuzz (and sign up if you're not a member)! Voting runs from Sept. 27 to the 30th.

♥ This post is in memory of my Moroccan grandfather and my great-uncle. I miss them! Thank you for helping to bring me up with vast horizons. Someday, I would like to visit the land you once called home.

Thank you • merci • shukran • شكرا