A Taste of Morocco

Yesterday I broke out the crock pot for my take on a Moroccan dish called Chicken Tagine with Apricots.  The original recipe calls for chicken breasts to be browned in a frying pan with spiced butter (made with cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and cayenne) and onions.  Chicken stock is then added along with fresh apricots and honey.  The dish is covered and allowed to simmer until the liquid thickens.  When finished, portions are served over couscous and sprinkled with slivered almonds.

Sounds yummy, right?

My version uses most of the same ingredients, sans the butter. 

Chicken thighs, onion, garlic cloves, lemon, olive oil, honey, apricots, and garam masala.



I use a spice mix called garam masala.  It has cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, coriander, and some other spices in it.  Technically, it is an Indian spice mix, but it has many of the same spices as ras el hanout, which is a Moroccan spice blend.  Since I couldn't find ras el hanout at the grocery store, I bought the garam masala.

I prepared the chicken for the crock put by taking the skin off the chicken thighs.  Then I put them in a bowl and added olive oil, about a tablespoon of garam masala, a grated garlic clove, and the zest of half a lemon.  I mixed everything together and let it sit while I sliced the onions and the lemon.

Once I sliced the onions, I put them in the crock pot to cover the bottom.  Then I added the chicken, two smashed garlic cloves, and the lemon.

 

 After three hours on high, I added the dried apricots and about a cup of honey.

After another hour, I served each portion with a side of steamed rice. 

 



 

 A tasty dinner with leftovers for the next evening.