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Braised Moroccan Chicken and Olives

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Braised Moroccan Chicken and Olives

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by Sarah Shatz

Braised Moroccan Chicken and Olives

Photo 2 of 2
by Sonali aka the Foodie Physician

Slideshow
  • This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Stew with Olives
  • A&M's Testing Notes: This is a pitch-perfect take on a classic dish. Sonali assembles a mouth-tingling spice mixture of ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne, saffron and then adds green...

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  • Chef

    Sonali aka the Foodie Physician's Notes: This flavorful dish was inspired by two of my favorite Moroccan ingredients- olives and preserved lemons. They work beautifully together in this dish to add a ton of flavor to the sauce...

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Serves 4

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven or large, deep skillet or over medium high heat. Dry the chicken pieces and season them with salt and pepper. Place them in the skillet in batches and brown on all sides. Remove the chicken and place on a plate.

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  2. Add the onion to the skillet and cook until slightly softened. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and cayenne pepper and stir together. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat with the spice mixture. Pour the chicken stock into the skillet so that 2/3 of the chicken is submerged. Add the saffron and stir to combine. Bring liquid to a simmer, cover the skillet and simmer on medium low heat 20-25 minutes. Add the olives and preserved lemons. Cover and cook another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and turn the heat to high. Cook for another 6-8 minutes until sauce reduces slightly. Stir in the cilantro. Adjust seasoning to taste.

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  3. Serve chicken on a bed of couscous. Spoon sauce over the top. Garnish with cilantro.

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Sagegr Reply

Your recipe is just divine. I loved how it was coming along....but I got a bit distracted just before serving...only to let that beautiful sauce reduce almost completely away...scorching the pan. Still the meal was salvageable even after that! What depth of flavors the preserved lemons and saffron bring to this dish. I will make it again, hopefully without my errors next time.

Oh no! I'm glad to hear that the dish was still salvageable though! I'm so happy you liked it- thank you!

Img_6863 Reply

I made this for dinner last night, and it was DIVINE!!! I couldn't find preserved lemons in Bloomington, IN, so we added the zest of one fresh lemon plus 1/3 of the juice instead. I also added about half a can of artichoke hearts (non-marinated). Served over brown basmati rice, it was super yummy!!

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Thank you for all of the wonderful comments! I'm happy to hear that so many people are still enjoying this recipe!

Dsc_0034 Reply

delicious! made this last night and am planning to make it again tonight! served with israeli couscous, which was wonderful. my only modifications: twice as many olives and a slight reduction of the the preserved lemons (flavor would have been to overpowering with the ones I had).

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i just cant get over how delicious it is. i can just leave it on the stove for an hour while i do other things and it only gets better. i like to add a handful of dried cranberries or raisins just for a hint of sweetness. its a beautifully simple recipe though.

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This makes such a beautiful meal. I made this for my boyfriend shortly after we started dating and the look on his face after his first bite was proof enough that this recipe is a winner. He raved. It's still one of his favorite dishes that I make. Thank you!

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This recipe is the rare chicken recipe that can be done in advance. I cooked it the day before my seder and let the chicken sit in the sauce. Reheated gently the next day it was succulent and flavorful, breasts and legs included. Reducing the sauce, or thickening it is really important .
thanks for a great recipe

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I just made it tonight by using Mark Bittman's quick preserved lemons that I made last night. That was some crazy good stuff! Oh so easy, must now go find other recipes to use my preserved lemons.

Ry_400 Reply

I remove the lid and throw under the broiler for the last 3-5 minutes or so of the cooking time. This recrisps the skin so you get nice crunchy skin and yummy braised meat.

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Sonali--I chickened out on using my new tagine, even though I seasoned it...because I was serving dinner to friends and didn't want a mid-recipe disaster! I used a dutch oven and it turned out great. What do you suggest re: leaving on or taking off the skin? The chicken browns well, but the skin got soggy with the braising. Maybe remove the skin before the braise? The spices were so warm and they melded together very well! It's a great recipe that I'd like to play with.

I just made this dish the other day and I used a Dutch oven too. I like to remove the skin just before serving. I think it's probably a good idea to keep it on during the braising process to keep the meat juicy. I'm glad you liked it!

Staceys_snacks180 Reply

Made this tonight almost to the letter, only omitted the ginger (didn't have any) and added golden raisins to the couscous.
We loved it! Thanks for an easy delicious recipe!

I'm glad to hear that people are still enjoying the recipe after all this time. I'm going to make it myself tonight!

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How do you translate the cooking time when using a tagine on the stovetop?? Same timing?

I don't have a tagine so I'm not sure if the cooking time would be altered but my guess is that it wouldn't change it too much. Good luck- I hope the dish turns out ok!

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sublime! the saffron perfects and already wonderful and easy recipe

Kabul1 Reply

Made this tonight - for two instead of four and we licked the plates clean! I too used lemon stuffed olives - they were delicious. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!

Summer_2010_1048 Reply

I made this for friends last night and it was a huge it. Thanks for a foolproof recipe!

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Made this for my fiance a few days ago and he hasn't stopped raving about it. I didn't have the preserved lemons so I used lemon stuffed olives. This is a keeper!

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Great idea using lemon stuffed olives- I might try that next time!

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I can't wait to try this recipe tonight. It looks delicious!

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This got rave reviews from my dinner party guests tonight! Just fabulous. We got the preserved lemons from Formaggio, our neighborhood gourmet store which happens to be on this site. So good. Thanks!

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

I'm so glad you liked it- thank you!

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The Whole Foods in my town had preserved lemons in deli containers in the refrigerated section near cheese and deli area. Maybe yours does too!

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Thanks for the tip! I also recently saw them at Williams Sonoma.

Ashtaco Reply

Yum! I made this last night. It is a perfect recipe-- great balance of flavors and really easy. Great for weeknight or company. I am determined to use what I have in my stuffed pantry, before buying any more grains, rices, etc. so I served it with a simple, soft polenta. Delicious!

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

I'm so glad you liked it- next time I'll try it with polenta!

Chocolate_peppermint_truffle_cookies_032 Reply

Made this tonight and it was just absolutely wonderful. We just loved it!! And really easy to make. In fact I was able to clean up the whole kitchen while the chicken was braising, which was a bonus and makes this a great dish to make for a dinner party. Thanks, Sonali!! BTW, my husband is an ER doc (recently retired from clinical work) and heard about your blog on the ACEP blog where he is a regular contributor and told me to check your blog out. I recognized you from here at Food52! How fun.

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Glad to hear that you liked it! What a coincidence that your husband is an ER doc- my husband and I were just in Las Vegas last week for the ACEP convention. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to keep up with my blog because I recently went back to full-time at the hospital but hopefully I'll start it up again. I read your profile and we have a lot in common- pursuing our passion for cooking a little later in life. Good luck with your cooking classes- they sound fabulous!

Chocolate_peppermint_truffle_cookies_032 Reply

We were in LV for ACEP too! My husband was a recipient of an award at the big dinner Thursday night, so although he was there all week, I only flew in for the dinner and left Friday with him. What a great turnout they had! And I hear next year is San Francisco! I look forward to trying more of your recipes and hope you can spend more time on your blog. You have a lot of talent!

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We made the recipe over the weekend, IT was great, everything came nice together. Ever since I am on a olives kick... I am putting them into everything

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I was looking for a good chicken recipe to try for dinner tomorrow. I think I have found it with this one! Luckily, I have a lot of these ingredients in my kitchen cabinet already. The only things I have to buy are the chicken and the lemons. I can't wait to try this recipe.

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Great- let me know how it turns out!

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I made this last night and I loved it. It was worth the effort to get a hold of the preserved lemons. I've never cooked with them before, but I will always have them around the house from now on. Thanks, Sonali, for the amazon.com tip.

Ry_400 Reply

We made this tonight and not only was it delicious but so easy. Definitely going into my weeknight rotation.

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This is a delicious and simple dish. It hits all of the requirements for inclusion on the weeknight rotation: Fast, basic ingredients, enjoyed by all of my eaters, and a unique mix of flavors. I must admit to using fresh lemon instead of preserved, which I removed prior to serving. I will add preserved lemons to the pantry for future versions of this recipe. Thank you, Sonali.

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

I'm so glad you liked it! I've also made the dish with real lemons but the preserved lemons definitely add a unique flavor!

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We tried this recipe and it was absolutely delicious!

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We tried this recipe and it was absolutely delicious!

Heather_cooking Reply

this one has my vote. it looks sublime!

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This looks so delicious can't wait to make it.

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This looks so delicious can't wait to make it.

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I never really know where to get or how to make my own preserved lemons. Suggestions?

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

This may sound strange but I usually buy them online from Amazon.com because I can rarely find them in my local stores. There are a lot of good recipes online for homemade preserved lemons but you have to have patience because the process take a few weeks!

Me Reply

Here's one preserved lemon recipe I just bookmarked--there's not much to it, though I've added peppercorns & bay leaves to mine in the past.

If you know of any Middle Eastern markets in your area they will have preserved lemons. Maybe Whole Foods? That sounds like something Bread & Circus would have carried, alas.

Me Reply

D'oh! Forgot the link:
http://www.culinate.com/search/q,ctype=recipe,q=lemon,stype=/193755

Gizma_and_frou_frou Reply

You can try my recipe - http://www.food52.com/recipes/1195_preserved_lemons
I make it all the time. worth the effort!
Also, I would recommend that if you don't have preserved lemons just cut fresh ones with the peel and just add them in earlier when cooking. If you want to make sure they won't be too bitter, you can poach the slices in boiling water for a few minutes before adding them to the chicken.

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Thanks for all of the suggestions!

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I never really know where to get or how to make my own preserved lemons. Suggestions?

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I never really know where to get or how to make preserved lemons. Suggestions?

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I never really know where to get or how to make preserved lemons. Suggestions?

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Mark Bittman (NYTimes food guy) had a recent recipe for making faux preserved lemons in very little time. I'm going to try that recipe with this one. Also was planning to make his recipe at Thanksgiving as an alternative to cranberry relishes.

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Just made the quick preserved lemons last night. They are really delicious!! Am making Moroccan chicken today which is why I made the lemons.

Gizma_and_frou_frou Reply

Well I wanted submit my own Moroccan chicken with olives recipe. But I did not. So you get my vote, I know it is tasty.

Gizma_and_frou_frou Reply

Well I wanted submit my own Moroccan chicken with olives recipe. But I did not. So you get my vote, I know it is tasty.

Gizma_and_frou_frou Reply

Well I wanted submit my own Moroccan chicken with olives recipe. But I did not. So you get my vote, I know it is tasty.

Gizma_and_frou_frou Reply

Well I wanted submit my own Moroccan chicken with olives recipe. But I did not. So you get my vote, I know it is tasty.

Gizma_and_frou_frou Reply

Well I wanted submit my own Moroccan chicken with olives recipe. But I did not. So you get my vote, I know it is tasty.

Gizma_and_frou_frou Reply

Well I wanted submit my own Moroccan chicken with olives recipe. But I did not. So you get my vote, I know it is tasty.

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Thank you. Your purple puree recipe looks great!

Lnd_jen Reply

Such a beautiful dish.

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Thank you!

Grey_poupon_4 Reply

Thank you!

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