Ras El-Hanout, Moroccan Spiced Chicken |
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Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Minutes |
Ready In: 11 Minutes Servings: 8 |
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This recipe appeared in a local food magazine called MIX. It was simple to prepare, but wonderfully different. The spices blend together during cooking to make a wonderfully rich and deep flavor. The dutch oven cooking produces a tender, falling-off-the-bone chicken. This recipe would originally be prepared in an earthenware cooking vessel, called a Tagine, which has a conical lid. I'm sure most of us don't have one lurking in our cupboards, but the results from a Dutch Oven are wonderful. Served with some steamed rice, the little ones were asking for seconds and the adults were asking for thirds. Ingredients:
1/4 cup ground cinnamon |
1 tablespoon turmeric |
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper |
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, fresh ground |
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom |
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves |
4 chicken drumsticks |
4 chicken thighs |
1 tablespoon fresh thyme |
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced |
1/2 cup olive oil, plus |
1 tablespoon olive oil |
1 onion, thinly sliced |
1 lemon, quartered |
3 cups chicken broth |
salt |
Directions:
1. To make the Ras al-hanout spice mixture: Combine the cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves in a small bowl.
2. Thoroughly pat the chicken dry and dredge in the ras al-hanout spices until pieces are nicely covered but not over-loaded. Place in a bowl or large dish and scatter thyme and garlic over the chicken. Pour 1/2 C olive oil over and toss to coat thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight if possible, or several hours.
3. Remove marinated chicken and place on counter for 30 minutes. Heat 1 T. olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the dish, keeping the marinade, and brown chicken on all sides in the hot oil. (Do not rush this as the browning will help keep the chicken from feeling dusty from the spice mix covering it. This is also why you do not want to over-load the chicken with the spice mix.)
4. Set the chicken aside and add the onion to the Dutch oven, cook until translucent.
5. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven, adding the lemon and the reserved marinade. Sprinkle generously with salt. Add enough broth to almost cover the chicken, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the chicken has begun to pull away from the bones and is quite tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
6. Remove the lid the last 15 minutes of cooking time to reduce the broth. If it needs to reduce further, remove the chicken and boil the broth until nicely reduced to approximately 2 cups, but you can reduce it less if you want more sauce. You can thicken the sauce with cornstarch mixed with water.
7. Serve with white rice or other grain of choice.
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