the importance of taking/allowing the proper time to best most naturally suit each ingredient or dish, cannot be underestimated. letting things happen slowly, as with the tagine currently bubbling away on my stove top, helps transform flavours & textures. it's pretty choice; & actually a pretty choice thing to be aware of when grooving away in the kitchen getting creative.
what better time then to write the recipe, as the wafting smells of coriander/ginger/lemon conjure up the exotic, evocative & ageless, filling the room in which i sit...
so then, recipe chicken tagine:
firstly, method basically the same as with the lamb tagine
>[boned]chickenthighs/freshginger/coriander/garlic/tumeric/blackpepper: cut thighs into 6, into a bowl, set aside; mortar&pestle the rest, or blitzit in the whizzer. anyway, when finished, rub the marinate paste into the chicken & let it sit at least an hour or two, overnight even better. it should be said, & yes it's a time thing, the act of pounding this mix by hand creates a paste with personality, tho it does take longer & requires a little muscle, i guess.
>redonion/garlic/oliveoil/butter/salt/saffron: sweat gently for 20mins, remove & set aside, tagine on heat
>marinatingchicken/greenolives/chickenstock: same tagine dish, brown chicken, in batches if nec, then return onions to the tagine dish, combine gently, add a good quantity of quality green olives (some say you should blanch them in hot water first, but i dont have time for that :) then hot chicken stock to barely cover the chicken. i like to add a good dollop of honey here also, this time i used a beautifully dark strong blend from teone's family's honey, fells apiaries up north (nice one teone!)
>bring the tagine to the boil & turn down heat so the tagine barely simmers. put the lid on yr tagine dish & walk away!
>come back in 1/2 an hr, lift the lid (good idea to lean back a little then, so the scorching vapours can billow out without you in the middle of them). make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the stew, return lid, return to the flame, come back in 15 minutes, or so & turn off the heat. let the tagine sit to cool for a while.
meanwhile:
>couscous/butter/oliveoil/boilingwater: to every cup of couscous add a small lump of butter & a slug of olive oil & swirl it round in yr bowl til its all mixed, then add a cup of boiling water, ie: 1couscous/1h2o
stir one time to get water to the bottom then cover the bowl airtight, with gladwrap, or an airtight fitting lid. leave it for 5 minutes, give the bowl a good tap on the bottom to aerate the couscous a little: done.
finishing touches:
>watercress>i like to garnish my tagines with watercress
>lemonzest/driedapricots/walnuts/almonds: chopped finely & gently mixed together, sprinkle this over the top to serve
what better time then to write the recipe, as the wafting smells of coriander/ginger/lemon conjure up the exotic, evocative & ageless, filling the room in which i sit...
so then, recipe chicken tagine:
firstly, method basically the same as with the lamb tagine
>[boned]chickenthighs/freshginger/coriander/garlic/tumeric/blackpepper: cut thighs into 6, into a bowl, set aside; mortar&pestle the rest, or blitzit in the whizzer. anyway, when finished, rub the marinate paste into the chicken & let it sit at least an hour or two, overnight even better. it should be said, & yes it's a time thing, the act of pounding this mix by hand creates a paste with personality, tho it does take longer & requires a little muscle, i guess.
>redonion/garlic/oliveoil/butter/salt/saffron: sweat gently for 20mins, remove & set aside, tagine on heat
>marinatingchicken/greenolives/chickenstock: same tagine dish, brown chicken, in batches if nec, then return onions to the tagine dish, combine gently, add a good quantity of quality green olives (some say you should blanch them in hot water first, but i dont have time for that :) then hot chicken stock to barely cover the chicken. i like to add a good dollop of honey here also, this time i used a beautifully dark strong blend from teone's family's honey, fells apiaries up north (nice one teone!)
>bring the tagine to the boil & turn down heat so the tagine barely simmers. put the lid on yr tagine dish & walk away!
>come back in 1/2 an hr, lift the lid (good idea to lean back a little then, so the scorching vapours can billow out without you in the middle of them). make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the stew, return lid, return to the flame, come back in 15 minutes, or so & turn off the heat. let the tagine sit to cool for a while.
meanwhile:
>couscous/butter/oliveoil/boilingwater: to every cup of couscous add a small lump of butter & a slug of olive oil & swirl it round in yr bowl til its all mixed, then add a cup of boiling water, ie: 1couscous/1h2o
stir one time to get water to the bottom then cover the bowl airtight, with gladwrap, or an airtight fitting lid. leave it for 5 minutes, give the bowl a good tap on the bottom to aerate the couscous a little: done.
finishing touches:
>watercress>i like to garnish my tagines with watercress
>lemonzest/driedapricots/walnuts/almonds: chopped finely & gently mixed together, sprinkle this over the top to serve
