“Dates have been an essential ingredient in Morocco for thousands of years in sweet and savoury recipes alike”
4 chicken marylands, halved
4 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn ground cumin
1 tspn ground tumeric
1 tspn freshly grated ginger
Salt and cracked black pepper
1/2 finely sliced lemon
2 onions, finely chopped
150g green olives
6 large fresh medjool dates, halved and pitted
1/2 preserved lemon, rinsed and sliced
1/4 cup coriander leaves, coarsely chopped
Always buy more dates than you need as they seem to somehow disappear!
Preheat oven to 200deg.C.
Place chicken pieces in a large bowl and drizzle with 3 tbspn of oil. Combine garlic, paprika, cumin, tumeric and ginger and sprinkle over chicken. Season with salt and pepper and turn chicken to coat.
Grated ginger, ground cumin and tumeric and paprika
Add lemon slices, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Refrigerate for one hour
Heat a large ovenproof dish or tagine with remaining olive oil and when hot add onions and stir over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add chicken and turn to coat
Add 1 cup of water and stir well.
Place chicken on top of onions, turn to coat, cover and bake for 30 minutes.
After covering with the tagine lid and cooking for 30 mins it can go straight from the stove to the table
Add olives and dates and bake a further 10-15 minutes or until chicken is tender.
Serve chicken with juices, olives and dates spooned over and top with preserved lemon and coriander.
Serve with couscous.
Serves 4
Yummy homemade Limoncello (maybe not traditional) but so nice in frozen glasses as an accompaniment!
The beautiful moroccan dish at the top of the page is just one of many given to me by my good friend and fellow blogger, Richard. You can read what he has to say by visiting him and trying some of his yummy recipes too on http://moroccantajine.com
Superb photos- can’t wait to try this mouth-watering recipe with the chicken,lemon and dates. The home-made limoncello looks amazing too!
Keep these great recipes coming! I look forward to seeing more.