Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives & Preserved Lemons

November 9, 2010

I love this. The sauce was so tasty! It took longer to prep than I thought, so don’t try this when you’re rushed.

Morocccan chicken with green olives & preserved lemons, in All About Braisining, by Molly Stevens, pg 169

Spice Mix:

½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp saffron threads

The braise:

½ cup green olives in brine
one 3-4# chicken, cut into pieces
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T unsalted butter
coarse salt
1 medium yellow onion (about 6 oz), thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¾ cup water
1 lemon, halved
1/3 cup mixed chopped flat-leaf parsley and cilantro
1 whole (4 quarters) salt-preserved lemon*
freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, combine the spices for the spice mix. In a separate bowl, cover the olives with water and set aside.

Rinse the chicken pieces in cold water and pat dry (completely dry). In a large, deep sided skilled or shallow braising pan, heat the oil and butter until hot. Lightly salt the chicken pieces. Add the chicken in one layer to the hot oil and brown for about 6 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate, brown the remaining chicken pieces. Remove and set aside.

After the chicken is browned, pour off all but 1 T of the oil from the pan. Add the onion and garlic and brown for about 3 minutes. Add the spice mix and sauté for 1 minute longer.

Add the water to the pan, stir and scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. When the water begins to boil, add the chicken legs, thighs and wings. Cover the pan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken breasts atop the chicken and squeeze the juice of ½ lemon over the chicken, add ½ the chopped herbs. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes longer.

While the chicken braises, prepare the olives and preserved lemon. Drain the olives. If they need pitted, crush them with the flat side of a large knife and remove the pit. If they don’t, remove the stuffing (pimento) and cut the olive almost in half so it lays flat. Rinse the preserved lemon peel and remove any pulp. Cut into ½ inch pieces.
*If you don’t have preserved lemons, use the lemon zest of one whole lemon.

After the chicken has braised for 30 minutes total, turn the pieces and add the olives and lemon. Replace the lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer or until the thighs are done (the juices will run clear when pierced with a sharp knife). Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Raise the heat in the pat to bring the juices to a boil. Add the juice of the remaining lemon. Boil for about 6 minutes or until reduced by half.

Drain into a fat separator. Return the olives, onion, etc to the pan and stir in the remaining chopped herbs. After the fat has separated from the broth, return the broth to the pan with the vegetables.

Serve the chicken with the sauce over top.

Be careful about the salt because the preserved lemons and olives are salty.

I followed the recipe exactly and it was wonderful. I didn’t do my preserved lemons right and they have way too much salt, so I soaked them a bit before adding them to the dish to try to bring the salt level down.

This is definitely a keeper!!