Sasha's Kitchen: Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Lemon Lime Cous Cous

I haven't been cooking and baking new recipes as much lately, although I plan to do some new recipes coming up from a vietnamese cookbook I bought. In addition, my husband and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary this coming weekend so in addition to a nice meal out, I plan on baking some celebratory petit fours. Petit fours are a pretty complex baking recipe so I am hoping I can get a good result on the first time, since it is something I have wanted to try for awhile as they are both lovely to look at, and delicious. On Monday, over the long labor day weekend, I made a new recipe from Sarah Raven's cookbook, Fresh From the Garden, one of my favorite cookbooks for good seasonal recipes.  I made her recipe for Moroccan Chicken Tagine, and also her simple recipe for lemon lime couscous. The two dishes were delicious and complemented each other quite nicely. I loved the zing of the tangy couscous with the sweetness of the chicken dish with the candied apricots.


Chicken Tagine with Almonds and Apricots (from Sarah Raven)
3 1/2 lbs free range chicken, cut up (I used an organic, antibiotic free chicken, of course)
1-2 T olive oil
2 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
pinch of saffron threads
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp hot paprika
apple juice
1/2 pound dried apricots, chopped
1/2 pounds almonds
mint, chopped
cilantro or parsley, chopped

In a Dutch Oven (I used one of my beloved Le Creuset pots), brown the chicken lightly on all sides for a few minutes in the olive oil. Remove the chicken from the pot and sauté the onion and garlic for three to four minutes. Add the saffron, paprika, cumin, cinnamon and ginger. Return the chicken to the pot and add just enough apple juice to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add the apricots and almonds, and cook covered for another fifteen minutes until the chicken is tender.  When read to eat, add the mint and cilantro to the dish and serve.


Lemon and Lime Cous Cous (adapted from Sarah Raven)
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 3/4 cup cous cous
2 T olive oil
juice of one lemon
juice of one lime
salt and pepper
mint
parsley

Bring the stock and the couscous to a boil, then allow to simmer until cooked. Stir in the lemon and lime juice and cover for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and with the mint and parsley if you like.  Since I put mint and cilantro in the main dish, I simply seasoned with salt and pepper.

Sasha's Kitchen: Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Lemon Lime Cous Cous

Sasha's Kitchen: Moroccan Beef Tagine with Honey, Apricots and Butternut Squash

I recently received a gift card from ShopRite to do some holiday grocery shopping, and discovered that ShopRite had a huge selection of Kosher meats that were perfect for Passover. I picked up a cut of Kosher pot roast, that looked to be perfect for cooking for a holiday meal. I decided to use it in preparing a moroccan beef tagine, a lovely, cinnamon and fruit flavored Moroccan dish that is named after the type of pot it is traditionally cooked in. When we were in Paris last summer, I had hoped to try some of the tagines at many of Paris's Northern African restaurants but we didn't have time, and the one I had really wanted to try was closed for August vacation.  Never mind, it's actually not that hard to make at home, and you will have plenty of leftovers from this meal to avoid having to cook the next night. This would be perfect with couscous, which I left out since it's Passover now. The process for cooking the meat, as well as the high quality cut of Kosher pot roast from ShopRite that I used resulted in a very tender dish. Yum! This is perfect for just about any holiday meal, and was a big hit with my husband.

Sasha's Beef Tagine
2 lb lean pot roast or shoulder roast
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coriander
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, diced
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
pinch of saffron threads
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup dried apricots, halved
2 T honey
1/4 tsp pepper
1 granny smith apple peeled and diced
1/3 cup almond slivers
2 cups chopped butternut squash

Cut the beef pot roast or shoulder roast into 1 1/2 inch cubes using a butcher's knife. Place in a bowl. Mix 1 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon with the ginger, salt, coriander and turmeric (be careful, as turmeric stains), and toss to coat the meat. Add 3 T of olive oil to your dutch oven and cook the mean until browned on all sides over high heat, for about five minutes. Add the diced onions and cook over medium heat for about three minutes, before adding the garlic and cooking for another minute. Add the diced tomatoes, chicken stock and saffron, and bring the mixture to a boil. I used a bottle of lovely Spanish saffron brought home from Madrid. Bring to a boil and the reduce to medium low, and cook, covered, for about an hour and a half, until cooked through and tender.

Strain out the meat/tomatoes/onion and reserve the broth. Return the broth to the pot. Add the apricots (after soaking the apricots first in hot water for half an hour). Add the butternut squash and diced apple, as well as 2 tablespoons of honey and a tablespoon of cinnamon. I have some great honey that was made by a family friend who raises his own bees and makes his own honey, so I used that. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the squash is tender (but not mushy) and the sauce thickens a bit. Then add the beef back to the dutch oven. Serve hot.

Sasha's Kitchen: Moroccan Beef Tagine with Honey, Apricots and Butternut Squash