Moroccan Chicken with Olives

Miss Annie's Note:

This is a tasty chicken dish. If you have time, make your own preserved lemons or buy in a specialty store. They are really good in this dish. If not, use a fresh, sliced lemon. Serve with rice or couscous.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 3 -3 ½ lbs fryer chickens , cut up
• 1⁄3; cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon
• ½ cup kalamata olives or ½ cup Greek olive
• 1 sliced preserved lemons (See Recipe for Preserved Lemons) or 1 fresh lemon

Directions:

1. Mix cilantro, paprika, cumin, salt, turmeric, ginger and garlic.
2. Rub mixture on all sides of chicken; coat with flour.
3. Place chicken in ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
4. Mix water, lemon juice and bouillon; pour over chicken.
5. Add olives and preserved lemon slices.
6. Bake uncovered at 350ºF, spooning juices over chicken occasionally, until thickest pieces of chicken are done, about 1 hour.
7. Serve with couscous or rice if desired.

Reviews

[JustJanS]

Sorry Ann, but this was way to lemony and salty for us. Russell cooked dinner, and as a first time preserved lemon user, he just put it in pulp and all. That, the juice and the olives over-powered the other flavors. I think the lemon pulp needed to removed, and the juice needed to be reduced to a couple of tablespoons. It was also difficult to get the 1/3 cup flour to adhere to the chicken pieces once coated with the spice/cilantro mix. Maybe they could have been mixed with the flour and done in one step. I think a couple of tablespoons of honey in this dish would have balanced things out too.

[Chef #810995]

This dish was a crowd pleaser--including kids. It wasn't too spicy for them. I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I also used low fat chicken broth instead of water and cut out the bouillion cube. I used fresh Meyer lemon, since I didn't have preserved.

[Samir]

I have cooked variations on this recipe for some years now. If you use chicken stock (salt free) and genuine preserved lemons it should taste great. Drp the pitted olives into boiling water for thirty seconds before adding and always rinse the lemons and throw away the pulp. Cut the rinsed lemon skin into small pieces.