Ras El-Hanout, Moroccan Spiced Chicken

"This recipe appeared in a local food magazine called MIX. It was simple to prepare, but wonderfully different. The spices blend together during cooking to make a wonderfully rich and deep flavor. The dutch oven cooking produces a tender, falling-off-the-bone chicken. This recipe would originally be prepared in an earthenware cooking vessel, called a Tagine, which has a conical lid. I'm sure most of us don't have one lurking in our cupboards, but the results from a Dutch Oven are wonderful. Served with some steamed rice, the little ones were asking for seconds and the adults were asking for thirds."
 
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photo by MartzMimic photo by MartzMimic
photo by MartzMimic
photo by wicked cook 46 photo by wicked cook 46
Ready In:
1hr 25mins
Ingredients:
16
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • To make the Ras al-hanout spice mixture: Combine the cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves in a small bowl.
  • Thoroughly pat the chicken dry and dredge in the ras al-hanout spices until pieces are nicely covered but not over-loaded. Place in a bowl or large dish and scatter thyme and garlic over the chicken. Pour 1/2 C olive oil over and toss to coat thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight if possible, or several hours.
  • Remove marinated chicken and place on counter for 30 minutes. Heat 1 T. olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the dish, keeping the marinade, and brown chicken on all sides in the hot oil. (Do not rush this as the browning will help keep the chicken from feeling "dusty" from the spice mix covering it. This is also why you do not want to over-load the chicken with the spice mix.)
  • Set the chicken aside and add the onion to the Dutch oven, cook until translucent.
  • Return the chicken to the Dutch oven, adding the lemon and the reserved marinade. Sprinkle generously with salt. Add enough broth to almost cover the chicken, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the chicken has begun to pull away from the bones and is quite tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
  • Remove the lid the last 15 minutes of cooking time to reduce the broth. If it needs to reduce further, remove the chicken and boil the broth until nicely reduced to approximately 2 cups, but you can reduce it less if you want more sauce. You can thicken the sauce with cornstarch mixed with water.
  • Serve with white rice or other grain of choice.

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Reviews

  1. I've made this dish several times but I changed a couple of things about the process. The technique for the marinade didn't make sense to me so I made it a wet marinade by combining the spices, about 2 tbsp of olive oil, 3 cloves of minced garlic, and the thyme. I then rub it under the skin of the chicken pieces and let them hang out overnight.<br/><br/>Then, with the onion, I include a cup or so of baby carrots and another 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. Also, instead of adding in a quartered lemon (as lemon cooked over a period of time can get bitter), I add in the zest of one lemon and a couple of sprigs of thyme with the broth and then finish the sauce with the juice of half of the lemon. Sometimes I will add a bit more Ras el Hanout if I think the sauce needs it.<br/><br/>I always get rave reviews from this dish, and I would highly recommend it.
     
  2. Really nice dish. I used a Ras El Hanout blend with Ingredients: Nutmeg, sea salt, black pepper, ginger, cardamom, mace, Chinese cinnamon, ground allspice, turmeric and saffron
     
  3. My DH said this merits 5 stars since he ate any leftovers that there was SUPPOSE to be LOL I served it over a fruited couscous I concoted. I did not add much of the leftover marinade since it was just to much oil for me. I found the marinade even after sitting so long did not go thru the meat like I thought it would so am not sure if I should of used skinless meat or not , recipe does not state this. Made for Zaar CookBook Tag
     
  4. My husband is from Morocco (near Casablanca) so I look forward to making this for him. I'll update this just as soon as I do. Thank you for sharing.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Stay-at-Home mom of two preschoolers. Love to cook, but don't have much time these days. I'm always on the look-out for good meals that are yummy, nutritious, and easy to put together.
 
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