Chicken Tajin Food

MOROCCAN CHICKEN TAGINE

Steps:

• Combine the spices in a small bowl and set aside. Zest the lemon. Combine 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest with 1 minced garlic clove; set aside.
• Season both sides of chicken pieces with 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or pan over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke. Brown the chicken pieces skin side down in single layer until deep golden, about 5 minutes; using tongs, flip the chicken pieces over and brown the other side, about 4 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a large plate; when cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and discard. Pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have browned at the edges but still retain their shape, 5 to 7 minutes (add a few tablespoons of water now and then if the pan gets too dark). Add the remaining minced garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spices and flour and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the broth, honey, remaining lemon zest, and ¼ teaspoon salt, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Add the chicken (with any accumulated juices) back in, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the carrots, cover, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots are tender-crisp, about 10 minutes more.
• Stir in the olives, reserved lemon zest-garlic mixture, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice; taste the sauce and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired. Serve with couscous.
• Note: Don't fret too much over trimming the chicken thighs. The skin gets removed midway through the cooking process and most of the fat will cook off and get drained. I usually just take kitchen shears and quickly snip off any excess skin or fat. Cracked green olives are olives that have been 'cracked' or split open before curing, allowing the brine or marinade to penetrate. You can find them in your supermarket's olive bar, or substitute any green olive that you like.
• Make-Ahead: After you have completed the step of cooking the carrots, the dish can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. To serve, gently warm on the stove until the chicken is heated through, then proceed to the step where the olives and remaining ingredients are added.

CHICKEN TAGINE

Steps:

• Pat the chicken dry, and season well with salt and pepper.
• Heat the butter and olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and brown the chicken on all sides. Add the onion, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and cook until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and add the garlic and stir for a minute. Increase heat and deglaze with wine, stirring, and allowing it to bubble. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes, then remove the chicken and set aside.
• To the sauce, add the lemon, olives, parsley, and cilantro and then return the chicken to the pot. Heat for 5 more minutes and serve over couscous.
• Place the lemons, 2 to 3 tablespoons salt, peppercorns, and lemon juice in a quart jar and cover with water. Store chilled for 3 weeks.

CHICKEN TAGINE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the oil to a large pan and heat over medium-high. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until the skins are brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.
• Add the onions, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger and turmeric and cook just until the onions start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the lemon slices, lemon juice, harissa, chicken broth and olives, then stir to combine. Nestle the chicken back into the pan, skin-side up.
• Place in the oven, uncovered, and cook until the chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Season to taste. Scatter the cilantro and almonds over the top. Serve over the couscous.

TAJíN GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Prepare a grill for medium-high, direct heat; clean the grates well, then brush them with vegetable oil. Alternatively, heat a grill pan on medium-high and brush the pan with oil.
• Arrange the chicken on a sheet tray and generously season both sides with salt. Whisk together the agave syrup, orange juice, orange zest, chipotles, adobo, garlic, olive oil and Tajín in a medium bowl.
• Brush both sides of the chicken with the Tajín sauce. Grill the chicken, turning and basting often with the Tajín sauce, until cooked through, charred but brick red and glazed, 7 to 9 minutes. Grill the scallions, turning occasionally, until lightly charred on all sides, about 5 minutes.
• Serve the chicken with the grilled scallions, topped with cilantro.

EASY CHICKEN TAGINE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large, wide pan with a lid, add the chicken, then fry quickly until lightly coloured. Add the onion and ginger, then fry for a further 2 mins.
• Add 150ml water, the saffron, honey and carrots, season, then stir well. Bring to the boil, cover tightly, then simmer for 30 mins until the chicken is tender. Uncover and increase the heat for about 5 mins to reduce the sauce a little. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN TAJINE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix the garlic, cumin, ginger, paprika, salt and pepper, 1/2 cup grated onion, and the oil.
• Rinse the preserved lemons, and remove the pulp. RESERVE the lemon peel for later use.
• Add the lemon pulp to the mixing bowl. Add the chicken. Mix everything together and place in a large plastic bag to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. (Twenty-four hours really gives the chicken the best flavor.)
• In a large Dutch oven or casserole, place the chicken and marinade; add the stems of the parsley and cilantro, the rest of the grated onion, the powdered saffron and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, turn down to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
• Remove the cover, stir the chicken and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
• Remove the chicken to a serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm. Keep sauce on stove and begin to reduce.
• Slice the preserved lemon peel into thin slices and add to the sauce along with the olives, parsley and cilantro. Reduce until the sauce is just a little thick. This shouldn't take more than 5 minutes at most.
• Uncover the chicken and remove the skin from the chicken. (It doesn't look pretty and who needs the extra fat.) Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

TAJIN CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat grill to high.
• Coat the chicken evenly with the seasoning.
• Place the chicken tenderloins on the hot grill. Reduce heat to medium. Grill for 3 minutes and then flip.
• Grill the second side for 3 minutes.
• At this point, the chicken should be cooked through. It really depends on the size of the chicken tenderloins. If needed cook for an additional minute or two until the internal temperature reaches 160.

NORTH AFRICAN CHICKEN TAGINE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C/gas 4. Cut each chicken breast in half, then season all the chicken. Heat the oil in a mediumsize ovenproof casserole dish. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and brown well all over - you can do it in batches. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Lower heat slightly, add the shallots to the pan and cook until golden brown all over. Add the garlic and grated ginger and cook for 30 secs before adding all the spices and cooking for 1 min more.
• Throw the butternut squash into the pan and stir to coat in the spices. Arrange the chicken, skin side uppermost, on top of the shallots and squash. Pour over the stock and drizzle in the honey. Bring to a gentle simmer, then transfer to the oven to bake for 40 mins until tender. Scatter with the coriander and serve with couscous and a bowl of harissa, if you like.

DANIEL BOULUD'S CHICKEN TAGINE

Steps:

• Combine the spices in a dry sauté pan set over low heat, and toast them gently until they release their fragrance, 2 minutes or so. Transfer to a bowl, and allow to cool.
• Preheat oven to 350. Season the chicken thighs with the salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the spice mix, along with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, and set a large bowl of ice water to the side. Core the tomatoes, and score an X on their bottoms. Boil the cauliflower florets in the water for 3 minutes, then submerge them in the ice water. Boil the tomatoes for 20 seconds, and chill them in the ice water as well. Remove the cauliflower when it is cold, and pat the florets dry. Peel the skin off the tomatoes, then cut them into quarters lengthwise. Trim away the seeds to make petals.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium heat, and sear the chicken in batches, starting skin-side down, until the thighs are browned. Remove the chicken to a large Dutch oven or tagine pot. Remove all but two tablespoons of the fat in pan, then return it to the heat, and brown the cauliflower and add to the chicken.
• Reduce heat below the pan, and add the onion, garlic, ginger and saffron. Cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and chicken stock, and simmer until reduced by 1/3.
• Pour sauce over the chicken and cauliflower, cover the pot and transfer to oven for 20 minutes. Remove, stir in the tomatoes, preserved lemon and olives, then cover the pot again and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve the chicken in the pot, garnished with the cilantro leaves, with couscous. Reserve remaining spice mix for the next batch or another use. It keeps well in a sealed container.

CHICKEN TAGINE WITH APRICOTS AND ALMONDS

Steps:

• Stir together ground cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add chicken and turn to coat well.
• Heat butter and 1 tablespoon oil in base of tagine (or in skillet), uncovered, over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then brown half of chicken, skin sides down, turning over once, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Brown remaining chicken in same manner, adding any spice mixture left in bowl.
• Add onion and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to tagine and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Tie cilantro and parsley into a bundle with kitchen string and add to tagine along with 1/2 cup water, chicken, and any juices accumulated on plate. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.
• While chicken cooks, bring honey, remaining cup water, cinnamon stick, and apricots to a boil in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until apricots are very tender (add more water if necessary). Once apricots are tender, simmer until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 10 to 15 minutes.
• While apricots cook, heat remaining 1/4 cup oil in a small skillet over moderate heat and cook almonds, stirring occasionally, until just golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• Ten minutes before chicken is done, add apricot mixture to tagine. Discard herbs and cinnamon stick, then serve chicken sprinkled with almonds on top.