Moroccan-Style Chicken

We love the spices of Moroccan food and one of our favorite memories of visiting Morocco was going to the market and buying spices to bring home with us. We also bought a tajine while we were in Morocco, but we chose to use a slow cooker for this recipe. Obviously, you can use a Dutch oven or tajine if you prefer. In addition to the spices, this dish also features olives and raisins, which again reminds of our time in Southern Spain as well as Morocco. Especially when cooking with olives, it is important to use high-quality olives whose flavor you really enjoy. We used olives stuffed with pimentos, which just added to the flavor of the dish. The chicken turned out tender and even though there are a lot of spices, it is certainly not a spicy dish. We did the recipe just for the two of us, but it can easily be increased to serve a crowd.

Spice Vendor in the Moroccan Market
Spices for the Moroccan-Style Chicken

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Large Chicken Thighs
  • 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp All-Spice
  • 1/4 tsp Salt or to taste – but don’t over salt as the olives are salty as well
  • 1/8 tsp Fennel Seeds – crushed
  • 1 dash of Fresh Nutmeg – about 3 or 4 scrapes of the nutmeg across a micro-plane
  • 1/2 Yellow Onion – roughly chopped
  • 1 1/2 cloves Garlic – minced
  • 1/2 cup Olives Stuffed with Pimentos – cut in half
  • 1/4 cup Golden Raisins
  • 1/2 Fresh Lemon (or 1 small Lemon) – thinly sliced
  • 2 to 3 cups Chicken Stock – just enough to cover the chicken
  • Basmati Rice – cooked to the package directions
  • Parsley for garnish
Everything in the Slow Cooker

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix all of the spices in a small bowl to combine thoroughly. Spray the inside of a slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add the onion and place the chicken thighs on top of the onion. Cover the chicken with the spice mixture, being sure to thoroughly coat the the chicken with the spices. Add the garlic, olives, raisins, lemon, and add the chicken stock just until the chicken is covered. Cook on low for 5 hours, stirring once close to the end of cooking. Serve over Basmati rice.

Large Variety of Olives in the Moroccan Market
Spice Mix
Spiced Chicken
Adding the Olives and Raisins
Moroccan-Style Chicken over Basmati Rice

Middle Eastern Spinach Pie

Spinach and cheese pies can be found in a variety of locations, but they are common in the Middle East where they are made as a single serving pie called Fatayer. We made ours as a larger pie that serves about four people. It is quite tasty and while we had it for a main dish, it can also be served as a side dish with a meat such as lamb. We have seen variations of this using Filo dough as well as Feta cheese, but we used puff pastry sheets and a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. It can be made as a Vegan dish with some slight modifications. We cooked down fresh spinach, but it can be done with frozen spinach if you prefer. We found it to be quite delicious.

Melting the Cheese into the Spinach

INGREDIENTS

  •  2 lbs Fresh Baby Spinach – stems removed
  •  2 Medium Shallots – finely diced
  •  2 Garlic Cloves – minced
  •  4 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese – grated
  •  4 oz Mozzarella Cheese – cut into small cubes
  •  1 tsp Dried Dill
  •  1 Pinch of Fresh Nutmeg
  •  2 Sheets of Puff Pastry (cut to fit the baking dish)
  •  1/8 cup Roasted Almonds
  •  1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
  •  1 tsp Cumin Powder
  •  1 large Egg – beaten
  •  2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
  •  Salt and Pepper to taste

Baby Spinach

INSTRUCTIONS

Toast the coriander seeds in a small sauté pan over medium heat for about 1 minute. In a spice mixer or blender, combine the almonds, coriander seeds, and cumin and pulse until the ingredients are blended and the almonds are ground into small bits. Don’t grind it to a powder as you will want to have the crunchy texture. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, sauté the shallots and garlic in the butter until the shallots are soft, being sure not to burn the garlic. Add the spinach in batches until it is fully cooked down (you might need to add additional butter). Stir in the dill, nutmeg, as well as salt and pepper. Turn the heat off and let it cool slightly, then add the cheeses and stir until the cheese is fully integrated. Spray a glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Place a sheet of puff pastry on the bottom of the baking dish. Spoon the spinach mixture over the pastry sheet, leaving about an inch border. Place the second puff pastry sheet on top of the spinach and pinch the edges of the top sheet with the edges of the bottom sheet. Brush the edges of the top pastry sheet with the egg wash. Cover the center of the pie with the almond-spice mixture. Cut into individual size pieces and bake in the oven until golden-brown, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Baked Spinach Pie

Nut and Spice Mixture

Fresh Cheese

Sauté the Shallots and Garlic

Wilt the Spinach

Spinach Mixture on the Pastry Sheet

Ready to Bake

Delicious Dinner

 

Spicy Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Hot

There are certain places that you travel to where the use of spices is quite abundant. Needless to say, with rare exceptions all food has some sort of spices in it, even if it is just salt and pepper. Some places, though, go way beyond a few common ingredients and use a wide variety of spices in them. We really enjoy eating foods that have a variety of spices and have a sense of being exotic. Clearly it isn’t for everyone and we also enjoy foods that are spicy in the sense of heat as well. Since we try to recreate dishes from places that we travel, here are a few of the spicy dishes that we have previously prepared, in no particular order.

  1. Asian Roasted Duck – Not as complicated as it sounds and truly delicious.

    Asian Duck
  2. Spicy Chicken Curry – Definitional a traditional favorite.

    Spicy Chicken Curry
  3. Indian Butter Chicken – Cooking it in a slow-cooker makes it tender and flavorful.

    Indian Butter Chicken
  4. Tandoori Chicken – An exotic reminder of our trip to India.

    Tandoori Chicken and Fried Eggplant
  5. Spaghetti Arrabbiata – One of our favorite meals from, of all places, Frankfurt.

    Our Version of Spaghetti Arrabbiata
  6. Lamb Biryani – Well worth the effort and we decided to give it a little bit of heat.

    Lamb Biryani over Basmati Rice
  7. Moroccan Chicken – Cooked in a tajine, it is a one pot meal that is perfect for two.

    Moroccan Chicken in a Tajine