Tagine style Chicken

I saw this on 30 minutes meals with Rachel Ray a couple years ago. It seemed fun and exotic. And if you can look over the Rachel Ray aspect of the dish, it really is very good. I made it with leftover Roasted chicken and I put some in another pan to let the vegetarians have some with tofu. This is so good, Anthony even ate the tofu. I know, I didn't really come up with this recipe, but it is too good not to try it.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed beneath the flat of your knife with the heel of your hand, discard skins
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large bite-size pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick) or coarse salt and coarse pepper
• 2 medium or 1 large yellow skinned onion, quartered and sliced
• 10 pitted prunes, coarsely chopped
• 1-ounce box or 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups good quality, low sodium chicken stock, available in paper containers on soup aisle

Spice blend:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika, eyeball it
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, eyeball it
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric, eyeball it
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, a couple pinches

Couscous:

• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
• 2 scallions, finely chopped

Directions

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, in a slow stream, and add smashed garlic. Season the chicken with seasoning blend. Scatter chicken around the pan in an even layer. Cook chicken pieces 2 minutes on each side to brown, then add the onions, prunes, raisins and stock. Mix spices in a small dish and scatter over the pot. Cover and reduce to moderate heat. Cook 7 or 8 minutes, remove the lid and stir.

To prepare the couscous, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add couscous, extra-virgin olive oil and scallions and remove the couscous from the stove immediately. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork.

Uncover chicken and cook another 2 to 3 minutes to thicken slightly. Adjust the seasoning, to taste, and serve chicken on a bed of couscous.

I served this with Couscous, hummus, pita bread and a simple cucumber tomato salad. Erin thought it needed some red pepper flakes...Imagine that.

Groundnut Stew or groundnut chop

Groundnut is the common African word for peanut, and Groundnut Stew or Groundnut Chop is one of many "Chop" dishes served in Africa. I was watching Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservation" and he was in Ghana. During the trip they stopped at a Chop Cafe and I just wanted to have some of that. It seems that some of my cooking lately has been inspired by Anthony Bourdain's adventures. So here is my version of groundnut stew.


Gather together:
1 medium onion (diced)
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
a few stocks of celery
1 bunch of carrots
1 red pepper
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tsp ground ginger

Saute those items in a large stock pot.



In another pot at the same time cook 3 large, sweet potatoes cut in to medium chunks .



In the tomato pan, add 1 cup of natural creamy peanut butter or if you live in the Alaskan Bush and refuse to pay $18 for peanut butter you can use Flavorite Brand for $7.99. Stir that until it turns in to a bubbling goo. Add a can of chilies and your favorite vegetable or chicken stock. Simmer this on medium-lowfor about 30 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes to the pot. Add salt and red pepper flakes to taste.

I served this with hard boiled eggs cooked in the stew--leave the shell on and place in the stew for the 30 minutes. I also served it with rice, avocados, flat bread and red pepper chili sauce. I also made roast chicken in the crock pot and shredded it and put it on top.


Chicken can be fried in the pan before the vegetables, but since Anthony and Erin were coming over, I made it on the side.


This is pretty good. It has a light peanut flavor. You can make this as spicy as you like. I like it spicy, but Aaron isn't so much with the level of spice I am comfortable with. This tastes awesome with beer. I am not normally a beer drinker, but this just brings it out. This is just easy to make and is filling.


If you are interested in other groundnut stews, check out this link.