At last, this
weekend allowed me time to think about what I wanted, adapt an idea and that
all important spare time, to sit down and blog.
Whilst the
weather was still warm I wanted something tasty, fresh, with a little heat and
a nod towards North Africa . Although I’m not a
big fan of food from that region this ticks all the boxes. Light, yet full of
flavour, paprika adds depth and the tang from the lemon is marvellous. The
olives give a bite of saltiness whilst all the time there’s a heady combination
of tomatoes and cinnamon running through it. Something light like Rice ( in
this case laced with cardamom) or couscous goes perfectly
8 Boneless
Chicken Thighs
2 Onions Chopped
4 cloves of
Garlic Chopped
Thumb size piece
of Ginger finely chopped
2 Tbsp of Paprika
1 Tsp Tumeric
Pinch of Cayenne
Pepper
900 ml Chicken
Stock
Juice ½ Lemon
150g Green pitted
olives, halved
1 tin of Sainsbury’s
Pomodori D’Oro Plum Tomatoes (Normal Plum
tomatoes will do)
3 Preserved
Lemons, Skin only chopped
1 Cinnamon Stick
Salt and Pepper
Add the dry
spices, salt, pepper and 2 tbsps of oil to a large dish add, the chicken
pieces, coat the chicken well, cover and leave for an hour, or overnight if
possible
Heat the oven to
160 degrees. In a flameproof casserole dish add 2 tbsp of olive oil, place on
the heat and fry the chicken, in batches, until golden then remove to a plate
Add the onions to
the pan, and fry until soft, stir though the garlic and ginger, fry for one
minute more. Pour the stock into the dish the chicken marinated in and stir
gently to collect all of the marinade. Pour this into the casserole dish along
with the lemon juice and tomatoes.
Add the chicken
to the pan along with the cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil, cover and place in
the oven for around 2-3 hours. Stir around every 20 mins or so. With about an
hour to go and the chopped lemons and Olives, season to taste.
When you’re
ready, remove from the oven, taste season if required. If it’s not spicy enough
add some chopped chilli, or if its too much the other way serve with plain
yoghurt
This goes, with
rice, flatbread, bread, couscous, anything really and of course bushels of
coriander
