Best 7 Moroccan Lemon Chicken With Olives Recipes

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH LEMON AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Stir in parsley, cilantro: Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with couscous, rice, or rice pilaf .

STOVETOP MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Ahead of time if possible, combine the chicken with the onion, garlic, herbs, and spices, including half of the saffron. (Reserve the rest of the saffron for adding to the sauce at a later time.) If time allows, cover and leave the chicken to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.
• When ready to cook, transfer the chicken and onions (scrape every last bit out of your bowl) to a heavy-bottomed pot, deep skillet or Dutch oven. Cover and cook the chicken over medium or medium-low heat, gently stirring and turning the chicken every 15 minutes or so, until the chicken is tender enough to pinch off the bones. (This will take approximately one hour, but longer if using a free range chicken). Keep the heat adjusted so that the chicken doesn't scorch, and only add a little water if you feel you must. Typically the chicken will braise in its own juices.
• When the chicken is cooked, carefully transfer it to a plate and cover.
• Continue cooking the onion mixture and sauce over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquids evaporate and the onions can be mashed into a blended mass which separates from the oils. If your onions do not appear to be melding, you can give a few pulses with an immersion blender, but do not overprocess.
• Add the preserved lemon, olives, the rest of the saffron, and a few tablespoons of water, and simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot to heat through, or place under the broiler to brown the skin.
• Place the chicken on a serving platter, pour the onion sauce over the top and sides, and garnish the top of the chicken with the quartered lemon and some olives.
• For casual meals, consider garnishing the chicken with a handful or two of french fries (patate frite), which may also be offered as a traditional side.
• Moroccan tradition is to eat by hand, using crusty Moroccan bread for soaking up the sauce.

MOROCCAN LEMON CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat the oil a medium straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Dry the chicken breasts well and sprinkle evenly with the salt. Place the breasts skin-side down in the hot pan and cook undisturbed until deep golden brown, about 6 minutes. Using tongs, flip the chicken to the bone side and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Remove to a plate while you build the sauce.
• In the same pan, add the shallots and sweat, stirring occasionally, for a minute. Add the preserved lemon, olives and sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Deglaze with the white wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 3 minutes to reduce slightly. Add the chicken broth and return to a simmer. Add the oregano and the chicken back to the sauce. Spoon some of the liquid over the chicken. Cover the pan and simmer gently until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees F, about 25 minutes. Allow the chicken to rest in the sauce for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley.
• Serve the chicken with a generous helping of the sauce and sprinkled with chive blossoms if using.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON AND OLIVES - D'JAJ M'QUALLI B' DAGHMIRA

Steps:

• Make the marinade: In a small glass, top the saffron threads with 1/4 cup of hot water and set aside for about 10 min. Stir in salt, turmeric, ginger pepper and smen.
• Cut the chicken into pieces and transfer them a large bowl. Add the marinade, turning and rubbing each piece to coat it thoroughly. Cover and let it absorb the spices for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.
• Transfer the chicken and marinade to a deep cooking pot with a heavy bottom (or a tagine). Add the giblets, the finely chopped onions, garlic, and the rest of the spices. Top with 1/4 cup of water.
• Bring to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat while tossing the meat a few times. You may cover the pot during this step and uncover it to stir.
• When the water seems to have mostly evaporated and the meat has changed color from all sides, add the oil and enough hot water to cover 2/3 to 3/4 of the chicken.
• Cover and let simmer until the chicken is cooked through and has become tender to the touch. The liquid should have mostly reduced by now. Regularly check the bottom of the pot to prevent any burning or stickiness.
• If the chicken has cooked and you are still left with a good amount of liquid, remove the chicken, cover with foil or cling film, and leave on the side while you carry on with the rest of the recipe.
• There are two ways depending on the type of onions used; this will define when to add most of them during the cooking process. Some onions are more watery then others and tend to melt in a short time; while cooking we hardly need to add water to the dish. Whichever way you go, 1 chopped onion is always cooked with the chicken from the beginning of the cooking.
• Method I: Cook chicken and all onions at the same time, then fish out the chicken once it becomes tender. Reduce the sauce and keep stirring until you get a silky onion gravy.
• Method II: Cook chicken with only 1 chopped onion; remove the cooked chicken then add the other 2 chopped onions and cook them in the sauce, When they become tender and cooked through, toss and break them with a spatula until you get a silky onion paste (the daghmira). It will start separating from the oil when ready.
• Par-boil the chicken livers for 10 to 15 minutes and discard the scum. (You may optionally flavor the water with 1/2 tsp of each of the following: chopped garlic, ground pepper, salt, ginger.) Drain the livers, rinse and set aside.
• Take some of the sauce and cook the livers separately for another 15 min. This is a good idea when you have a mixed table where some don't like them and others do. If you have no picky eaters around, just chuck them in the sauce after you cook the chicken and let them cook as the sauce reduces.
• Again, you may choose to leave them in one piece. In this case, fish them out and put them on the side, covered as they may darken and dry out in contact with air. But you can also grate them or crush them into the daghmira for a thick and richer consistency.
• In the cooking pot: The traditional way of making this dish requires sauteing or frying (rissoler is the French word that comes to mind) the cooked chicken in the oil that separates from the daghmira. We put the chicken back in the oil over medium heat and turn it until golden brown; the chicken remains moist inside. The word m'qualli takes its name from this method.
• In the oven: In recent decades, some have moved to browning the chicken in the oven while we work on the daghmira. If you choose this option, just glaze it with some of the oil from the sauce and brown it for 20 minutes at 400 F/200 C, turning it a couple of times to brown it evenly. A whole chicken might take up to 30 min.
• Traditionally, we start by pouring the marqa (sauce) onto the serving plate then we place the chicken then livers and giblets on top. We coat the top of the chicken with daghmira (the onion paste) and garnish with olives and the rinds of preserved lemon. If we choose to serve this dish with fries, we scatter them on top or arrange them around the chicken.
• If you have used a tagine to cook, you just need to place it directly in the middle of the table as probably the order of chicken and daghmira would be the opposite (daghmira and sauce on the bottom and around while the chicken takes center stage).
• Always serve this dish warm.

MOROCCAN LEMON CHICKEN WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• In food processor, finely chop onion & garlic.
• Dredge chicken in flour.
• In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, then saute chicken & onion mixture until mixture has softened, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in 1/2 cup water, the saffron, ginger, cumin, paprika, salt & lemon zest.
• Bring to boil, then reduce heat & simmer, covered, 35 minutes.
• Remove chicken from sauce & allow to cool a few minutes.
• Cut chicken into small pieces, then put meat back into sauce.
• To the sauce add lemon juice, olives, cilantro & pepper, & simmer gently 5 minutes.
• While chicken is cooking, in a medium saucepan bring 3/4 cup of water to a boil.
• Add couscous & bring back to a boil, then remove from heat & allow to sit for 5 minutes.
• Spoon chicken mixture over couscous & serve.

MOROCCAN LEMON CHICKEN WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• In a food processor, finely chop onion and garlic. Dredge chicken in flour.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Saute chicken and onion mixture until mixture has softened, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in one cup water, saffron, ginger, cumin, paprika, salt and lemon peel.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 35 minutes. Remove chicken from sauce and allow to cool a few minutes.
• Debone chicken and cut meat into small pieces. Put meat back into sauce with the lemon juice, olives, cilantro and pepper. Simmer gently 5 minutes.
• While the chicken is cooking, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the couscous and bring back to a boil.
• Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
• Spoon chicken mixture over couscous and serve.

CHICKEN TAGINE WITH OLIVES AND PRESERVED LEMONS

Steps:

• Mix garlic, saffron, ginger, paprika, cumin and turmeric together. If not using kosher chicken, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add pepper to taste. Rub chicken with mixture, cover, refrigerate and marinate 3 to 4 hours.
• Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add chicken, and brown on all sides. Remove to platter. Add onions to skillet, and cook over medium-low heat about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to tagine, if you are using one, or leave in skillet. Add cinnamon stick.
• Put chicken on onions. Scatter with olives. Quarter the lemons, remove pulp and cut skin in strips. Scatter over chicken. Mix stock and lemon juice. Pour over chicken.
• Cover tagine or skillet. Place over low heat, and cook about 30 minutes, until chicken is done. Scatter parsley on top, and serve.