Chicken and preserved lemon tagine

Made this scrummy tagine at the weekend which comes courtesy of Jamie Oliver’s new tv series: Jamies does… I think this is from the Moroccan episode, i found it on the Times Online website. It sounds like a bit of a faff when you look at the ingredients list but it was well worth it.

I don’t have a traditional tagine dish to make this in (although id like one!) so I used a big casserole pan with a lid. I cooked it for longer than the recommended time because I was out and about- Jamie says 1 ½ hrs on the hob at a low heat, I put mine in the oven at 100oC for more like 4hrs, and it worked perfectly. Actually, this would be really handy for a dinner party as all you would need to do at the last minute is the couscous!

I also omitted the olives because Nick doesn’t like them! But if you want to add them in its 100gms black and green olives, make sure they’re stoned, and put them in at the same time as the lemons.

Jamie says this serves four to six people and if you only like small portions it would probably do, but in reality it served one mildy hungry girl and a boy that eats enough for two!

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg) jointed into four pieces
• Olive oil
• 1 large bulb of fennel
• 2 small onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• A small bunch of fresh coriander
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 2-3 small preserved lemons, deseeded and chopped
• A good pinch of saffron
• 500ml hot chicken stock

For the spice rub

• 1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds, bashed up
• level teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. 1.Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a bowl with the chicken and olive oil. Massage well and leave to marinate for a couple of hours or over night.
2. When you’re ready to cook, heat some olive oil in a tagine or casserole dish on the hob and fry the chicken pieces over a medium to high heat, skin side down first, for about 5 to 10 minutes until golden brown.
3. While the chicken fries, chop each fennel bulb into 8 wedges, and add these to the pan along with the onions, coriander stalks and garlic. Stir well and fry for a couple more minutes, then mix in the preserved lemons and saffron.
4. Pour in the hot stock, give everything a good stir, then cover with a lid or foil and simmer on a low heat for 1½ hours on the hob, or 4hrs in the oven at 100oC, until the meat starts to fall away from the bone.
5. Halfway through, have a check and give it a stir. Add a splash of water if it looks dry.
6. Stir in the chopped coriander leaves and serve the tagine with some couscous cooked according to the instructions on the packet (should only take 5 mins).