Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives

Recently I gave a recipe for preserving lemons, Moroccan style. If you happened to make some at the time, they should be ready now to use in today's dish.

One of the easiest ways to get a Moroccan flavour into your cooking is to invest in a spice blend called Ras el Hanout. This literally means "top of the shop‚" and Moroccan spice merchants each have their own special blend. This could include Spanish Fly and hashish but the blends you're likely to encounter probably won't be quite that exotic.

A typical blend could include cardamom, mace, galangal, long pepper, cubebs, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, rose buds, lavender flowers, grains of paradise, black pepper, turmeric, cassia, nigella, monk's pepper, paprika, cumin, dill seed, caraway, saffron, cayenne and orris root. If you can't find any in the specialist spice section of your supermarket or deli, Ras el Hanout can be purchased online from www.shopnewzealand.co.nz.

800g skinned and boned organic chicken thighs
1 to 2 tablespoons Ras el Hanout
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup black olives, pitted and halved
2 medium tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped
1 preserved lemon
toasted almond flakes (optional)

Halve the chicken thighs. Rolls them in the spice mix and set aside in refrigerator for about three hours to season. Brown the chicken piece in the oil and remove to a lidded casserole dish.

Saute the onion till tender then deglaze the pan with the chicken stock. Add the stock to the meat along with the olives and tomato.

Remove the pulp from the preserved lemon. Roughly chop the skin and add to the casserole.

Bake at 180C for an hour or until the chicken is tender. Check seasoning at the end to see if any salt is required. The olives may prove sufficient. Thicken with a little flour and water if desired.

Serve with couscous and sprinkle the finished dish with the almond flakes.