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Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

moroccan chicken thighs

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… as many of you will know it’s always a heart-stopping moment when someone tells you they’ve made one of your recipes… you hold your breath for one, long, drawn-out moment… until they tell you that it was a huge success and everyone loved it…

… I realise that this may come across as rather smug but when I started this blog, other than the obvious push for world domination, I never actually thought for one moment that any of you would turn your hand to one of my dishes, so when the praises for my chicken thigh yakitori came shuffling in I was a little surprised but rather chuffed and it got me thinking about expanding my love for chicken thighs to a little world tour of flavours…

… so we’ll start with North Africa shall we…?

moroccan chicken thighs
in a bid not to alienate my vegetarian friends I have created a veggie version of this dish… The Viking gives it his thumbs up even though there’s a lot of sweet and savoury going on… which is a big deal as you know… it all gets prepped in one big bowl and then poured on top of the chicken thighs or veggie substitute, so no grumbling in the back…

for the marinade
2 medium onions – roughly chopped
2 medium carrots – roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery – roughly chopped
a handful of mushrooms – quartered
5 or 6 cloves of garlic – un-peeled (unless you can be bothered)
1 x 450g tin of chickpeas
1 x 250g tin of chopped tomatoes
a glass of white wine
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp apricot jam
a handful of olives (I used the fresh, ready pitted ones from the supermarket)
a handful of dried prunes – chopped (I wanted to use apricots but the prunes were in my cupboard)
a handful of almond slivers
some olive oil, salt and pepper

6 chicken thighs or the veggie equivalent (I have used some Quorn ‘chicken’ style portions as I find they take on flavours really well and have a good texture, they also stood up really well to the slow roasting)

– pre-heat the oven to 120C (slow roast) or 180C (fast roast)

– take a very large bow and mix all the ingredients for the marinade together

– if you’re just doing chicken thighs, add them in at this stage… if you’re doing a veggie version as well, then portion the mixture into 2 individual roasting trays and add the ‘meat’

– wrap the roasting trays tightly in foil and roast for 6 hours

– after 5 and a half hours take the foil off, add the almond slivers and turn the heat up to 200 and roast for  the final 30 mins until golden

– if you don’t have a long lazy day to make this, 2 hours at 180C will do it justice.

eat and of course enjoy!

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Comments

  5. Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

    Am highly amused but the prospect of a world tour of chicken thighs… can there be any country that doesn't eat chicken?

    Moroccan dish looks wonderful, I love that sweet and spicy mix with olives and stuff. Now all you need is a tagine!

  6. Kavey says

    I looove when people try my recipes, it's a huge thrill. Of course, most thrilling when it's one I've developed myself… but still very nice when people make ones I've shared from books, as I do add my own tips and comments and experiences making them, my own pictures of all the steps and it's my post that's “sold” the dish to them, on that occasion. Definitely a thrill!

  7. Corina says

    I also love it when people try my recipes. I'd love this too as North African is one of my favourite cuisines.

  9. Karen S Booth says

    There is nothing nicer than a Moroccan thigh and I am lover of all things spicy and tagine-ish! I also LOVE the buzz when you see someone has made my recipe and then blogged it too!
    Next stop, French thighs maybe?
    Karen

  10. Mark Willis says

    Sounds great to me Dom, with one exception – I have a personal aversion to cooked olives. I love them cold but, cooked, no.
    And me being who I am, I'd want to add some Harissa…

  12. Michael Toa says

    Looks utterly delicious Dom and what beautiful colours. Love chicken thighs. I know that nervous feeling. Scary, but wonderful when my friends enjoyed the recipe.

  14. Javelin Warrior says

    Dom, this sounds delicious but looks even better 😉 And with all these flavors, I'm guessing it would be possible to get away with just chickpeas and mushrooms if I wanted to skip the chicken… Oh, the possibilities =)

  19. From Beyond My Kitchen Window says

    I think I told you this before, but it might be worth saying it again. You should write a cookbook on just your chicken thigh recipes. Think of all the wonderful chicken dishes you have made. Chicken thighs are so much moister and less expensive than the drier chix breast. You would do such a good job on it. Like the Viking, you have a really nice writing style. I am going to make this chicken dish this coming weekend. I'll let you know how it came out.

  21. Chele says

    That chicken looks amazing – suddenly my cottage cheese on toast for dinner doesn't seem quite so appealing!

  25. Javelin Warrior says

    Dom, I've already expressed my love for this chicken, but I figured I'd drop by again and let you know I am featuring this post in today's Friday Food Fetish roundup (with a link-back and attribution). The rustic combination of colors, flavors and prep-ease appeals to me greatly. Always a pleasure to follow your food…

  27. From Beyond My Kitchen Window says

    This was delicious. I couldn't take a decent picture because it was suppertime and too dark. I had to make a few changes. I bought dates instead of prunes by mistake and used green olives instead of black. The cinnamon was cut in half because I was afraid to use that much. Next time I will use the whole amount. I have to say so far I have made two of your chicken dishes. The smell of both dishes is awesome. Spring break from college was this week for one of my kids and he was pacing in the kitchen. I had to yell at him for opening up the oven door every 5 minutes. Thanks Dom, I will make this one again and again. Just yummy!!!

  29. bangermashchat says

    After the overwhelming success of your chicken thigh Yakitori, I cooked your Moroccan chicken thighs the other night. They were pretty good but perhaps just a little too sweet. I'll make it again but I think I'd leave out the jam and carrots next time, and perhaps dry roast the spices a little first. Still looking forward to trying out your other chicken thigh recipes though!

  30. Elizabeth says

    I made this tonight omitting the mushrooms and olives (I didn't have any) and I served it with orange, raisin and almond couscous. A fantastic recipe indeed!