Ras el hanout chicken meatballs and israeli couscous stew

The inspiration behind this post came about two days ago, when Virginie at Chefnini (if you don't know her yet, she is an amazing cook! She posts exclusively in French however) posted an entry on couscous-flavored meatballs. Couscous as in the north-african stew dish, not just the grain, of course! I thought this was such a genious idea that I decided to adapt it to the pound of chicken I had waiting to be transformed into deliciousness in the fridge.

Here's what I came up with, with whatever was around in my pantry.



Note: Sorry guys, no step by step photos for this one. I concocted this on a whim, with no natural day light so there was no point... Still, hope you will try (and like) this recipe!

INGREDIENTS (3-4 people):
- 3 chicken breasts
- 1 shallot
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp ras el hanout (click here for a recipe)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (more or less, depending on the moisture level)
- 1 egg
- one 15oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup israeli couscous
- fresh cilantro

RECIPE:
- chop the shallot, garlic and chicken very finely with a food processor (or meat grinder if you're lucky enough to have one!)
- add an egg to the mixture and mix thoroughly
- add the spices, salt and pepper and adjust moisture level with the flour, until you are satified with the texture
- form into small meatballs and dredge in flour
- brown the meatballs in a little bit of olive oil and butter, over high heat
- when the meatballs are golden brown (but still raw inside), add the can of tomatoes with the juice, the broth and israeli couscous
- bring back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered on low for about 15-20 minutes, or until the meatballs and couscous are cooked through
- if the stew gets too dry before the couscous is cooked, add some warm water (I personally like this stew a bit on the liquid side)
- serve piping hot and sprinkled with chopped fresh cilantro
- enjoy!

Ras el hanout - Moroccan spice blend

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground allspice (I only had berries, so I ground them with a pestle and mortar)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves

RECIPE:
- don't blink, you might miss it...
- ready?
- mix everything together!

Preserved lemons and olives chicken Tajine (Moroccan chicken stew)

Soooo.... the rationale behind my cooking this dish, you'll ask?

Very simple: two summers ago, I made salted preserved lemons (I don't have a specific recipe on this blog, but you can find plenty online :) it's fairly simple: lemons, salt, water and a bay leaf ) just for the fun of it. Now, two years later, the lemons were crowding my fridge and I had no idea what to do with them...

The second thing is that as a single person, it is rather expensive to cook nice food, just for me. So I'm always on the lookout for recipes that will feed me for a long time (i.e. that keep well, freeze well, etc...), that are (relatively) healthy and don't cost me an arm!

As I was browsing through the supermarket the other day, there was a super sale on chicken thighs. I bought a pack of 10 (TEN!), and had the idea of a tajine to use up both that bulk of poultry and my lemons :) The moment I got back home, I googled chicken tajine recipes, and found this one, which I then tweaked and adapted into: TA-DA!


INGREDIENTS (for 5 people, or 1 with TONS of leftovers!):
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 10 chicken thighs (skin on, bone in)
- 2 onions, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, grated
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 preserved lemons, quartered
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
- water (about 8 cups)
- 2 tsp ras el hanout (morrocan spice blend, click here for the recipe)
- 1 jar of pitted green olives, drained
- salt, pepper


RECIPE (about 2 hours from start to finish):
- heat the olive oil over high heat, put the chicken skin side down first and turn until golden on all sides. Reserve the chicken on a plate until later. Work in batches, so as not to cool the pan with too many pieces of chicken at a time.

- remove most of the rendered fat, but keep about 2 tbsp. Add the onions and cook until soft (about 2 minutes)

- add the garlic, ginger, lemons, cilantro, spices, salt and pepper and a cup of the water. Mix well.

- put the chicken back in the pan, and add water so that it comes right below the top of the chicken pieces.

- cover and simmer for 40 minutes on very low heat (lowest setting possible before it turns off!)

- after 40 minutes, add the olives, cover again and let simmer for 20 minutes

- after 20 minutes, remove the lid, put the chicken pieces on a plate and reduce the sauce on medium-high heat until it thickens. Stir often so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

- after 15-20 minutes, put the chicken pieces back into the pot and reheat gently over low heat (about 10 minutes)

- serve piping hot over couscous

- Enjoy!