Re: Chicken Tagine Recipe Barefoot Contessa
Zoe Northcutt
Over medium heat on stovetop, heat olive oil in the tagine (or a Dutch oven). Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Do not allow garlic to brown. Add wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, herbs, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Place the chicken thighs skin-side-up over the sauce in the tagine. Brush the thighs with the sauce. Tuck the lemon wedges in the tagine among the chicken pieces. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until the chicken thighs are tender and cooked through; occasionally brush the thighs with more sauce.
I think this recipe is pretty versatile for cooking methods. I cooked it on the stovetop, then broiled it briefly to crisp the skin. I think you could do this all in a baking dish. Bake it in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes until done, at around 375F. That will cook the chicken and probably crisp the skin too, without broiling. Let me know how it works!
There's a wonderful cookbook from Australia by Bill Granger called Bill's Sydney Food. This tagine is inspired by one of his recipes. The flavors are nuanced and complex but there's not one ingredient you can't find in the grocery store.
From a distance, you might not know that preserved lemon is in this chicken recipe. But it makes all the difference in the marinade. You might be tempted to speed up the wait, but the total time is worth it for super-flavorful meat.
Make it better by making it ahead. "Some dishes, like lamb tagine, actually taste better when made ahead," Garten says. Other dishes, like zabaglione and roast chicken, are traditionally made right before serving, but Garten recreates even tastier make-ahead versions in her new book. "Zabaglione is usually made just before serving and eaten warm," Garten explains. "My version is made with whipped cream and served cold with crunchy amaretti. I just spoon it into decorative glasses and put them in the refrigerator until I'm ready to serve them."
She combined the two dishes to create a recipe that can be prepped up to two days in advance. Before serving, simply roast the (already-marinated) chicken and the bread, and assemble the salad. "You have an entire meal in one dish," Garten says.
I did not care for this recipe, for some strange reason, the dish tasted like tuna fish instead of chicken. Labor intensive also. No one liked it had to throw away after spending quite a bit of time making it. Sauce took forever to thicken also.
Dear Natasha,
Thank you for this amazing recipe. I always make it as comfort food (especially in winter) and it even freezes well. I just create a bit of the roux with mostly chicken stock in a dutch oven to reheat.
I love your bubbly personality in your videos. So fun to watch.
Hello, would this recipe work if I skip the cheese? My son has a dairy allergy and I can sub all the another dairy ingredients but not sure if the cheese is there to prevent the chicken/mushroom mixture from drying out in the oven (and of course being yummy.)
The chicken: The recipe can accommodate any part of the chicken, but as Melissa points out in the directions, white meat will cook faster than dark, so if you mix things up, you might need to pull some pieces out before others.
The go-alongs: Melissa suggests warming up a flatbread while the chicken is in the oven or serving the tagine with couscous (which is what I did). Even a hunk of baguette would be good with this.
Like a culinary magician, Melissa has found a way to give us all the pleasures of a traditional North African chicken tagine in a fast, easy and brilliant sheet-pan rendition. It starts with the perfect combination of herbs and spices \u2014 and I love how Melissa instructs us to rub them into the chicken pieces and then rub them under the skin. You\u2019ll be doing this every time you season a chicken from now on. And then there\u2019s the lovely mix of sweet vegetables \u2014 carrots and sweet potatoes. And the fruits \u2014 dates and olives. When I made the tagine, I went to grab the bag of dates and discovered that they weren\u2019t dates at all. Instead, they were figs. And you know what? They were excellent in the recipe. And I know that Melissa would have been happy that I carried on, because not only is she that kind of easy-going cook, but she encourages us to be that way too. With each recipe, she offers suggestions under the heading of \u201CSwap it Out.\\\"
With this tagine, everything bakes to tender on the sheet pan and, in the process, the juices from the chicken combine with the olive oil and the spices to create a \u201Csauce\u201D that\u2019s luscious. Melissa suggests you make couscous, the traditional North African accompaniment to a tagine, to catch the juices. Follow her suggestion. It will make you and everyone around your table happy.
I made this last night and it was amazing!!! We devoured all of it between 3 people. Do not be deterred if using boneless skinless chicken thighs as this is what I had. I marinated it for 3 hrs and since I only had 2 lbs I dropped the oregano and salt down by half but left the rest of the recipe as is. Lots of yumminess in every bite!