Tagine Chicken Moroccan Style Stew

NEW RECIPE TONIGHT !!!

Moroccan style tagine chicken (Apricot and Cilantro flavored) stew using Alfez sauce and the Emile Henry Flametop Tagine.  Another ONE DISH wonder tonight...and I love simple and single pot cooking for sure.  The tagine is a great vessel for this purpose and we just don't use it enough.  Served up in a EH Roaster.

Ingredients

• 3.5 LARGE Chicken Breasts (free range if available)
• 1 1/2-2 Cups Chicken Broth (low sodium)
• 1 Jar (11.5 Oz.) Alfez Tagine Sauce (available at World Market)
• 3-4 Stalks Celery
• 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper
• 10-12 Small Yellow Potatoes
• 1 Medium Vidalia Onion
• 12-20 Baby Carrots

Directions

1. Fire Up the Big Green Egg (for this recipe I partially par-boiled the veggies because we were in a hurry) and insert plate setter legs up; bring up to 350 degrees F.
2. EVOO in bottom of Tagine
3. Chop Veggies and Chicken into approximately 1" cubes
4. Dump Veggies into Tagine
5. Add Chicken Broth
6. Cover with Chicken chunks and cover Tagine
7. Place on Egg for 30 minutes.  Check chicken, do not add sauce until chicken is 80-90% cooked.
8. When Chicken is to temperature, dump in Sauce and Stir.
9. Return lid on tagine and cook another 15 minutes.
10. Remove and serve from Tagine to plates.

POST DINNER HINT:  Reduce chicken broth to 1 cup and you could go as much as double on the sauce for total perfection...

Soup and Salad (w/ Meat for the Carnivores)

Chorizo and Red Bean Soup

Ingredients (organic where available)

€        EVOO

€        2 Tbls. Minced Garlic

€        1 Large Red Onion, Diced fine

€        2 Small Red Peppers, Chopped

€        2 Tbls. Cornstarch

€        4 Cups Vegetable Stock

€        1 Lb. Small Red Potatoes, Diced with skin on

€        10 Oz. Spicy Beef Chorizo, ground

€        1 Medium Zucchini, trimmed and sliced thin

€        10 Oz. Red Kidney Beans

€        ¾ Cup Heavy Creme

Directions

1.    Heat the EVOO in a large Emile Henry Dutch Oven and add the garlic and onion and cook until translucent.  Add the bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes.  Mix the cornstarch into a paste with some stock and add to the Dutch Oven the add the stock and bring to a boil.

2.    Add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper (optional).  Bring to a boil and lower the heat then simmer for 30 minutes. 

3.    Add the chorizo, zucchini and beans and simmer for another 15 minutes then add the heavy creme and cook for another 5 minutes remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.         

Tuscan Bread Salad

Picked up this recipe from our Food Network Cooking School but changed up the dressing…

Ingredients

€        4 Cups – Italian Bread Croutons (start with Bread Cubed into 1” pieces)

€        1 Medium Cucumber, seeded and cubed (1.4” slices)

€        1 Cup – Diced Red Onion

€        2 Tbls. Capers, drained and rinsed

€        ¾ Cup Dressing

o   3 parts EVOO

o   2 parts Balsamic Vinegar

o   Two Health dollops of Dijon Mustard

o   Healthy dash of your favorite Seasoned Salt

€        5-6 Cups, Romaine lettuce, torn into 1-2” pieces

Directions

1.    Place bread crumbs on a ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes with a dash of steak rub.

2.    In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, onion, capers and toasted bread, Drizzle ½ Cup dressing and toss, let set for 15 minutes.

3.    Add lettuce and drizzle the remaining dressing and toss to coat well, serve immediately.

Fingerlickin' Fingerling Potatoes (Organic)

Salt and Vinegar Fingerling Potatoes accompanied our spatchcocked chicken tonight...

Ingredients 1.2-2 Lb. Bag of Fingerling or Gourmet Potatoes
 Coarse Sea Salt
 EVOO
 ¼ Cup Malt Vinegar

Directions
1. Bring potatoes to a boil over high heat in salted water. Reduce heat and cook until done (fork test soft)
2. Remove from heat and drain.
3. Place potatoes on a dish towel and gently smash with your palm until skins break.
4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with oil and place potatoes on sheet. Bake until just short of crispy and flip during cook (about 20 minutes).
5. Turn off oven and let set for 10 minutes.
6. Remove and place into a mixing bowl; add salt to taste and vinegar and toss. Serve warm.

Bacon Chicken and Dumplings (Organic ingredients)

This recipe does NOT qualify as healthy but it does include a few organic ingredients.  Sometimes you just can’t help yourself and have to eat comfort food.

Ingredients

• 4-6 slices bacon
• 5 Medium white potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 Medium Sweet Onion, diced
• 4 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts  (organic) – diced and seasoned with poultry seasoning.
• 3 Cups – Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 Tsp. Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Poultry Seasoning (to taste)
• Coarse Sea Salt and Fresh ground Black Peppercorns (to taste)
• 1 14-15 Oz. Can, Whole kernel corn, drained
• 3 Cups, Low Fat Half-and-Half

• 1 ½ Cups Bisquick  
• 1 Cup Organic 2% Milk

Directions

1. Place bacon in an extra large Cast Iron (CI) Skillet or 6 Qt. Dutch oven and cook until done (or microwave in advance and save grease).  Crumble Bacon and set aside.

2. Keep or put the bacon grease in the skillet and bring up to temperature.
3. Add the diced potatoes, onion and chicken to the bacon grease and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently (it will cook slower in a Dutch oven due to smaller pan area). Note: If using a Dutch oven add a little EVOO to keep the chicken from sticking to the pan during simmering.   
4. Add the chicken broth, corn, more PP’s poultry seasoning, sea salt and fresh pepper.
5. Pour in half-and-half and bring to a boil; add crumbled bacon.
6. Biscuits: In a medium bowl, combine the Bisquick with milk and mix well (dough should be thick enough to ‘drop’).
7. Drop tablespoon sizes of dough into boiling mixture; reduce heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes uncovered.  Cover the pan and simmer another10 minutes. Be careful NOT to stir while simmering, or dumplings will fall apart. 

One Grid Meal on the Big Green Egg

Nothing special going on here...just a great ending to a fantastic weekend at home; doing nothing, including work and cooking out all weekend.  Ribeyes, fried taters with green onions and parsley, corn with butter.  All cooked at one time on the grid...and Saki Bomb Appetizers...

TAGINE Chicken on the BGE...

Got to use my brand new Emile Henry Tagine (flame approved cookware) tonight!
Ingredients:
2 LARGE Chicken Breasts, 1 Large Red Pepper, 1/2 Large Vidalia Onion, 14oz can Artichoke Hearts (Quartered), 2 Ears Fresh Corn on the Cob, 1 Large Tomato, 8-10 Small Red Potatoes, 2 Cups Chicken Broth, Ground Black Peppercorns, Ground garlic and parsley powder, Parsley, Paprika to Taste.
Preparation:
BGE to about 375 degrees with plat setter legs down on 2 inch fire ring. Chop all ingredients to bite size and layer with chicken in the middle (so it doesn't stick to pan), add seasonings, broth, cover and place on BGE for ONE HOUR. Check after 45 minutes for broth level and to see how chicken is progressing. Keep On Eggin'

Remember PANT-RY RAIDS?

Okay, tonight I didn't even make it to the porch to even look at my BGE Instead I raided the PANTRY to find something to eat; again. However, my onion, ham and tomato were sustainably raised and from the Farmers Market here in Columbia, the POTATOs were from a CAN! Oh my. Seasoned the ham with some southwest chiplote seasoning and the potatos were masked with garlic and parsley. I have to get back to that grill...and remember to thaw things in the morning...

Pork Loin (Hungry Man Single Serving) Tagine Style

Single Serving (Hungry Man Size) of Pork Loin and vegetables stewed up in a Tagine for a flavorful one dish dinner. Ready from start to finish in 90 minutes (fire up the grill; prepare ingredients and 60 minute cook).

Ingredients
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise

1 10 oz. Pork Loin butter flied
Lysanders Pork Rub (to taste)
2 Medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 large green bell pepper, cut in chunks

6 green onions, sliced in ½ inch pieces
2 small tomatoes sliced thin
Large handful of Baby Spinach
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
Garlic Pepper and Garlic Salt (to taste)
8 tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1 cup of Chicken Broth

Preparation and Cooking
1. Rub Pork Loin and set aside.
2. Pour 5 tbsp of EVOO on the bottom of the tagine and begin layering ingredients evenly, starting with carrots then going in order they are written in the ingredients list above. The carrots must be on the bottom and the chicken pieces should be on top of the carrots, not touching the bottom of the tagine.
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over the top the vegetables and then drizzle the remaining olive oil all over.
4. Close your tagine and cook until your vegetables are tender; on indirect heat (use a plate setter and stabilized Egg at 350 degrees). Check the tagine about 30 minutes in to assure that you still have liquid so the vegetables won’t burn. Remove after 60 minutes and let the tagine rest for 10 minutes and then serve.

Tagine Chicken & Veggies

Chicken and vegetable stewed up in a Tagine for a flavorful one dish dinner. Ready from start to finish in 90 minutes (fire up the grill, prepare ingredients and 60 minute cook).

Ingredients
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
2-3 Boneless Chicken Breasts (or any ½ Chicken, split or pieces)
2 Medium potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/4" thick rounds
1 large green bell pepper, cut in chunks
1 medium vidalia onion, sliced in ¼ “ rounds
2 medium tomatoes, sliced in ¼ “ rounds
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
2 tsps ginger
½ tsp fresh ground pepper and Sea Salt (to taste)
2 tsps paprikaHandful of pitted chopped-minced black olives
10 tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)1 cup of Chicken Broth (or Substitute 1cup of water and ½ cube or 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder)
Preparation and Cooking1. Pour 5 tbsp of EVOO on the bottom of the tagine and begin layering ingredients evenly, starting with carrots then going in order they are written in the ingredients list above. The carrots must be on the bottom and the chicken pieces should be on top of the carrots, not touching the bottom of the tagine.
2. Sprinkle all of the spices evenly over the top the vegetables. Spread your minced olives on top and then drizzle the olive oil allover.
3. Close your tagine and cook until your vegetables are tender; on indirect heat (approximately 330 degrees) on the BGE.
4. Cooking time will be about 60 minutes. Check the tagine about 30 minutes in to assure that you still have liquid so the vegetables won’t burn. Remove after 60 minutes and let the tagine rest for 10 minutes and then serve.