Chicken Tagine with Lemon and Olives

From Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken, about 3 lb.
• salt and pepper
• 3tbl flour
• 4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 small yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 1.5 cups chicken broth
• 1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp saffron threads, crumbled and dissolved in broth
• 2tbl grated lemon zest
• 2 cups green or black olives
• 3tbl finely chopped fresh mint
• Cooked couscous or basmati rice for serving

Directions:

On a plate stir flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Turn the chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off excess.  In a large frying pan over med high heat, warm the olive oil. Working in batches if necessary, cook the chicken pieces, turning often, until golden brown, about 10 min. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté for about 30 seconds.  Add the paprika, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and coriander and sauté until the spices are fragrant and evenly coat the onion-garlic mixture, about 1 min. Add the broth-saffron mixture, and deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil.

Stove top: Transfer the broth mix to a large Dutch oven. Add the chicken pieces, arranging the thighs on the bottom and the breasts on top. Cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is tender and opaque throughout, about 1.5 hours. About 30 minutes before the chicken is done, scatter the olives over the chicken and sprinkle with the lemon juice and zest.  

Transfer the chicken to warmed plates, garnish with mint and serve!

For slow cooker: Transfer broth mix to slow cooker. Add the chicken, thighs on bottom, breasts on top. Cover and cook until chicken is tender and opaque throughout, about 2.5 - 3 hrs on the high heat setting or 5-6 hours on the low heat setting.  About 1 hr before the chicken is done, scatter the olives and sprinkle with the lemon juice and zest.