Recipe: Tagine with chicken, olives & preserved lemon

Here is an excellent main dish recipe, a Moroccan speciality: tagine with chicken, olives and preserved Lemon. You will need (4 happy persons):

For tagine:
– 1 + 1/4 teaspoon paprika
– 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
– 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
– 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
– 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
– 3 small preserved lemons (sliced), or alternatively 2 minced lemon peels (yellow part only).
– 5 garlic gloves, minced
– 1 large onion, roughly chopped
– 1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped (optional but nice ingredient)
– approx 500gr boneless chicken thigh filet (I used less), or more boned chicken drumsticks and thighs. If using thighs and drumsticks, then remove the skin after the initial frying to make the dish leaner.
– salt & pepper
– a little olive oil
– 2 cups (500ml) chicken broth
– 1 tablespoon honey
– 2 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch / 1 cm thick rounds
– 1 cup pitted green olives, halves
– handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)

For couscous:
– a little olive oil
– 2 chopped shallots
– 1 to 2 garlic gloves, minced
– 1.5 to 2 cups (500ml) chicken broth
– Grated zest of 1 lemon + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
– 1 cup (250ml) plain couscous, hence you measure this by volume for this recipe
– handful of chopped fresh basil
– salt & pepper

Bon appetit!