Moroccan lemon chicken

One of my favourite things to eat in winter is actually something I haven't made for a while - Moroccan Lemon Chicken. Do you have favourite recipes that you have some how forgotten about?  And then enthusiastically resumed making?

So the other night when I had few pickings other than  another basket full of lemons, I  remembered this old friend of a recipe. I can honestly say that this is one of my favourites... its lemony, garlicky, peppery and olivey -  4 of my favourite flavours.

Here is the recipe. It comes from, The Vegetable Market Cookbook: Classic recipes from around the world by Robert Budwig. It was a gift from a favourite aunt and it has fabulous recipes inspired by the produce from vegetable markets in Thailand, Morocco, Italy, France, India, Mexico and Guatamala. Being a fancier of markets it was the perfect gift.

Aside from the great recipes, the book is filled with coloured pencil drawings by the author from those markets or of the dishes he makes.

In this book the recipe is called, Chicken with olives and lemons, but it just gets called Moroccan Lemon Chicken in our house. This is my version below but I must say that it is pretty close to the original -  just a few changes here and there.

Moroccan Lemon Chicken ( *from the patch)

Marinade
olive oil
6 cloves of garlic (oh yeh!)
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
1 tblsp cracked black pepper - I crack it in the mortar
1/4 tsp saffron threads
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sweet paprika

3 'Maryland' chicken pieces cut at the joint making 6 pieces of chicken
olive oil
2 medium-sized onions finely chopped
1 x 400 ml can of tinned tomatoes
1 cup water
picholine olives with the pip still in
2 preserved lemons*
juice of 1 lemon*

In a bowl mix marinade ingredients, prick chicken with a knife and rub in the marinade. Cover and let sit for at least 4 hours.

Heat oil and fry chicken pieces until sealed, remove from heat. Add onions and  tomatoes and cook on a bit then add chicken and water and cook for 30 mins, turning the chicken to get it in the juices.

Cut preserved lemon skin into small pieces. Add lemon and juice and olives to the pan and cook for a further 15 mins or until the chicken is very tender and the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Serve with couscous or I really like it with smoked rice.

I haven't taken a photo.  My photos of food invariably look horrible.  I will leave you with your own image in your head, the scent of black pepper, lemon and coriander.