Mean tagine

Before I give you food, meet the newest member of the Nekkid Blogging Club: ~d.

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Tagine.

Oy.

I can’t emphasize enough the wonderfulness of this recipe. It has everything — it’s delicious, beautiful, texturally interesting, hearty, filling. And nutritious, too. It’s also a robust recipe, meaning you can make substitutions and still have a great result. You like chickpeas in your tagine? Cook ’em separately and throw them in towards the end. Prefer fish to chicken? Simply figure out how long your fish needs to cook and add it in at the appropriate stage.

Dates, prunes, pearl onions, olives . . . the variations are endless. Is this a complicated recipe? The ingredients list is lengthy, but the preparation couldn’t be easier. Try it and you’ll see.

Here we go.

Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2004. Notes in parentheses.

Olive oil
3 cups sliced yellow onion
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika (a)
1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander (b)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or grated fresh ginger)
2 cups drained canned diced tomatoes (c)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice (d)
8 chicken thighs with bones, skinned (e)
8 chicken drumsticks, skinned
1 large eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1 inch cubes (f)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram (g)
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted (h)
chopped fresh cilantro (i)

Preheat oven to 400F. Coat eggplant cubes in olive oil and spread them out on a nonstick baking sheet.

In a Dutch oven, fry the onions and garlic in olive oil until the onions are soft and almost translucent. Add the next eight ingredients (paprika through ginger) and stir fry for another minute. Add tomatoes, water, and lemon juice, and bring to a boil.

Add chicken pieces in a single layer and spoon the onions over the chicken. Bring the Dutch oven back to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes on low heat, turn the chicken, and simmer for another 20 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, roast the eggplant for 25 minutes in the 400F oven. Time it so that the eggplant and chicken are ready at about the same time.
Add eggplant and marjoram to the chicken and continue stewing for another 5 – 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings (salt, pepper, lemon juice) and transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle almonds and cilantro on top.

NOTES

(a) I like to use a bit of Spanish smoked paprika — 1 teaspoon of that, plus two teaspoons of the relatively tasteless Hungarian dreck. Unfortunately, my son doesn’t like the stuff. But I love it. Looooove it.

(b) Best of all, use whole seed coriander, cumin, and fennel, roast the seeds yourself and grind them in a spice grinder. The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, but for my family, this is overwhelming. 1/2 teaspoon is plenty.

(c) Optional: If you add 2 or 3 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste, you’ll have an especially hearty dish.

(d) I like a little grated lemon rind, too. And if you have access to Persian preserved lemons, these make for a very special dish. As for the lemon juice, this is optional, in my opinion. I’ve left it out (in deference to my son) and the dish is still delicious. My wife and I prefer it with the lemon juice, however.

(e) I’ve left in the meat recommended by Bon Appetit. When I make this, I use only six chicken thighs; any more would go to waste. I also love adding chunks of good quality sausage meat (chorizo or Polish work well). As I mentioned above, other fast-stewing meats work well, such as shrimp, scallops, or fish. I wouldn’t try using a long-stewing meat such as oxtails.

(f) Japanese or Chinese eggplant, hands down, no contest. Forget those bloated aubergines.

(g) Dry marjoram works fine.

(h) The roasted almonds are indispensable. They add flavor, texture, and eye-appeal to the dish. Don’t leave out the almonds.

(i) Again, for eye appeal, you need something bright green to finish this dish. If you dislike cilantro, go with chopped Italian parsley.

Enjoy!

D.