Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives with homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the Fried onion

1. 4
   Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.

   StovePot
2. 5
   Add the onion and fry 5–7 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 6
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 7
   Add the chicken pieces and fry about 5 minutes, until browned on all sides.

   Stove
2. 8
   Add the turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, salt and black pepper and stir.
3. 9
   Add the preserved lemon, olives and stock and bring to a boil.

   Stove
4. 10
   Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 45–50 minutes, until the chicken is very tender.

   StoveLid
5. 11
   Add the parsley and cilantro and cook another a few minutes.

   Stove
6. 12
   Serve the stew with couscous.