Oven-Baked Moroccan Chicken with Seven Vegetables 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

To assemble

1. 4
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 5
   Heat the oil in a wide pot that can go in the oven and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Remove to a plate.

   StoveCast-iron pot

   💡Brown the meat in batches, without crowding: in a crowded pot it stews in its own juices instead of searing.

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
3. 6
   Add the onion to the oil left in the wide pot and fry 5 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.

   StoveWide, shallow pot

   💡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.
4. 7
   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.
5. 8
   Add the pepper and fry about 10 minutes, stirring, until it softens.

   Stove
6. 9
   Add the paprika, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and ginger and fry 30 seconds, until fragrant.

   Stove

   💡Paprika burns quickly and turns bitter: half a minute in the oil is enough, then move straight on to the next step.
7. 10
   Add the stock, carrot, potatoes and zucchini and bring to a boil.

   Stove
8. 11
   Return the chicken pieces to the pot and season with salt and black pepper.
9. 12
   Add the cabbage. Cover the pot and put it in the oven for 75 minutes, then remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes, until the chicken pieces completely soft.

   OvenCast-iron pot

   💡In the oven, heat reaches the pot from all sides, not just from below: a large cut cooks slowly and evenly for hours without sticking to the bottom.
10. 13
    Serve hot with couscous.