Sunday, April 26, 2009

Food Glorious Food

Look at this, Moroccan Chicken - courtesy of the naughty, effervescent and vivacious Antipo! She's a bad influence on me thank goodness so feel free to stop by her blog and be corrupted!

The recipe calls for chicken pieces but I used breasts and cut them up (cos I am super lazy when it comes to bones!!).

Ingredients
1 (3 1/2 lb) chicken, cut into 6-8 pieces
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin (to taste)
2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 pinch saffron
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 lb pitted prune
2 large Spanish onions, sliced lengthwise
1 cup whole blanched almond
vegetable oil
toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
1 Rub all pieces of chicken with a mixture of salt, pepper and cumin. Let stand for 1 hour.
2 In a separate saucepan, cover the prunes with cold water and add the cinnamon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 -30 minutes depending on dryness of prunes.
3 Steam the onions in the casserole with the turmeric, saffron, ginger, salt, pepper and ¼ cup of water for 15 minutes.
4 Meanwhile brown the almonds in a saucepan with oil and drain onto paper towels.
5 Using the same oil and pan, brown chicken on all sides then transfer to the steamed onions and add 1 cup water. (this can be transferred into the tagine at this point and placed in oven ). Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
6 Add the cooked prunes and some of the prune water to the tagine and continue cooking until the chicken and prunes are really tender.
7 To serve, place chicken pieces on a serving dish (or simply leave in the tagine). Cover with prunes and sauce, then sprinkle with almonds and sesame seeds (if desired).

So, we went from that gastronomique extrodinaire to this...

Fish and chips from the corner takeaway! Sometimes you just gotta kick back and let someone else do the work!

Next month is New Zealand Music Month so stand by to be astounded and amazed by the wonderful weird and whacky stuff that passes for music down here. In the meantime, try this...


12 comments:

Steve said...

Fish and chips is the food of the gods... though that Moroccan chicken looks pretty good too!

Old Cheeser said...

I agree with Stevenage...looks and sounds yummy! My hubbie recently gave me two cookery books for my birthday (subtle hint) but your recipe might just be the first on my list...

Old Cheeser said...

And in response to your comments on Dr Who over on my blog - nice of you to think of me! Well, like you, I was a bit disappointed with "The Next Dr" (it's proper title - ohhhh I am such a geek) to tell the truth. The idea that the "other doc" had got hold of this device that made him think he was the Doc was kind of predictable and apart from that the plot didn't hold up to that much. The Cybermen were just kind of cannon fodder and the villainess, Ms Hartigan, was nice and evil but lacking in motivation (just why the hell had she decided to team up with a load of metal men? Bad sex life?) The problem with the "specials" is that (of late anyway) they've tended to go for the crowd-pleasing, obvious, glitzy stuff, at the expense of a truly original or ground-breaking storyline. You obviously haven't seen "Planet of the Dead" yet which was on a couple of weeks back over here - better than the last one but I think the one due after that "The Waters of Mars" looks even better. Roll on Season 5 I say! What's your daughter making of it all?

Who's the Moro Bar? David Morrissey I take it! I love your expressions!!

Princess L said...

Mmm, I love fish and chips! Nobody makes then better than my Mum, no take away joint in the world!
The chicken looks good, but I am no cook. Not that I don't try, I would just never be able to make something that looks that appealing.

meggie said...

Fish & Chips are one of the things I miss about NZ. They are just not the same over here, & the South Island fish is just the BEST!!
The chicken sounds lovely, too.

The villager: said...

Moroccan chicken AND fish and chips........I'd like to be eating at your house !

The Sagittarian said...

Steve - thanks, I agree. You really can't beat a decent fish and chip meal.

OC - Happy Birthday, petal. 21 again? Thanks for the comments re the Drs. Have left a yabba on yours. But yes, Moro Bar is Mr M.

Princess L - your mum must be a legend. It's really hard to make proper fish and chips at home! I'm sure you are a good cook.

Meggie - we had the most disappointing meal EVER in Brisbane, stupidly bought fish and chips (or fush and chups) and it was awful. The fish had obviously been frozen and the chips, well we weren't aware they sell them as a sep dish almost. Words fail me. it was terrible and cost us about $60 !!

Villager - You're welcome to drop by anytime, waifs n strays are us!!

Anonymous said...

I shall be having proper fish n chips as soon as I get home. It just ain't the same here.

The Moroccan chicken looks very yummy. You'd think it would be "cat" though - when I was in Morocco the only creatures I saw were skinny little cats. Moroccan cat could be just as nice I am sure.

The Sagittarian said...

RB - cats? No, surely not! I didn't try fish and chips when I was in the UK (unless dining at posh fish place in the city counts? Can't quite recall its name but it had bench seating and was chokka at lunchtime with everyone scoffing fish n chips...might have started with B??) anyway, Aussie stuff is crap.

Owen said...

Oh my, I'm starving now... what I really loved in London was the way the chips were wrapped up in paper and sprinkled with vinegar ! Delicious; may just have to jump on the Eurostar tonight and go get some, as here in France haven't found any decent imitations.

Thanks for dropping by, and holy hockey sticks, you were indeed first this morning !

The Sagittarian said...

Hi Owen - I love vinegar on my chips too and the fish usually swims in the stuff if no-one stops me!

LR Photography said...

I think I found the duck, indeed it seems to be the same species.