Chicken Tagine With Olives and Preserved Lemons

I've made this several times.
A few points/suggestions.
* See Paula Wolfert's "Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco" for variations.
* I know it's customary to use both saffron and turmeric in Morocco. IMO this is a mistake. Turmeric is excellent, but it's not subtle and overwhelms the saffron. Use one or the other. I use saffron.
* The recipe says discard the preserved lemon pulp. However, Paula Wolfert says she does not bother and uses the pulp. So do I.

I have made this several times. I use 6-8 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on. After browning chicken in step 2, I remove and discard the skin, leaving flavorful fond in the skillet. Drain excess chicken fat at this point.
I increase the amount of olives, and sometimes garnish with cilantro instead of parsley. A small amount of honey, added at the end of cooking, can add balance if it's too acidic.

"Marinating" the chicken in the spices doesn't really work. Skip this step and add the spices to the onions. (The spice rub burned in the pan while the chicken was browning.)

Cut lemons into wedges and place in a preserves jar, completely cover with salt. Wait 1 month (or longer) and you have preserved lemons.

You can add other spices and sometimes I add lemon juice to fill the jar better but that's all optional. Preserved lemons are one of the easiest things to make at home.

I made this exactly as described a small tagine with 4 chicken thighs. Nothing burned with browning. Tumeric plus saffron as described. Delectable decadence, no honey needed. Served with rice, flat bread and a orange watercress avocado pistachio goat cheese salad with a sweetish vinaigrette. My partner could not stop moaning, yes, like that.

I use skinless thighs & sometimes breasts with the rub overnight. I sauté the onions but skip browning the chicken,. Then I put everything in a heavy covered casserole & bake in the oven. Turns out great. Use home made preserved lemons, much better than what I buy in jars.

I just made this for myself and a friend and we both really enjoyed it. I added potatoes, carrots and green beans to up the veggie quotient and some cilantro in addition to parsley at the end. Loved the preserved lemon with this! In my opinion there is no need to add honey. This recipe is definitely going into my regular rotation! I think next time I might discard the chicken skin, because I wasn't crazy about the texture of it when cooked this way.

I made this in my dutch oven. I used skinless chicken thighs, left in the lemon pulp, and prepped all of the other ingredients as directed. I baked it, covered, in the oven at 350 degrees, somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour (I think it was an hour). The chicken fell off the bone. I served this over couscous with a dollop of hummus. This reminds me of a version that I had in Marrakesh.

Love this dish. Used all the mentioned ingredients, but added golden raisins. Also, followed the recommendation to use thighs and not marinate, but cook the onions, garlic and spices together. I did it all on the stove top. This dish was a huge hit and will become a go to for dinner guests as it served up even better the next day. I recommend cooking it the day before and reheating for dinner guests giving you more time to enjoy your company. We served it with Jasmine rice - perfect.

No, you put everything in. Preserving the lemons removes the bitter taste. The peels become very soft & part of the sauce. I don't discard the pulp either. The flavor is amazing, not exactly lemony.

This was great! I used 4 chicken thighs and 6 legs and cooked it in a 12 inch cast iron skillet. My only complaint is that the garlic on the chicken burnt by the time the chicken was browned - next time I will cook the garlic with the onions instead.

Delicious. I also left out the turmeric to favor the saffron. Slow cooked it in the oven, and used freshly ground cumin seeds. I've made many a tagine and this was up there with the best.

This was phenomenal. I followed the recipe closely and took some creative license here and there (I don't measure spices). I also put a bit more stock and let it hang out on low with the lid on for a while, while I farted around the house doing Sunday things. I didn't have preserved lemon, so I used fresh lemon sliced very thinly, which I threw in with the onions. It was out of control good. I spooned it over Israeli couscous with raisins.

Add carrots and apricots, dares or prunes. Cover and put in 350 oven for 45 to 60 minutes

Preserved lemons are really easy to make. There's a bunch of recipes out there, adding herbs etc. - just pick your fave. They are worth making, and cooking with, and very expensive to buy, so make your own!