Simple Spiced Chicken Tagine

This is a great, hearty winter warmer - rich and aromatic, delicately spiced and full of flavour but a sweetness running through from the apricots, honey and cinnamon that makes it suitable for all the family to enjoy.

I've used chicken here, but it's easily adaptable to the meat of your choice, and likewise you could try different dried fruits and vegetables or beans too. Also if you don’t own a tagine a casserole dish will work well enough.

I use chicken thighs and brown the meat off first as I don’t like the texture of the skin if you don’t do this simple step first, but you could use any part of the chicken too if you prefer boneless, breast meat for example.

We had this as it came, but you could serve with rice, couscous and salad leaves. The below serves 3-4.

Simple Spiced Chicken Tagine 

Here’s how;

• 6-8 chicken thighs 
• 1 onions 
• 2 large cloves garlic 
• 2 carrots 
• 1 can chickpeas, drained 
• 3cm piece of ginger 
• 2 tsp cumin seeds 
• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp turmeric 
• 2tbsp honey 
• 100g dried apricots 
• Sea salt 
• Black pepper 
• Water to cover 
• Drizzle olive oil 
• Handful parsley and coriander leaves, roughly chopped 

Firstly drizzle the olive oil into a pan and place on a medium heat. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees.

Season the chicken pieces generously with the sea salt and black pepper.

Now place each chicken piece, skin side down, into the now hot pan and allow to sear for a few minutes or until the skin is nicely golden. Turn over and cook for a few minutes.

In the meantine prepare the vegetables for the tagine. Roughly chop the onion and slice the garlic and add to the tagine.

Peel the carrots and cut into rectangular slices and add to the dish.

Peel the ginger and either slice or grate straight into the tagine.

Half the dried apricots and place into the dish.

Add the chicken and the chickpeas now too.

Now add the cumin seeds, turmeric, cinnamon and honey and stir well.

Pour over cold water until everything is just covered, return the lid to the tagine and place into the oven to cook for 1.5 hours. You can cook it faster at a higher temperature, but low and slow yields fall-off the bone meat.

Remove from the oven after about half of the cooking time to stir then return to the oven.

Remove from the oven and serve with the handful each of coriander and parsley on top.

Simple Spiced Chicken Tagine 

Serve with your choice of accompaniments.

Baby Bites Eggy Bread

Once past the six month mark, babies are able to eat well-cooked eggs (they can't be runny until they reach 1). This was the first egg-based dish I introduced to Bridget and she absolutely loves it. Once cooked & cooled enough for her to handle, I cut into bite-sized pieces and she feeds herself. I usually serve with some soft fruit such as banana, strawberries, mango or peach. Obviously you can do a whole slice but I like to cut into fun shapes for Bridget.

1 slice granary bread
1 free range & organic egg
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch icing sugar
Fruit of your choice
Drizzle of olive oil

If making the bread into shapes, use a cookie cutter to do so first.

Add your drizzle of olive oil to a pan and place on a medium heat.

Crack the egg into a bowl and beat.

Take your bread shapes and place into the egg mixture and turn over until fully coated.

Put a smidge of dusted cinnamon onto each side of the bread and place into the hot pan.

Fry for one-two minutes on each side until nicely toasted and golden brown

Remove from the pan and place onto some kitchen roll to drain off some of the excess oil, turning over so both sides get drained.

Then pop onto a plate with some chopped fruit, dust with a tiny bit of icing sugar and serve.

Chicken and Chickpea Tagine

This chicken tagine serves four and is essentially a pimped up chicken stew with an exotic North African makeover. The herbs and spices used make for a fragrant, almost aromatic dish and it tastes great served with rice, cous cous or fresh bread to soak up all of the juices. 

Here's how:

Handful of shallots

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

8 Chicken thighs

Jar or tin of olives

Tin of chickpeas

2 lemons

Pinch of saffron threads

Handful of cherry tomatoes

1 pint Chicken stock

4 tbsp olive oil

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp honey

Bunch fresh parsley

Bunch fresh coriander

Coarse sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper 

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the tagine and place on the hob on a low heat and turn the oven onto a moderate-hot heat (180-200⁰C).

Peel and crush the garlic and grate the ginger and add to the tagine with the cumin and coriander seeds and just soften then remove from the heat.

In a separate pan, add a smidge of olive oil and brown off the chicken thighs. Whilst chicken is browning add to the tagine the drained chickpeas, whole, peeled shallots, halved cherry tomatoes and whole olives.

Cut the lemons into quarters and add to the tagine.

Once chicken is browned, add to the tagine and pour over the stock, seasoning, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, honey and remaining olive oil.

Steep the saffron in a couple of tablespoons of hot water then also pour into the tagine.

Add some chopped parsley and coriander, but retain most for garnish and to stir through at the end. Give the tagine a good stir, add the lid and place into the oven for 45 minutes.

Check the tagine after about 30 minutes and stir through and add a little more stock if needed.

After 45 minutes, remove from the oven and check that the chicken is tender – it should be! If not, return to the oven for a further 15 minutes then check again and repeat as necessary – the chicken should easily fall off of the bone. 

Before dishing up stir through some chopped coriander and parsley and then garnish each plate with some whole leaves. 

Cinnamon and Honey Baked Nectarines

This simple dessert is one of many ways to enjoy nectarines while they are at their best and takes only a minute to prepare - of course this would work just as well with peaches too.

Take 1 1/2 nectarines per person and cut into three rounds, place on some tinfoil in an ovenproof dish or a baking tray, flesh side upwards. 

Sprinkle over some ground cinnamon and then drizzle over a generous slathering of runny honey over each. 

Pull the foil up around the nectarines to preserve the juices from escaping during cooking and place into the oven at 180 degrees for around 35 minutes. 

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a little creme fraiche and drizzle oven the juices left in the foil for a seriously tasty and light summer pudding.