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.

Chicken and Apricot Tagine

I have been cooking tagines of different variations for a few years now and each time yields a different result, but the version below has been our favourite to date. It's a rich, aromatic Middle Eastern flavour with a slight kick of heat, but mild enough for our nearly two-year-old, Bridget to enjoy too, so a great Baby Bites, family meal idea.

The great thing with a tagine is that you can adapt it according to what you have to hand, but I almost insist you include the dried apricots here, they absorb the moisture and puff up into such a delicious little morsel and with the drizzle of honey bring a lovely sweetness to the dish which helps to balance the flavours.

I serve with jewelled couscous (made with peppers, spring onions, pomegranate seeds and coriander) but you could serve with rice or with warm, fresh bread if you prefer.

Chicken and apricot tagine

Here's how:

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Big piece ginger
• 8 chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp ras el hanout
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp dried coriander
• 2 carrots
• 100g dried apricots
• 2 tomatoes
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1.5 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Garnish:
• Handful coriander leaves
• Handful flaked almonds

Firstly add the olive oil to a non-stick pan and place on a low heat. Pre-heat the oven to 180 and rearrange the shelves so your tagine fits in before the oven gets hot. If you don't own an actual tagine, use a casserole dish with a lid.

Now take the chicken thighs and scatter over half the ras el hanout on the skin side, then add to the pan, skin-side-down and sear for four or five minutes. Pop the rest of the ras el hanout over the other side of the thighs and when the skin side is nicely browned, turn over and cook for the same amount of time or until no pink exterior remains, remove from the pan and add to the tagine base.

Now peel and slice an onion and mince the garlic and add to the tagine. Peel the ginger and either slice or grate into the tagine.

Take two tomatoes and dice then peel the carrots and chop them into batons and add to the dish.

Now add the remaining spices and seasonings, the apricots, honey and chicken stock and give a good stir. Replace the lid and cook for 40 minutes.

In the meantime prepare your accompaniments ready to dish up. Serve with a flourish of fresh coriander leaves and once on the plate scatter with flaked almonds. Delicious!

Tip: if serving to toddlers or small children as I do, I go for a 'de-constructed' version when dishing up. I de-skin the chicken and cut into bite-sized chunks, not because my daughter is unable, but the tagine keeps the heat incredibly high and this is a good way of cooling the meat a little so she doesn't burn her little mouth.

More tagine recipes from me:

Quick & Chunky Cod Tagine

Chicken & Chickpea Tagine 

Apricot Crusted Pork Fillet

Pork fillet when cooked well is one of the most deliciously tender pieces of meat and is one my favourites. Here is a really simple method that I love that combines a little heat from Dijon mustard with the sweetness of apricots.

I usually serve this dish with creamy layered potatoes and seasonal vegetables or as an alternative to a roasting joint with all of the traditional trimmings associated with a Sunday lunchtime meal.

The delicious crusty exterior of this dish is great once baked and gives a great, crunchy but sweet texture to a delicate piece of meat.

A good wine to serve with this is a Moscato and I have paired this with the Barefoot Moscato on several occasions as this has notes of peach and apricot which really complement the pork dish and give me an excuse to indulge in some sweet wine, which I love, but only goes with certain food.

Ingredients:

I pork fillet, trimmed and washed

2-3 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

2-3 Slices Bread – I prefer to use ciabatta or a flavoured bread such as tomato bread or olive bread

200g Dried Apricots

Tbsp Fresh Sage

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

How To:

1.       In a food processer whizz up your bread so it becomes breadcrumbs and add in the sage leaves so these breadcrumbs are nice and herby. If you’re not a fan of sage try this with rosemary or thyme which will also work well with the pork fillet

2.       Chop the apricots into small chunks and throw in with the breadcrumbs and mix with a spoon adding Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3.       Firstly wash your meat and then pat dry with kitchen towel to ensure all excess moisture is absorbed

4.       Rub a little salt and pepper all over the fillet to flavour the meat

5.       With a pastry brush, cover the fillet with the Dijon mustard and then roll in the breadcrumbs until nicely coated all over

6.       Place the fillet onto an oven-proof dish or tray and place into a pre-heated over for 20-25 minutes, depending on how you like your meat cooked – the crumb should be nice and golden brown in appearance

7.       Remove from the oven, wrap the dish in tinfoil and allow to rest for up to ten minutes before carving and serving with your chosen accompaniments