Chicken and Date Tagine

I really don't like AWT. Never have. It was compounded one day whilst watching one of his shows with the phrase "I'm going to cook a Tagine, but we can simply do it in a saucepan. No need for the fancy cookware".

Hmm....What laziness. The whole point of a Tagine is that it is cooked in the conical shape dish that allows the steam from the cooking process to flow up to the point of the cone, where is condences (as it's colder), and falls back down into the middle of the dish. It forms a fantastic 'self-basting' type effect that keeps all dishes amazingly moist (infact - most of mine somehow seem to add water and end up spilling over the side. Why could AWT not be bothered to mention this before cooking it in a saucepan. Ho Hum!

This is from Food of Morocco. A recent addition to the excellent Food Of series.

Normally not a fan of fruit in cooking - but the middle eastern / north african dishes are an exception, where they seem to be core to the dish, rather than a fancy addition.



These dates are soooo moorish (joke?)



Colour the chicken with onions, cinammon & powdered garlic



Adding the saffron and dates. Does 'Sainsbury's saffron really make a difference???



And that's why it's important to do it properly. Imagine the juices flowing to the top of the conical lid, and condencing as it's colder, to drop right back into the middle of the dish. A perfect design.



Where did that liquid come from???



Fantastic. Juicy sweet chicken and a homemade spicy Cous Cous



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