Chicken Tagine

The completed dish!

For the opening meal of the summer (almost summer) it turned out quite well.  It definitely took all of, and a little more, 2 hours to make.  Even with some help, thanks Ben the sous chef, I was working pretty much the whole time.  The good thing about this recipe is it has to simmer for 30-45 minutes at the end which gives you enough time to do a quick side dish; timing is everything.  The sugar snap peas fit perfectly into that time frame but I'll get to those in a minute.  The spice rub needed to be doubled because there was not enough to coat 3 lbs of chicken.  I also recommend that you do NOT overcook the almonds.  They need no more than 5 minutes otherwise they become somewhat charred.  The apricots took about 10 extra minutes to become tender and then boil down the honey water to a sauce.

The sugar snap peas were not nearly as spicy as I thought they would be but then I should have followed my rule of thumb when it comes to using spicy sauces/hot sauces: when it's hot enough for you or just right, double that amount because it becomes tame the longer you cook it.  If you like a good kick to your food then I suggest using 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp.  The snap peas are very quick and easy to make, about 20 minutes.  Cook to tenderness preference.  I decided to serve it over couscous since this is a Moroccan dish.  I recommend using some broth with the water to add a little flavor to the couscous.  This recipe makes enough to feed 5 with a little extra chicken left over.  Since the recipe came from a magazine and it did not make sense to post it as a photo, if you would like the recipe just email me and let me know.  I have scanned them into pdf form to make it easy for emailing.

Monday's meal: Entree will be Tri-tip w/ Parsley Cherry-Tomato Sauce
Side dish will be Orzo w/ Artichokes and Pine Nuts
Dessert will be Strawberry Clouds

SUCCESS!