michelle picker cooks

A simple but delicious meal to take you to Morocco. This NYTCooking recipe is from Shallots New York, adapted by Florence Fabricant .

Mix 5 cloves of minced garlic with ¼ of a teaspoon of saffron threads, ½ a teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika, ½ a teaspoon of ground cumin, ½ a teaspoon of ground turmeric, ½ a teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground black pepper to taste. You can use a whole chicken cut into pieces or skin-on chicken thighs. Rub the chicken with the mixture then cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. When you’re ready to cook heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a tagine or heavy skillet. Add the chicken and brown on all sides. Remove to a platter. Now add 3 medium sliced onions to the pot and cook over medium-low heat until just beginning to brown. Add a cinnamon stick and layer the chicken onto the onions. Add some sliced carrots and scatter 16 halved olives (8 green and 8 Kalamata) over the chicken. Remove the pulp from a medium-sized preserved lemon and cut the skin into fine strips. Scatter over chicken. Mix 1 cup of chicken stock with the juice of 1 lemon and pour it over everything. Cover the tagine or skillet and cook over low heat for 20 – 30 minutes, until the chicken is done. Scatter parsley over the top and serve with couscous and salad.

Here’s a quick Mooroccan okra salad from another NYTCooking recipe.

First make the dressing. In a small dry skillet toast 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds and ½ a teaspoon each of coriander and caraway seeds until toasty and fragrant. Allow them to cool before grinding to a coarse powder. Transfer to a small bowl and add 2 teaspoons of paprika and a pinch of cayenne. Whisk in 4 tablespoons of good quality olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of cider or white wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to a boil. Add whole fresh okra and cook for 2 minutes, until firm-tender. Drain and rinse with cool water, then blot with a kitchen towel and set aside to cool a little. Put the okra in a serving bowl and season lightly with salt. Toss with the dressing up to an hour before serving. Garnish with black olives (optional if serving with the above tagine) and ½ a cup of roughly chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves.