Daniel Boulud’s Chicken Tagine

Wonderful colors and flavors! However, the cauliflower, after a 3 minute blanch and two 20 minute periods in the oven, was near disintegration. Were I to prepare this again, I would blanch for only a minute, brown the blanched florets, then add them at the last, along with the olives and tomatoes. Cauliflower's a delicate vegetable, and needs to maintain some texture to hold its own with the stronger flavors; a 20 minute simmer, after browning, would be more than enough to accomplish this.

Discovering that the key ingredient to this dish was the preserved lemon (no substitute will likely do), I took a page from Melissa Clark's playbook and squirted some fresh lemon juice over the plates after serving, which served to bring everything, including the spices, to life. Other tips include removing the skin from 4 to 6 of the thighs to avoid a fatty sauce, dispense with the blanching of the cauliflower and add it later, and add the olives earlier.

Fyi: To make preserved lemon. Get a mason jar... I use pint size. Cut the lemons in quarters but not all the way through. Pack as many as you possibly can in the jar. Squish them in then pack with lots and lots of kosher salt. I use Diamond brand. Tighten the lid and leave it for 3 weeks....You dont have to go crazy looking for them. Rinse the lemon before use and discard the pulp. The rind is softened wnd delicious. I use the lemon for lots of savory dishes...Hope this helps.

For those desiring to cut the spices down to 3T total (reduce by 4), here's the amounts in teaspoons: paprika 2 5/8; coriander 2 1/4; turmeric 1; ginger pwd 3/4; cardamom 3/8; cinnamon 1/2, garlic pwd 1/4; allspice 5/8.

This tagine is delicious, but is both time-consuming and labor-intensive, with many discrete steps. Make sure you create a mise en place beforehand starting, and have all pots on-hand so that you don't spend lots of time running around the kitchen.
I found it necessary to amp up the flavor and used more than 2Tb spice/3lb chicken. Note (as the recipe does not, but should) that the very-expensive spice mix results in 2-3 times as much spice as you need.

This is good -- but you can simplify it. For the spice I used a Baharat mixture that has the same spices but is a little more hot. In step 5 I added tomatoes and did not reduce sauce much. In step 6 I used lemon zest and the juice of one lemon. I think two preserved lemons would be too salty.
Also I used boneless chicken thighs, about 2 lbs, so cooking times a bit shorter. You have to use your judgement.
Anyway, delicious.

I've made this three times. Last night, I substituted leftover chicken--sauteed in oil with the spice rub--and used fresh lemons instead of the preserved lemons--reducing the added salt. This low calorie, healthy, and satisfying combination of lemon, tomatoes, cauliflower, green olives, and spices pleased my fussy husband's gourmet palate as well. This is a real winner and easy, week-night go-to recipe.

You only use the peal with the pulp removed and rinse the peal to remove the excess salt before cooking with preserved lemon.

Further to my last note on the cooking time for the chicken. Hey everyone, this recipe has misprints! If you go to the original article, "Marrakesh Express," as I did just now, you will find that it recommends 30 minutes + 30 minutes in the oven for step 6, not 20 + 20 as in this recipe.

I've made this three times already and love it. I have tweaked the recipe by using canned organic peeled whole tomatoes. I sequentially brown the chicken (using a whole chicken cut up) and cauliflower and onion separately. During roasting, I remove the breasts after about 30 minutes, and the dark meat after 45 minutes. The sauce and chicken are stored in the fridge to be eaten the next day to develop the flavors and make surface fat removal easier. I served this with Israeli couscous.

One of my all time favorites, now made many times. If you like things spicy, add a little hot paprika to the spice mixture. And I use the leftover spice mixture for everything from scrambled eggs or omelets to chickpeas. Costco stocks Castelverano olives.

I didn't have preserved lemons, so I zested two lemons and added it to the couscous while it cooked. It made a fragrant base for the tagine and we used the leftover couscous in a salad the next day.

Notes from my second time making this recipe-- Wait to preheat the oven, there is a lot of prep time, instead, I sweltered over a hot stove, unnecessarily so. Also, I agree with an earlier note, make less tagine spice mix, I use only one preserved lemon, and like dark purple olives mixed in with green-- I found Castelvetranos too hard.

This was a huge hit with some very fussy guests! I used boneless/skinless chicken breasts, used a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes for the romas, and halved pimento-stuffed olives. I also microwaved the cauliflower to save some time. The flavors were great and the chicken was moist and tender.

There is NO WAY that this dish takes 75 minutes from start to finish; NO WAY! It took me close to double that time. Anyway, the time was worth all the effort. This was simply delicious. The secret ingredient is the preserved lemon (although I used two tablespoons, which I think was just right). I also added a bit of harissa paste to give the sauce a bit more oomph. Will definitely do it again.