Chicken Tagine with Dried Fruits and Apples

Being a food blogger means being part of a community, and a few weeks ago, we lost a member of that community. Daniel Saraga, author of The Haggis and the Herring, died suddenly, leaving behind his family including his wife, Meredith and their three children. You can read his wife's beautiful eulogy of him here on his blog.

While we did not know Daniel, we knew of him through the Secret Recipe Club. Today, members of the club are revealing posts in which they recreated some of Daniel's recipes as a tribute to him, and we wanted to be a part of that. When we browsed through his extensive recipe list, it was difficult to choose one in particular because they all sounded so good, but we had a rough weekend ourselves, including a death in the family, and so we went with a recipe that we could make with items we already had in the house, and that was his Chicken Tajine with Apples.

Since we were determined not to not have to go out to the market, we borrowed a couple small apples from neighbors D and J, went without the almonds, and used chopped dried apricot paste rather than dried apricots, but we imagine the end result was very similar. As the tagine cooked, the house filled with the scent of sensual spices such as cinnamon and cumin. The chicken was moist and tender, and the sauce, punctuated with apples, dates and raisins, was teasingly exotic. As we sat down to eat, we toasted Daniel and wished our condolences to his family, as we do here with this post.

Chicken Tagine with Dried Fruits and Apples

slightly adapted from The Haggis and the Herring

Ingredients:

2 apples, cored, peeled, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch kosher salt
1 pound chicken legs and/or thighs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 large shallot, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups chicken broth
pinch of saffron, infused in a tablespoon of hot water
2 tablespoons dried apricot paste, chopped

3/4 cup raisins
4 dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup couscous, prepared according to package directions

Core, peel and slice apples into thin wedges, toss in lemon juice and set aside. Combine cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper and sprinkle onto chicken. Heat oil on medium in the bottom of a tagine or large pot, and brown chicken on both sides. Remove chicken and set aside. Sprinkle onions, shallots and garlic with ground ginger and saute in the same pot for 2-3 minutes. Place chicken back in the pan and add broth, saffron, and chopped apricot paste. Bring to a boil and place cover on tagine or pot; let simmer on medium for 25-30 minutes. Add apples (with lemon juice), raisins, and dates, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Serve over prepared couscous.

Apple, Raisin and Celery Seed Slaw (Secret Recipe Club)

It's "That Time of Year." We're both teachers in "real" life, so it's cram time  - finishing up curriculum, grading papers, writing and giving exams - not to mention chaperoning and/or attending proms, field trips, end-of-year ceremonies, SATs and graduations after school and on weekends. Add to that all the family stuff, like First Communions, baby showers, birthday parties, and barbecues, graduation parties, etc., and our social calendar is filled to the brim. We haven't been giving the blog enough of our attention already, and then bam! Suddenly we realize it's Secret Recipe Club time!

 

Thank goodness for the wide variety of recipes on our assigned blog for this month, Feast on the Cheap. Feast on the Cheap is a mother-daughter collaboration that offers readers plenty of recipes to choose from, with prices per serving included, figuring in the cost of each ingredient and based on a "well-stocked" pantry (for which they offer suggestions). Their pictures are gorgeous, and their Recipe Index is an excellent source for ideas. We've bookmarked this one, and so should you!

We would have had a very difficult time choosing a recipe, except for the fact that this particular recipe had to suit a purpose. It had to be something that would feed a crowd and would be kid-pleasing, for we were going to take it to the birthday party D and J were throwing for their 3-year-old daughter. And, unfortunately, they had plenty of desserts, so we couldn't go that route.

Which brings us to our choice: Apple, Raisin, and Celery Seed Slaw, which costs a mere $0.85 cents per serving, went well with burgers, and pleased both kids and adults alike. At once both sweet and savory, slightly tart and delightfully crunchy, this slaw was a hit. We followed the recipe exactly, so we'll save the typing and direct you to go HERE, where you can also see a photo of the finished product, which (in our chaotic mindset) we neglected to take. Oops!!!