Chicken Legs With Preserved Lemons and Green Olives

Excerpted from Mourad: New Moroccan by Mourad Lahlou (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2011. Photographs by Deborah Jones.

• Servings: 6.

This classic Moroccan chicken dish is from Mourad Lahlou's book, MOURAD: New Moroccan.  While the recipe works particularly well in a traditional tagine pot, chef Lahlou says a more commonly available Dutch oven can also be used.

In introducing this recipe, he wrote:

"If you’re looking for an ultra classic Moroccan chicken dish — and a great starter recipe for test-driving your new tagine — this is it. In Morocco, where until fairly recently the idea of “chicken parts” didn’t exist, it would be made with a whole chicken — or several chickens — sometimes cut into pieces, but more often than not cooked whole. I’ve eaten this a thousand times, and I remember how we’d all avoid the breast pieces, which were always dry and overcooked, and fight over the legs and thighs. Now I make the dish with dark meat only.

In Morocco, the bird would be placed in a tagine or a big pot with water, spices, and oil and cooked for a few hours. Then the chicken would be removed and the olives and preserved lemons added. The sauce would be cooked way down, and the chicken would be put back in at the end to warm it through. I approach it in a more European way, browning the meat in duck fat to build flavor, sautéing the onions with the spices, simmering the legs in stock, and then adding a final enrichment of butter. If you don’t have a stainless steel tagine, a heavy Dutch oven (fitted with a cone of aluminum foil) will also work well."

Note from The City Cook:  This recipe calls for using a stainless steel tagine.  If you instead have a traditional clay tagine or one that can be used directly on a heat source as with flame ware, you should be able to use a heat diffuser and follow the recipe, including the steps that call for browning the chicken.  Use your own judgment and the guidelines provided to you by your tagine's manufacturer.  Alternatively you can use a Dutch oven and make your own cone cover from a few layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil, shaped so that it fits inside the pot with its lid on, set over the ingredients.  Alternatively, place a piece of parchment paper over the pot and then cover it with its lid.  The point is to create a way to capture and return the cooking food's moisture.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken legs with thighs (8 ounces), trimmed of excess fat
• Kosher salt
• 1 to 3 tablespoons duck or chicken fat
• 5 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock (see below)
• 6 quarters preserved lemon rind
• 1/2 cup pitted cracked green olives
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Generously salt the chicken legs on all sides. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the fat in the bottom of a stainless steel tagine over medium-high heat. Add 3 of the chicken legs and cook, turning once, for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until they are well browned. Remove the legs from the pan and cook the remaining 3 legs. Remove them from the pan.
3. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the fat remaining in the pan; if the fat looks burnt, discard it and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons fat in the tagine. Add the onions and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary, for 15 minutes, or until they are a rich golden brown.
4. Remove all but the bottom oven rack so the tagine will fit. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
5. Add the spices and a pinch of salt to the onions and stir constantly for about 1 1/2 minutes to lightly toast the spices. Return the chicken legs to the tagine, pour in the chicken stock, and bring to a boil.
6. Cover the tagine, transfer to the oven, and cook for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and is beginning to pull away from the ends of the drumsticks. Remove the legs from the pan.
7. Return the tagine to a burner and simmer for about 3 minutes to reduce the sauce. Lift some sauce on a spoon; it should coat the spoon. If it needs to reduce further, continue to simmer as needed. Add the lemons and olives. When they are hot, whisk in the butter and herbs. Add salt to taste.
8. Arrange the chicken legs on a platter and spoon the sauce, lemons, and olives over them.

Chicken Stock

Makes 5 to 6 quarts

Using chicken feet will add a lot of viscosity to the stock, which is especially important if you’re using the stock to make the jus and sauce. But if you’re using the stock for other purposes, or you can’t get the chicken feet, add 2 pounds of chicken bones in their place.

Canola oil
8 pounds chicken backs, necks, and bones
8 quarts cold water
2 pounds chicken feet
2 pounds carrots (about 8 large), peeled
2 celery stalks
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
8 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Tellicherry peppercorns

For chicken stock that will be used to make chicken jus or chicken sauce:

• Put a large roasting pan in the oven and preheat the oven to 475° F.
• Remove the pan from the oven and coat with a film of oil. Add all of the bones (but not the feet; browning the feet would remove too much gelatin from them). Drizzle more oil over the bones and roast for about 20 minutes, until browned. Turn the bones over and roast for about 20 minutes longer to brown the second side. Transfer the bones to a 16- to 20-quart stockpot.
• Position the roasting pan over two burners and turn the heat to medium-high. Add 4 cups of the water to the pan and deglaze, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Strain the deglazing liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into the stockpot. Add the chicken feet to the pot and cover with the remaining 7 quarts water. It is all right if some of the chicken feet are not completely submerged.
• Simmer the stock, skimming often, for 4 hours. From time to time, use a pair of tongs to gently move the bones, checking that none are sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• Meanwhile, line a strainer with a double layer of dampened cheesecloth and set over a bowl near the stove. You may have used a skimmer in the past to remove the impurities that rise to the surface, but I use a ladle or spoon and inevitably take a bit of the stock with them to be certain I get them all. I ladle the liquid into the strainer, and then return the strained liquid in the bowl to the stockpot.
• Line a chinois or large fine-mesh strainer with a double layer of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a large storage container or bowl. Using a large ladle, ladle the stock from the pot into the strainer, disturbing the bones as little as possible, to avoid clouding the stock. Tilt the pot as necessary to get the liquid at the bottom. Then discard the bones.

For all-purpose chicken stock (this will also be used for chicken bouillon):

• Put the bones and feet in a 16- to 20-quart stockpot and cover with water.

• Cover the bones and liquid with a parchment lid, and brush it with water to keep the edges from curling up. Bring to a simmer over medium heat (high heat would bring the temperature up too quickly). Putting the pot on one side of the burner will move the impurities to one side, making them easier to skim.

• Meanwhile, line a strainer with a double layer of dampened cheesecloth and set over a bowl near the stove. You may have used a skimmer in the past to remove the impurities that rise to the surface, but I use a ladle or spoon and inevitably take a bit of the stock with them to be certain I get them all. I ladle the liquid into the strainer, and then return the strained liquid in the bowl to the stockpot.

• Rinse the ladle or spoon and the cheesecloth between uses to avoid returning impurities to the pot. Simmer the stock, skimming often, for 2 hours. From time to time, use a pair of tongs to gently move the bones, checking that none are sticking to the bottom of the pot.

• Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Add just enough water to keep the vegetables covered and simmer for 2 hours. Taste the stock -- it should have a rich chicken flavor, but remember that no salt has been added. If it seems weak, simmer for an additional 30 minutes to an hour.

• Line a chinois or large fine-mesh strainer with a double layer of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a large storage container or bowl. Using a large ladle, ladle the stock from the pot into the strainer, disturbing the bones as little as possible, to avoid clouding the stock. Tilt the pot as necessary to get the liquid at the bottom. Then discard the bones and vegetables.

To store the stock, let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.