Morocco and My Friend Cate

While Jess was in Iraq my friend Cate stayed with me. She kept me sane. She sympathized because her fiance was in Iraq too. When we both were emotionally exhausted we went running and we ran fast.

Cate is one of my favorite people on earth. We trained together for the marathon. I don't get to see her often because she has a very important job but when I do it is always special because Cate is an extremely thoughtful person.

When Cate was on her honeymoon she stopped in Morocco and picked up these bowls. I love them because even though we can't travel internationally right now I like to look at them and imagine what Morocco might be like. A great gift has a way of transporting you to a special place.

In honor of my friend Cate, I'm posting this delicious Moroccan recipe. I cooked it last night and it was simple and amazingly yummy. I hope you enjoy it too.

Chicken Tagine

1 T. Oil
3 lbs of Chicken (I used thighs because they were on sale)
1 medium onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. turmeric
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 cup chicken broth
1 14.5 oz can diced (undrained tomatoes)
1 cup dried plums diced into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup whole pitted green olives
1 lemon sliced

* couscous for serving

Directions:
1. Cook chicken skin side down in oil in a dutch oven for appox. 5 minutes.
2. Turn Chicken and add onion, garlic, and cilantro
3. Add all spices on top of chicken
4. Cook for another 5 minutes. Check that chicken doesn't stick.
5. Pour broth and tomatoes in pot.
6. Continue to let chicken simmer stirring occasionally so chicken is completed coated in sauce.
7. Stir plums, olives and lemon.
8. Cover, reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes
9. Remove chicken and keep warm.
10. Turn up heat, cooking sauce down for 5 minutes

Serve chicken on couscous and cover in sauce. This recipe looks challenging but was actually really easy. I hope you enjoy it!