Saturday

Mystery Ingredient Club ~ Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Green Olives


Foodie Friday and our 1st
Mystery Ingredient Club Event~
hosted by Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm!

Click here to learn more.
I apologize that I am a little late to the party, due to scary
wildfires in our area ~ they have interrupted
everyday routines, to say the least.


Michael very generously sent each of the participants
3 ingredients to use in any recipe we chose. We could
pick one, two or three of the ingredients.
(Thank you so much for your generosity Michael!)

I decided to use all three mystery ingredients, 
but in separate recipes ~ so
I will be posting the other two in the next few days.


I chose the Preserved Lemons to use in my
first dish: 




I had been wanting to try this recipe from Tyler Florence (which has
received great reviews) for quite some time, so this was my chance.




It is a dish inspired by flavors from the middle East, and
it didn't disappoint.

Note: You do not need a tagine to make this dish. I didn't make it in
the tagine, I simply transferred it for serving at the table.



One of us (not me!) is not really fond of traditional brined
green olives ~ so I used these instead:




I found them in the refrigerated case at Costco,
I've also bought them from the olive bar at the grocery store. As the
label says, they are very mild, with a pleasing buttery texture.





The recipe doesn't require that you bundle the chicken
with twine, but I like to do it sometimes for a
neater presentation.





The chicken is absolutely melt-in-your-mouth
tender, and very flavorful.





To serve with it, I also made Tyler Florence's recipe
for Apricot and Orange CousCous.  
click and scroll down
His calls for scallions, instead
I snipped some chives from the garden.

We loved it!  I served toasted Marcona almonds
on the side as a garnish.




I loved this combination of ingredients (I didn't picture
the onion, cumin, cloves, saffron, or red pepper here.) I added generous
slices of fresh ginger, which I removed before serving.



Would I, should I prepare it again?

Those of us at the table responded with an overwhelming ~

YES!




You can usually tell how much I like a particular dish by
the number of images of it that I share. 

(It's a dead give-away with this one!)    :o)




Check in tomorrow for my next entry for
the Mystery Ingredient Club, using mystery ingredient #2.
It's another winner.

~*~*~*~*~


Please come see all of the recipes at:


(Click image.)

Thank you for stopping by today!

9 comments:

  1. Thank you Jain! Well, at least you got a *little* sun today, so much for summer on the west coast (in most places!) Your comments stay stuck in my email box when you're @ SeaDream ~

    a quiet life has left a new comment on your post "Mystery Ingredient Club ~ Chicken with Preserved L...":

    "dang dang dang i am hungry just looking a this! such a beautiful presentation, i love every pic and i can smell and taste all those wonderful flavors... i wish someone would cook for me, i want the joy of sitting down and tasting a meal fresh with the first bite, i spend so much time snacking my way through, some call it tasting, that to see a pretty new plate placed in front of me would be a luxury! i love the apricot addition, FABULOUS! the bundles of chicken, i would give my feral cat for a bite, ok i will give you all 4 for the plate!

    the sun was shinning when scott got here, he ate lunch and promptly fell asleep in the sun shirtless. i came inside since the fog is thick and the wind is howling now i thought i could sneak in and see your goodies, meanwhile i threw 2 blankets over scott and he is sound asleep in our arctic summer and i am warm and snug CRAVING THIS HOT MEAL!

    look forward to the rest of your goodies, ff link stays open until monday, look forward to seeing all the ways you went with the gold
    ;-)


    Hope everything is going well with your new kitties (you're a HERO to save Mama & her babies.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's wonderful to see you post.
    I feel that all is getting better for you.
    I love the look of tagines:-) And preserved lemons..so this suits me to a T:-)
    Love couscous..so I will look up Tyler's recipe too.
    And I will check Costco..
    I remember when you took us to Tyler's store Mary:-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Dear Monique, you have a keen memory; Pour se rappeler la visite au magasin de Tyler!

    Thank you for your good wishes... I wish you the very same.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks delicious and definitely a recipe we will try with our Meyer lemon goodies. We love Moroccan food, and though we spent a week in Marrakech, regretfully I didn't come home with a pretty tagine. Your presentation is perfect, and I enjoyed seeing all those beautiful images. I look forward to the other dishes you plan to share. I've had so much fun with the lemon ingredients that I'm still cooking. '-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh my...your pictures speak a thousand words, the first of which are 'eat me, I will melt in your mouth'! The second are: 'You are an amazing stylist, cook, and photographer'! I saw Tyler's recipe doing my preserved lemon scouting... if your photos had been there I would have definitely tried my hand at this recipe. You could sell jars of preserved lemons and gorgeous tangines with these photos...*sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just look how beautifully you've staged all the ingredients, along with the final dish! How beautiful...truly done with an artist's eye, Mari!
    I've always envied your photography skills but now I realized that it is more than just the camera...its the brains behind it, too.

    I can't wait to try BOTH recipes...thanks for sharing them.

    fondly,
    Rett

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, thank you Sarah, Mary and Rett for such kind comments.

    I, too, really enjoyed working with the lemon products ~ they encouraged me to try something different than the usual fare!

    I was so impressed with all of your recipes ~ and I hope to give them a try them with the remainder of the lemon products.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mari, if you heard a gasp, it was me when I saw your gorgeous photos. Just the olives alone are making me swoon. The colors leap out, and I could swear that I'm smelling spices. In the background I can hear the Berber storytellers and music from the snake charmers and I can see the steam rising from the food tents in the market. My whole brain is signaling hunger and happiness, all at once. I'm bedazzled. This was such a joy to behold. Thank you SO much for cooking up this splendor for the mystery club!!! xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Mari - Your chicken dish looks so delicious. I have always been more than happy with Tyler Florence's recipes too. We love couscous and I'm looking forward to trying your version. I can only imagine how scary the wildfires are. I hope you and your family are safe.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments, friends ~ they make my day!

A Sampling of my food . . .

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