Tagine of Chicken with Lemon & Olives

The tagine is my favorite cooking vessel of all time! The one in this picture was purchased about 7 or 8 years ago at Sur la Table after breaking my original tagine that came direct from Morocco... a sad day when it broke, but I learned a lesson the hard way. You must let the tagine warm up over low heat before adding your ingredients- and I stress low heat. My first tagine cracked & ultimately shattered after cranking up the gas too high.

Also, you may find tagine-shaped vessels made in stainless steel (All-Clad sells beautiful tagines in various colors) and ceramic (which are primarily decorative and used for serving, rather than cooking), but I prefer the traditional clay type, because the whole point of using a terra cotta tagine is to allow (over time) the spices & flavors to absorb into the clay, which in turns gives back to future dishes in the most subtle of ways. Tagines also are a most fragrant way to slow cook food, so I was rather excited to see a whole section of tagine recipes in Emeril's Sizzling Skillets and Other One-Pot Wonders. As a side note, nearly all the recipes I have ever made in my tagine are beefy North African- meaning heavy on the tumeric, cumin and cinnamon and usually creating a slightly darker sauce. This recipe- Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Cerignola Olives- was surprisingly light and lemony. The broth was clearer than I am used to, but none the less delicious. I did not however, use preserved lemons, nor the specified olives. Still, with regular lemons and mild green olives, the brightness of the recipes showed through. Served over cous cous and voila! A lovely (and unexpected) Mediterranean-style tagine.