Professional caterer Alison Tucker shared her cozy Moroccan chicken that is sure to become a family favorite!
Moroccan Chicken with Saffron, Tomatoes, and Honey
Ingredients:
1/ 4 teaspoon saffron
2 ice cubes
4 large chicken thighs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, diced
1 14-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, drained
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
Salt and pepper to taste
The very first step of this recipe is blooming the saffron, which is a key step to yield the full taste and aroma of saffron. Put 2 ice cubes into a small bowl and sprinkle the saffron over the ice. Leave the ice off to the side as you prepare the rest of the dish. As the ice melts, the saffron will bloom and then you’ll add it to the sauce to reap the biggest saffron reward.
Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan. When the butter has melted but before it browns, place the chicken pieces into the pan, making sure not to crowd them. Sear until the chicken has browned, about 5 minutes each side, and then transfer the chicken onto a plate. Keep the pan with the juices and fats on a medium heat.
Place the chopped onion into the pan and season gently. Lower the heat and sauté the onion until it softens and becomes translucent. Add the drained whole tomatoes, the cinnamon, the ginger, and the saffron ice (now saffron water). Let simmer for 2 minutes. Add the chicken pieces back to the pan, spooning sauce over the chicken (the sauce won’t be too saucy yet, and that’s ok). Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Transfer the cooked chicken pieces to a serving dish. Stir the honey into the simmering sauce and taste for seasoning. Let it cook, while making sure it doesn’t burn, for about 5 minutes.
Spoon the sauce over the chicken and enjoy!
[Music] Kicking things off in the kitchen with a recipe that is sure to become a family favorite. Here to share a cozy Moroccan chicken that’s perfect for fall, we welcome back professional caterer Allison Tucker. Always so good to see you. How are you? Look at this. This looks so yummy and perfect for the season. Oh my gosh, it’s the perfect fall meal. Okay. So, this is a Moroccan chicken. And what we’re going to do, I have two pieces here of chicken that has been seasoned. Okay. And I am searing this in a little bit of butter and a little bit of oil. Okay. And then I’m going to take it out. I’m going to keep the fats going in there. We’re not going to clean the pan. We’re not even going to drop the temperature. And we’re going to put on some onions. Yum. And then these are going to get sauteed and they’re going to get really, really delicious. Okay. And that is going to come along. So, a thing that I love to do, this is some saffron. Saffron is the good stuff, right? So, what I like to do when I’m cooking this recipe is I like to bloom the saffron in a little bit of water or or uh just, you know, we can we can do it you can do it beforehand or you can just do it. But you want it to take on you want it to sort of open up the flavor opens up. And so I’m going to put a little bit of this because you just need a tiny bit. You just need a tiny tiny bit. Going to put a little bit of this couple of saffron threads in there. And then I have some juice from the tomatoes. See? Perfect. And I’m going to That’s just going to get going on its own while these happen. Okay. And then we’re going to start to add the real flavor. Yum. So, will you I have two tablespoons of uh cinnamon. Okay, will you please? And this guy here, that’s him. That’s a healthy dose of cinnamon. So, this is this is what I would use for four chicken breasts. I’m just doing two right now, but the recipe is for four chicken breasts. And that is going to be incredible cuz it’s going to kind of hide, but it’s going to kind of bloom out. Uh, and then I have a teaspoon of ginger. Yum. All right. And then I have some San Marzano tomatoes. We’re going to do that at the end. Okay. So, this is going to really, really, really sauce up. And what happens is this. Then I’m going to add the chicken back in. Okay. The chicken is it gets cooked five five minutes aside. So it’s not if you had bone in chicken it would take a little longer. This chicken is pretty well cooked. But it cooks down and gets really saucy. That’s going to happen for about uh that’s going to happen for about 25 minutes. 20 to 25 minutes. So, it’s not a super long meal, but it gets really juicy and really saucy and really lovely. And then we’re just going to pretend that the sauce has come down. You’re going to take the chicken out. And then you add the secret ingredient, which is Okay. One and a half tablespoons of honey. Okay. Okay. So, thank you. Beautiful. So, this is going to get so sweet and salty and it’s got the saffron, which you can add in now. Oh my gosh. With the ch with the tomato or if you want sometimes I I work with a with a an ice cube and I I let the ice cube sort of Great idea um bring the saffron flavors out. Man, talk about bursting with flavor. And it just is going to saucier and saucier. And then you put the chicken back in. Beautiful. Look at this. Here is some Here is an example. It’s on a little bit of couscous. That’s Israeli couscous. And you can just taste it and see. Oh my gosh. Okay, I got to get the perfect bite here. Perfect little bit. Ooh, this looks so I mean, the color is so gorgeous. It is. And it’s again, it’s a perfect fall meal with a little bit of You get the sweetness and the cinnamon and the saffron. A little bit of everything. A little bit of everything. That is so nice. Really cozy. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. Always great to see you, Alison. Wonderful. Okay. We’ll have this recipe and more about Allison on our website at katu.com. We’ll be right back with more Afternoon Live right after this. [Music]
Dining and Cooking