Moroccan Chicken Smothered in Olives

Name: Moroccan Chicken Smothered in Olives
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: moroccan
Ingredients: 1/4 cup salt, for brining (optional); 1/2 cup sugar, for brining (optional); 8 chicken thighs with bone, skin removed and discarded; 2 onions, peeled, halved and sliced; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 2 teaspoons ground turmeric; 2 teaspoons ground cumin; 1 tablespoon Spanish sweet paprika; 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped; 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves; 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth; 11 ounces pitted green olives in brine, like Goya's, drained; Juice of 1 lemon

Recipe from Paula Wolfert

Adapted by Alex Witchel

Moroccan Chicken Smothered in Olives — Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(887)
Comments: Read comments

Chicken, that old weeknight standby, can get pretty boring day after day. This dish, adapted from "Mediterranean Cooking" by Paula Wolfert, is almost as easy as a few pan-fried chicken breasts, but its flavors – ginger, turmeric, cumin, Spanish sweet paprika, briny olives – are far more exciting. If you have the time, brining the chicken thighs for a couple of hours in a salt-sugar-water solution before cooking will yield supremely tender meat, but if you're in a rush, skip it. You're still going to fall in love with this dish. —Alex Witchel

Featured in: For the Literary Set, Home Cooking, Unedited

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

¼cup salt, for brining (optional)
½cup sugar, for brining (optional)
8chicken thighs with bone, skin removed and discarded
2onions, peeled, halved and sliced
1teaspoon ground ginger
2teaspoons ground turmeric
2teaspoons ground cumin
1tablespoon Spanish sweet paprika
4cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
¾cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2cups low-sodium chicken broth
11ounces pitted green olives in brine, like Goya's, drained
Juice of 1 lemon

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
To brine chicken (optional): In a large bowl, combine salt, sugar and 1 cup hot water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add 3 cups cold water and chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Drain, rinse, and drain again before using.
Step 2
In bottom of a large flameproof casserole, arrange onions and top with chicken pieces. Sprinkle with ginger, turmeric, cumin, paprika, garlic and cilantro. Pour chicken broth over all.
Step 3
Place over high heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, turning once. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine olives with several cups of water and bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes, drain well and set aside.
Step 4
Add olives and lemon juice to chicken, and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. If desired, simmer for additional time to reduce and thicken sauce. Serve hot.

Ratings

4 out of 5

887 user ratings

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Comments

twwren7 years ago

Two suggestions. First, cooking the olives separately needlessly complicates the recipe. I have cooked many a chicken recipe, some from the NYT, using olives and this is the first I've seen using this technique. Just throw the olives in on top of the Chicken and let them cook with the dish. Second, pour the chicken broth in FIRST. Then sprinkle the spices over the chicken.

ephraimhimelstein7 years ago

i make this dish i fry the chiken then remove it add the spices to the oil and fry till fragrant i also us e some ground cinamon then i add the onions and cook till soft the add chicken broth i use kalammata olive and a preserved lemon bjej bis milah

Leisureguy7 years ago

I just realized (too late) that "8 chicken thighs with bone, skin removed and discarded” means "8 chicken thighs with bone in but skin removed and discarded.”

I read that as thighs with bone and skin removed. The comma by itself was insufficiently clear to me. The original came across as a series of two things to be removed: bone and skin.

flip1 year ago

To NYT cooking newbies - always read the comments first! Thanks to everyone. Here were my adjustments - used 4 (not 8) boneless skinless chicken thighs, but i kept spice amount the same! - didn't brine chicken. marinated in spices & a few teaspoons oil (for 5 hours) - seared chicken on both sides, removed to side - then sautéed onions and garlic - then added chicken & 1 cup stock - only used 2-3 oz olives - didn't boil before

CynthiaMaine1 year ago

I used half the amount of chicken broth but this still came out like a soup - not at all like the picture. But it was very tasty and also easy. I used fresh ginger because I was out of dry, and served with rice. Next time I will try adding preserved lemon, as suggested by a couple other commenters, and I like the idea someone suggested of tossing in some Israeli cius cous.

TaosNene2 years ago

Made with half of the sugar in brine, but still too sweet for me; was tender though. as per other reviews, I doubled the spices and added grated ginger in addition to powdered and bloomed them in pan with oil and onions before adding chicken. next time I may add cumin seeds. would have been way too moist with 2 c broth, so decreased that to 3/4 c, less than half of what recipe called for. also added a can of chickpeas & the olives last 10 min for overall a lovely meal.

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