It’s been awhile since we’ve featured one of our shove-it-in-the-oven dishes. Here’s the latest. It’s based on the chicken tagine we ran on Three Many Cooks last year. The advantages of this recipe—you don’t need a tagine, and you need very little time. After getting the apricots simmering, you know the drill. Just toss everything except the cilantro into the roasting pan. After thirty minutes in the oven, the chicken tagine is ready. Stir in apricots and cilantro, and serve the stew on a bed of couscous or another of your favorite grains for a beautiful one-dish supper that’s also nice enough to serve to company.
Maggy was out for dinner last Friday, and I cooked this chicken tagine for her. Five days later she e-mails, “so, I have been craving that tagine since you made it last weekend!!”
Based on her endorsement, I think this recipe has a bright future.
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 2-inch pieces cinnamon stick
- ¾ cup dried Turkish apricots, separated into halves
- 2 teaspoons each: ground cinnamon and ginger
- 1 teaspoon each: turmeric and ground black pepper
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved
- 1 large onion, quartered and sliced ¼ inch thick
- 4 large carrots
- 6 large garlic cloves, sliced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- ½ cup marcona almonds, chopped
- Bring honey, 1½ cups water, cinnamon sticks, and apricots to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until apricots are tender and liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 20 minutes; discard cinnamon sticks.
- Meanwhile, mix cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Scatter chicken, onions, carrots, garlic, spice mix, olive oil and a sprinkling of salt in a large roasting pan; toss to coat well. Place roasting pan in oven and cook until chicken is fully cooked and carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven, stirring in cilantro, apricots, and a little water if dish needs moistening. Serve chicken on a bed of couscous or other grains of choice, sprinkling with almonds.
Can’t wait to try this! Perfect to take away the Winter blues. Thanks for sharing.
I love chicken, I love apricots, I love your ‘Shove-it-in- the Oven’ recipes and it’s even OK that I didn’t win the tagine you gave away last year!!! Going to try this recipe for sure.
Pam…I made this on Saturday, and then served it again last night, over toasted barley. It is SO delicious. Just the right amount of flavor and spice. It was even better the second day. And, it was so easy! I will make this again and again. I just used my heavy-duty Le Creuset pot and it was no problem. You are amazing!
Thanks for this, and also for the spring vegetable shove-it-in-the-oven stew recipe too! Both were enjoyed by my family. I made them even more mom-rush-hour-friendly by subbing pre-peeled baby carrots, using peeled garlic, and chopping up roasted almonds I keep on hand for snacks. Done so fast, nutritious and delicious!
I doubled this recipe and made it for a big dinner party last night. it was delicious. I made a few modifications, essentially combining it with another recipe off epicurious. I rubbed the spices on the chicken parts first, then browned the chicken in olive oil on the stove top for a few minutes.nIn another pan I browned the onions, Carrots, garlic, and I added fennel. I put the veggies in a roasting pan, put the chicken on top and followed the rest of the recipe as written.
This was fantastic!!
I made this for a dinner party and it was a huge success! I am making it again tonight. Delicious and easy!
Do you mix the reduced glaze in with the chicken when it’s cooked? Or just the apricots? Thanks, looks great. Going to make this for a dinner party tomorrow.
You mix in the apricots and the glaze!
This was so delicious. Full of flavour and not too tricky. We had all the ingredients already at home. Delicious and there’s more for tomorrow.