Tajine

A new toy! I have been lusting for a Tajine, a Moroccan cooking vessel.















Not that I need it... I have a slow cooker, and several dutch ovens, and an electric oven...but they look so sexy..and practical, yet exotic.

This week I was surprised by my mate of 30+ years when I came home from a full work day and found this lovely cooking vessel sitting on my gas range.

The base is cast iron, where the traditional version is all clay. The idea is to caramelize and brown the seasoned ingredients, then cover and slow cook until tender. The final product is very juicy and tender.















I seasoned the chicken for this dish with essence and a generous sprinkle of Berber (a North African spice blend). First, I cut up the chicken breasts into thirds. Then I browned the spiced chicken in the base of the Tajine. Then I removed the meat to make room to cook the veggies a bit. (not traditional but this is what I did for this version)














The vegetables I used at first were onions, quartered, button mushrooms, halved, and carrots sliced diagonally. These were caramelized in the base of the Tajine, seasoned and then I threw in a generous dash of brandy and a handful of raisins. The browned chicken was returned to the Tajine base and then covered to cook further.















A flash of creativity had me add some bell peppers, and a handful of broccolini for color.














There are no pictures of the final product because we got so excited about eating this we forgot to take any more pictures. So the next time we Tajine, I will take pictures of the final product for your enjoyment!

This is our new favorite cooking vessel...and makes a very impressive serving dish as well!

Of course, if you don't have a Tajine, you can use a slow cooker or a deep pan and achieve similar but not as tender a result.