Moroccan Chicken Tagine

My first year living away from home in college, mom gave me a bunch of old cookbooks of hers so that I could try my hand at cooking. This one I tried three years ago and it's been a favorite ever since that I continue to make regularly. It came from a book with all slow-cooker recipes, so it's super easy....but it's also super delicious! Here's the recipe:

Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Makes 4-6 Servings

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken, cut up, skin removed (I usually just buy frozen chicken and put in as many pieces as I want..)
I'm not even gonna put the onions on here because I don't with mine :)
2 cups chicken broth
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 cilantro sprigs
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1 can (15 ounces) chick-peas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
cooked couscous or rice.


Directions:

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine broth, tomatoes, apricots, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, cayenne and cilantro sprigs in medium bowl; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from slow cooker; place on serving dish and cover to keep warm.

Combine cornstarch and water in a cup and stir until smooth. Stir into slow cooker. Stir in chick-peas. Cover and cook on High 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Pour sauce over chicken . Sprinkle with cilantro and almonds. serve with couscous or rice.

Tip: To toast almonds, heat small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add almonds and stir or toss constantly about 2 minutes until browned on both sides. Remove from pan at once.

Cookies and Cream.... a la France!

While I was in France I happened upon a bookstore with many fabulous cookbooks. I was really excited when I found one on the many types of Creme Brulee. I've been a creme brulee connoisseur for some time, as I've dabbled in the art of making creme brulee in recipes other than vanilla (ie: coconut, chocolate, almond, white chocolate macadamia nut, cookie dough and cake batter..to name a few :) ). So this purchase was a no-brainer....even if the recipe was written in French. No worries, with the help of my trusty sidekick Amelia we have translated the recipe for you. Actually she also wrote a blog post here that is probably already better than the post I'm currently writing. Anyway, this particular creme brulee is much like the usual french dessert, except it contains a yummy Belgian cookie called speculoos inside! I knew when I bought the cookbook I'd want to make that recipe so I bought the speculoos cookies back when I was in France...however their U.S. equivalent is the biscoff cookie which can be found in Walgreens apparently...so it can live on even after the speculoos have disappeared (which may be soon after I looked up another recipe that uses them too...yummy.)



And now....for the translated recipe.....

Pots de creme a la vanille et speculos 

(Makes 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Whipping Cream

1/2 Cup Milk

Just under 1/3 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

Vanilla (just under a tablespoon)

4-6 speculos cookies

Directions:

Put milk and vanilla in a saucepan on low heat.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar together. Add the whipping cream and mix well. Little by little, add the hot milk/vanilla mixture to the cold mixture in the bowl. Put in the fridge for at least two hours.

Set the oven for 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the contents of the bowl in your ramekins. Place the speculos cookies on the top of the mixture in each ramekin.

It was so delicious. One of my favorite creme brulees I've ever made...and it looked just like the picture in the book so I was very proud!! Also I would like to note that I am aware that my blog seems to plagiarize Amelia's a lot...and I am okay with that.