What better way to celebrate our 100th blog and Anna’s birthday than with a Moroccan inspired casserole and a sweet bottle of muscat wine.  It has taken us a good seven to eight months to get to this point and we have really enjoyed sharing our culinary exploits.   Thank you for all those that have taken the time to read through, like and follow our blog.   We would love to hear from you and do share any thoughts and comments on improving some of the dishes.  So please join me and raise a glass to toast our next 100 blogs and Anna’s next … birthdays 🙂

Anna has been wanting to cook a Moroccan flavoured dish for quite some time (she has a dish in mind which we will write about in the near future) but I decided to use this as an inspiration to cook her a wonderful casserole for her birthday.

PS.  For the culinary purists – we know parsnip is not a typical vegetable in Moroccan dishes.

What do I need to make it?

• 500 gms boneless chicken thighs
• 1 tsp cumin seeds – toasted
• 1 big onion sliced
• 4-5 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 courgette cut in thick slices
• 6 small potatoes halved
• 1 large parsnip cut in chunks
• 1 large carrot cut in chunks
• 1/2 butter nut squash
• 1 stick of celery roughly chopped
• 1 large green pepper cut in big pieces
• 400 gm canned chickpeas drained
• 8-10 dried apricots
• 4-6 green chillies
• 2 chicken stock cubes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp harissa paste
• 2 preserved lemons sliced
• 3 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Handful of coriander chopped for garnish
• Salt and pepper to taste

How much will I make?

Serves 4

How do I make it?

First marinade the chicken with 1 teaspoon of harissa paste and the toasted cumin seeds and leave for a few hours.   Heat a oven proof casserole dish and brown the chicken pieces, remove and add the olive oil.   Saute the garlic and onion for a couple of minutes before adding the green pepper, celery and green chilli.  Cook for a few minutes before adding the remaining vegetables, chickpeas, ground cumin, harissa paste, apricots, preserved lemons, stock cubes, honey and around 500 ml of water.   Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.  Cover the dish and cook in a pre-heated oven at 190 degree Centigrade for an hour till the chicken is cooked.   Garnish with some fresh chopped coriander and enjoy.

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