Date Night Dinners - A Taste of Morocco

12/05/2014 tringel 0 Comments

With the holidays being the focus of pretty much every store and industry these days, our date night dinner idea came to us in a roundabout sort of way. We had the perfect meal planned, it sounded delicious and had our mouths watering, or so we thought.

I was wandering about the grocery store, picking out the ingredients we would need to make this great meal, when I noticed spices were on sale. And when I say spices - plural - I don't mean two or three spices. I mean ALL THE SPICES. I was in shock, amazed, and thrilled. I soon realized it was the holiday mindset at play here.  After all, holidays mean food - cooking and baking. And cooking and baking mean spices. The more spices on sale, the more people will buy, the more money the industries make...and we lose. I would not be a victim. I would choose carefully.



My eyes were overwhelmed with the multitude of spices I could finally somewhat afford to try. I wanted so many. And then I found it, a Moroccan spice blend. My fingers were twitching to pull it off the shelf. My self-control finally gave in and without even realizing it, the blend was in my shopping cart. I immediately texted Brenden and asked what he thought about making Moroccan chicken instead of the chicken dish we had previously picked out. Brenden was totally down, and agreed it sounded so much better then the 'oh so perfect' dish we had previously picked out, so perfect I can't even remember what it was we were going to make.



With the spice in hand, I started looking up Moroccan chicken inspired meals. Most of recipes I found, used there own spices. I was confused as to how it could taste Moroccan if the recipes weren't using some type of Moroccan spice blend, like the one I had just stumbled upon.

Then I decided to look at the ingredient list on the Moroccan spice blend, and the ingredients were similar to those I had found on the recipes. Not only that, but, I had almost all of the spices at home already. It was genius, we would make our own Moroccan spice blend. But seriously, why hadn't I thought of this, um, right away?!


We perused many more Moroccan chicken recipes and finally found one that had a blend of spices that sounded perfect for us. It was like the recipe was made for us. It included delicious spices, easy prep, and a quick cook time. Then the problem arose. The chicken was quick to cook because it was cooked on a grill. Brenden and I, being gril-less, knew we would have to compromise in some way - find a new recipe or give up some of the flavor the grill brings by sticking to our traditional and boring baked chicken. But I was not ready to give up. I searched the comments section of the recipe, as I usually do before beginning a recipe to see if I might want to make any adjustments, and there it was, the solution to all our problems. Okay, maybe not all, but this one at least.


Have you ever broiled chicken? Neither had we. Has it ever even crossed your mind? It hadn't crossed ours, that is, until now. The blogger of this original recipe had suggested broiling the chicken if you could not grill it. Brenden and I were intrigued. After marinating our chicken breasts overnight, we popped them into the oven, set on broil and crossed our fingers for good luck. It turned. Out. Perfectly.

The chicken didn't just taste good because of the flavors we mixed and marinated it in, but because of how well the chicken itself was cooked. It cooked quickly and perfectly throughout; it was amazing. The middle remained nice and juicy while the outsides got a nice amount of color, almost, ALMOST, as if it had been cooked on the grill.


We were ready to devour the chicken immediately, so we threw it on top of the Moroccan inspired couscous we decided to prepare for a side and marveled at how good the dish looked and smelled. The couscous tied in some of the flavors from the chicken but also brought in complementary flavors from sun-dried tomatoes, raisins, and almonds. It was the prefect combination, a brilliant medley in my mouth, the sweetness from the couscous balancing out the spiciness from the chicken. Nothing was overwhelming; nothing was overpowering; it was just right.

Moroccan Spiced Chicken
Recipe adapted from onceuponachef.com, Grilled Moroccan Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breasts, boneless skinless
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsps paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

1. The Night Before:
1. Place the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of parchment paper, and with a meat mallet, pound to an even 1/2 inch thickness.
2. Place pounded chicken breast inside a 1 gallon ziplock baggy.
3. Mix all ingredients, except chicken, together in a small bowl, creating a marinade.
4. Pour marinade into the ziplock bag with the chicken, press air out of the bag and seal shut.
5. Massage the marinade into the breasts until evenly coated.
6. Place the filled and sealed ziplock bag in a bowl (to protect against leakage) in the refrigerator, and let the chicken marinate overnight.
2. The Day Of:
1. Preheat the Broiler and set a rack about 7 inches from the top heating element.
2. Remove the marinated chicken breasts from the refrigerator and bag, and place on a baking tray, sprayed with cooking oil.
3. Place the tray of chicken in the oven and broil for 5-8 minutes on each side.
4. Once cooked on both sides, and fully through, remove from the oven.
5. Serve and enjoy immediately.

Moroccan Inspired Couscous
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com, Quick Moroccan Couscous

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup pearl (Israeli couches)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 medium shallot, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Cook the couscous as instructed on package.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Add the onion, shallot, and garlic until the onion is cooked and light brown, about 15 minutes.
4. Stir in the raisins, sun-dried tomatoes, almonds, cooking until heated through, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the cooked couscous into the onion-raisin mixture.
6. Stir until everything is well combined and heated through, about 5 minutes.
7. Season the couscous mixture with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
8. Once everything is well combined and heated, serve and enjoy, preferably with your Moroccan Spiced Chicken (featured above).