CrockPot Moroccan Chicken Recipe

Day 156.

I've been reading a lot of cookbooks lately, and the flavors of Moroccan food have intrigued me. I played around with ingredients I had on hand and put together a Moroccan CrockPot Chicken dish---that is good. It's not mind-blowing, but it's good. I think it needs more spice to please me, but the flavors were pronounced, and because it wasn't too spicy, I got the kids to give it a try. They particularly liked the raisins.

updated 1/12/09: I have since made and updated this recipe. The spices are now spot-on and are quite tasty. I'd recommend using chicken thighs instead of breast pieces--about 6 or so.

The Ingredients.

There are a lot. Don't freak out.

--frozen chicken pieces--the equivalent of 4 breasts

--1 cup salsa

--1/4 cup chicken broth

--2 t Tobasco sauce

--1/3 cup toasted almonds (I threw my raw almonds into the microwave for 2 minutes)

--5 cloves smashed and chopped garlic

--1/3 cup raisins (I used black, but I think golden would be better)

--2 t honey

--1 t cumin

--1/2 t cinnamon

--1/4 t chipotle chili powder

--1/2 t saffron threads

Moroccan food is traditionally served with couscous. We used quinoa.

The Directions.

Put the frozen chicken into your crockpot. If you are using fresh, this will cook awfully quickly because there isn't anything in the crock but chicken and sauce. If you are up to it, mix the spices, salsa, and broth in a separate bowl and pour evenly over the chicken. I didn't do this, and dumped everything in on top, then gave a stir when the chicken thawed a bit. Add the raisins and almonds.

Cover and cook on low for 4-8 hours. I used frozen breast tenders and because the pieces were so thin, our dinner cooked in 4 hours and was ready at noon. oops.

I served the chicken on top of saffron quinoa.

The Verdict.

I liked this, but wanted to love it. I could taste the different spices on their own, but once the chicken met the quinoa, the flavors disappeared. I think I would have liked this stuffed into a corn tortilla wrap or a pita, more than with the quinoa. When I make it again, I will increase the tobasco and the cumin. The vinegar in the tobasco gives a nice flavor that weirdly goes well with raisins.

This is a recipe I could tweak and play with for quite some time.