Roast Chicken Tagine

My new schedule at work doesn't generally allow me to spend three hours making dinner afterwards. I do get to have more breakfasts at home, which is a plus.  While I can throw together something in half an hour for an average meal, it does make it hard to cook a blog dinner in under two hours.

I came up with this variation of a Sunday Roast dinner, with chicken instead so it would be ready in an hour.  I haven't cooked with North African flavors in a while.  It's kind of like Stoo with chicken, but in the oven.  This tagine is just special enough that I had it for Rosh Hashanah dinner with the raisin challah.  It's lightly sweet for the holiday and complex enough to feel like a festive meal.

I'm using my Williams-Sonoma tagine spice mix that I should probably toss because it's so old.  There isn't much left.  It's mostly cinnamon, cumin, and paprika.  I vote that if you buy spice mixes like curry powder or lemon pepper, you might as well get a generic tagine spice.

It's also helping to clear out the Pond so I can start planting for fall.  Used up the last of the carrots.  The beets died during the extreme heat wave and I had to throw out the last two.  Pickled all the cucumbers I could get to grow.  The problem is the cauliflower.  They're supposed to bloom within 70 days.  It's been something like 4 months.  They take up a ton of space that I would rather be using for peas and salad greens.

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or the 4 huge ones I got)
1 large sweet potato
*2 large carrots
1 yellow onion
*2 ribs celery
12 pitted dates
*1 Tb honey
olive oil
*1 Tb tagine spice
almonds for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Peeling the sweet potato is optional, but I always peel my carrots.  Cut sweet potato, carrots, onion, and celery into bite-sized pieces.  Toss in a drizzle of olive oil to coat.  Distribute around the edges of a roasting pan.  It's ok if some of it lands in the middle.  Evenly distribute dates among the veggies.

2.  Place chicken pieces over vegetables in pan.  I swear, those were marked chicken thighs.  I'd hate to meet the whole chicken in a dark alley.  And there was another package with even bigger ones.  Sprinkle chicken with tagine spice.  Pour 1/2 C water into the pan to help the vegetables cook in the same amount of time as the chicken.  Cover, either with the pan's lid or foil.

3.  Roast for 1 hour.  Remove foil and check temperature of largest piece of chicken.  You're looking for 160ºF.  If not done, replace foil and continue to roast in 20 minute increments.  Finish with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of almonds.  Serve hot, with rice, couscous, or another starchy side.

Serves 4-6

Difficulty rating  π