North African cuisine, especially from Morocco cuisine, has taken the world by storm. It has a distinctive flavour, a blend of Middle Eastern ingredients with unique cooking styles.  At Wickedfood Cooking School, our Moroccan Cooking Classes are always popular. In our cookbook of the week,  A Farm In My Heart there is a great recipe for Moroccan Chicken.  Saffron is an essential ingredient in this dish.

1.5 kg chicken piecesMoroccan chicken

2 large, finely chopped onions

2 finely chopped garlic cloves,

½t ground saffron

½t ground ginger

¼t crushed dried chillies

1 cup water or chicken stock

Little leftover white wine

Rind of a preserved lemon

36 pitted purple or green olives

Chopped parsley or coriander leaves

Juice of a lemon

  1. Season 1,5kg chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
  2. Pour a little oil into a heavy-based saucepan and brown the chicken pieces all over in the hot oil.
  3. Now add the finely chopped onions, garlic, ground saffron, ground ginger and crushed dried chillies. Add 1 cup water/chicken stock if you have some.
  4. Adding a little leftover white wine to the water won’t do any harm either, although I don’t suppose it’s traditional.
  5. Stew the chicken over a low heat for 1 to 1¼ hours until soft. Add a small quantity of boiling water if it looks a little dry.
  6. About 10 to 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the rind of a preserved lemon cut into wedges, or the rinds of eight wedges. But I’m far too greedy to use only the rind, so I usually chop up the entire wedge.
  7. Also add the purple or green olives.
  8. Before serving, taste for seasoning and add a handful of finely chopped parsley or coriander leaves, and the juice of a lemon, if necessary.
  9. This chicken is delicious with rice and a salad of fresh lettuce.

Click on one of the links below for other recipes from A Farm In My Heart:

Deboned neck of lamb with garlic and herbs

Tapenade

Focaccia or ciabatta

Créme caramel

For a few more, click here

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.