If My Chicken's Morrocon You Better Come A Knockin'

Morroco, yes shake your maracas is known for it's bold and flavorful spicy foods and we are talkin' strong flavors of Cumin (K-you-men), lemon, cinnamon and hot peppers.  Well that's right up my alley being that I'm a decedent of Greece (Mykonos to be exact). where beautiful flavors just meld together into something so wonderful and roll your eyes back in your head good I need more please!  This chicken recipe is classic for the region, and the veggie recipe is so so good and the chicken is so tender, melt in your mouth good and the veggies just compliment the chicken so well.  This chicken is so tender, and when you eat it, you will feel like you are somewhere in Northern Africa.  This is a must try recipe and you will want to serve it to guests.  When I asked my hubby how he liked it, he couldn't even give a response due to the "mmmmmmm..... factor".  So try it out.  YOU WILL LOVE!!!!!!

What you need: 

6 Chicken legs (skin off)

6 Chicken thighs (skin off)

To take the skin easily off a chicken, slit an opening under the skin and begin to pull.  When you get to the end, you may find it too slippery to pull off, no problem, grab a paper towel and you will be able to pull the remainder of the skin off easily.  A trick I learned from my Dad. =0

1/2 Cup olive oil or grape seed oil

1/2 Cup Soy sauce (reduced sodium works as well)

1 head of garlic chopped/minced tiny

2 Tsp Cumin

2 Tsp Paprika (I love Hungarian Paprika, it's so rich tasting)

2 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tsp Lemon pepper

Sqeeze of half lemon

3/4 Cup of any white wine

1 Cup flour

2 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp hot chili pepper (ground)

1 tsp lemon pepper 

4 small onions or 1 large sliced

3 lemons sliced

Oil for searing

Let's get to work:

1)Combine the first 10 ingredients (under the chicken) in a bowl, add the skinned chicken, coat well and then transfer chicken and liquids to a plastic ziplock bag. (I like to double bag it to prevent leaks.) Marinate for at least 24 hours, turning chicken every 5 hours to make sure it's evenly marinated.

2)After the chicken has marinated, combine the next 6 ingredients and whisk together in a small bowl.  Drain the chicken, but reserve the marinade.  Once the chicken is drained, coat each piece with the flour mixture and then add to a hot pan of oil and brown on each side and transfer to baking dish and repeat until all pieces are done.

4)Once chicken is in the pan, top all pieces with the sliced onion and then pour over the reserved marinade and then top with lemon slices.  Bake at 250 degrees for about an hour (low and slow is my favorite method for baking any meats/poultry to preserve juiciness and full flavor besides grilling).  Remove pan of chicken from oven and remove lemon slices and place onion slices to the side of the pan.  Return to the oven and turn oven to broil for about 10 minutes until chicken is bubbling.  Before serving on a plate, squeeze some fresh lemon juice all over the chicken and top with a fresh lemon slice on the plate for presentation.

For Vegetables:

Chop and place in a bowl: 1 eggplant, 1 Zucchini, 2 Red pepperoncini's and 1 basket wild mushrooms, and 4 slices fresh lemon.  Toss in 2 tbsp grape seed oil, 1 tbsp Cinnamon, Cumin, Paprika, Salt and lemon pepper.  Grill in a grill pan on medium heat, stirring occasionally until vegetables have that caramelized appearance and are tender (taste here for tenderness... you will want to keep tasting.=)  These vegetable are a wonderful addition to the chicken and just complement the flavors so well.  I like to choose veggies that soak up flavors like a sponge such as eggplant, zucchini, etc.  Once veggies are done, serve on a plate next to the chicken with a squeeze of fresh lemon and tooooooooooooootally enjoy and just be transfered to another world with the amazing flavors from Morroco!! Don't forget the wine!!! =D

A sneak peak of veggies on the grill awaiting to be placed on a plate and eaten!! Wait, I think there were more veggies on this grill pan... HUBBBBBY????? ;-)

Sneak peak of chicken in the oven.... "is it done yet???"  The aroma of this chicken permeates the air and makes you want to eat NOW!!!"  It tortures you!! 

Please enjoy, you won't be disappointed!!  =)