Tagine de Poulet au Coing

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy clay tagine with heat diffuser or wide 5-liter Dutch oven
• •Small saucepan for glazing the quinces
• •Fine grater for the onions

Instructions

1. 1

   Bloom the saffron

   Crumble the saffron into 3 tablespoons warm water and leave it until the water turns deep gold and smells floral. Put the chicken in a wide bowl with the grated onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, olive oil, and salt. Pour in the saffron water and work everything over the chicken with your hands, because the onion and spice have to touch every piece before the pot can do its work.

   If you have 30 minutes, let the chicken sit covered at room temperature. If you have overnight, refrigerate it, then let it lose its chill before cooking.
2. 2

   Start the tagine

   Set a heavy tagine on a diffuser or use a wide Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Melt the smen, add the chicken with all its onion mixture, the cinnamon stick, and the herb bundle, and turn the pieces for 8 to 10 minutes until the onion smells sweet and the chicken loses its raw shine. Add 250ml water, cover, and let it murmur gently for 40 to 50 minutes, turning the chicken once, until the meat is tender but still holds to the bone.

3. 3

   Prepare the quinces

   While the chicken cooks, scrub the quinces well. Leave the peel on if it is clean and yellow; it helps the fruit hold its shape. Quarter them, cut out the hard cores, and work one fruit at a time so the cut sides do not darken. If the pieces must wait, put them in cold water with a spoon of brine from the preserved lemon jar, not fresh lemon.

4. 4

   Poach the fruit

   When the chicken has given you a good sauce, ladle about 250ml of it into a small saucepan and add the quince pieces, cut sides down, with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cover and simmer 18 to 25 minutes, turning once, until the tip of a knife enters with a little resistance. Add a splash of water if the pan looks tight; the fruit should soften without falling apart.

5. 5

   Glaze with honey

   When the quinces are just tender, stir the honey into their pan and spoon the sauce over them until every piece shines. Simmer uncovered 8 to 12 minutes, shaking the pan instead of stabbing at the fruit, until the glaze is saffron-amber and clings lightly. This is the deciding gesture: honey goes in late, after the quince yields, or the sugar tightens the fruit and scorches before tenderness arrives.

6. 6

   Reduce the sauce

   Lift the chicken pieces to a warm plate when they are tender. Discard the herb bundle, add the preserved lemon strips to the main pot, and reduce the onion sauce uncovered until it coats a spoon and a little oil glistens at the edges. Taste now. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes, but the mouth has the last word.

7. 7

   Set the table

   Return the chicken to the sauce, arrange the glazed quinces around it, and spoon any honeyed syrup back over the top. Scatter the toasted almonds and sesame seeds just before serving so they keep their bite. Carry the tagine to the table with round khobz for the sauce, and let people reach from the center.

Chef Tips

• •Buy quinces in their true season, autumn into early winter. They should be golden and fragrant at the stem; green fruit will stay sour and wooden, and no gesture rescues a tired quince.
• •Use real saffron threads and bloom them. Powdered yellow turns the sauce loud without giving perfume, and this dish depends on the perfume.
• •Don't bury this tagine under ras el hanout. The grammar here is saffron, ginger, cinnamon, and quince. If your family version uses a pinch, buy it from a merchant who'll tell you what's in it; with ras el hanout, you don't cheat.
• •Honey belongs near the end. You want a glossy glaze that catches the light, not burnt sugar gripping the bottom of the pot.
• •If couscous joins this table, give it its dignity: steam the grain in passes and serve it as its own centerpiece, never as a bed under the chicken.

Advance Preparation

• •Bloom the saffron and season the chicken up to 12 hours ahead; keep it covered in the refrigerator and bring it out 30 minutes before cooking.
• •Toast the almonds and sesame up to 2 days ahead; keep them in a dry jar so they stay crisp.
• •The finished tagine can rest a few hours and reheat gently over low heat; add a spoon of water if the honey sauce has tightened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 460g)