2010 Cooking Club Week 15: Tunisian-style Chicken Stew

The Hill Billy

At short notice, but here we go...

I based this stew on a similar dish that I had in Tunisia a few years ago. It isn't a hard & fast recipe & can easily be tailored to suit individual tastes.
There is quite a bit of preparation here, but take your time & it'll be worth it.

Tunisian Chicken Stew with Cous Cous
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 large chicken breasts, halved lengthwise (alternatively you could use chicken thighs - which I personally think have more flavour)
Enough cous cous for 4
2 medium onions, quartered
2 medium peppers in large chunks
1 small turnip cut into good sized chunks
4 large carrots (cut in similar size to the turnip)
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp of Harissa paste (If you can't get this mix 2 tsp chilli powder, 2 tsp ground cumin in 2 tbsp olive oil)
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 lemons
500ml to 750 ml chicken stock (stock cubes are fine)
3 tsp dried oregano
Bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

Equipment
2 Chopping boards - 1 for chicken & 1 for veg
Mixing bowl
Large knife
2 Wooden spoons
Frying pan
Large pot for the stew
Regular pot for the cous cous

Preparation
Lightly score each piece of chicken 3 or 4 times
Rub the harissa paste or spice/oil mix thoroughly into each chicken piece & pop in the fridge for 30 mins
Heat the remaining olive oil in the large pan & add the garlic, carrots & turnip
Sweat over a medium heat for 10 mins
Now add the onions & peppers, mix through & sweat for a further 5 mins
Now add the chicken stock & salt, bring to the boil & lower to a simmer
Put the frying pan on a high heat & add a dash of olive oil
Quickly fry each of the marinated chicken pieces just enough to seal them & set aside
When all the chicken pieces have been sealed, stir the juices from the frying pan & any remaining marinade into the stew (which should be simmering)
Now place the chicken pieces on top of the stew, squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon & leave to simmer for 1 hour
10 minutes before serving, prepare the cous cous as per the packet instructions
Serve the stew with plenty of freshly ground black pepper, a good sprinkling of fresh coriander & a lemon wedge on a bed of cous cous

(Tunisian cuisine also uses dried fruits - which I can't stand myself. But you could also throw in some dried apricots, dates, etc if that floats your boat.)

Happy cooking!

Malari

This looks good, hoping to try it this week.

I think I've only ever bought one turnip in my life, such was the difficulty of chopping it up But cooking club is meant to challenge so I will persevere

John Mason

ooooooooooooooo, interesting

i think i might be giving this a go (well, by me, obviously i mean des):)

Mr Magnolia

Goddammit Hill Billy, I was waiting for an offal recipe from you. The wife would have had no choice but to try it.

Looks good though, I'll look forward to trying it.

The Hill Billy

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Goddammit Hill Billy, I was waiting for an offal recipe from you. The wife would have had no choice but to try it.

Looks good though, I'll look forward to trying it.

Sorry about that Mr M. I thought that the following recipe wouldn't have been terrible challenging, despite the delicious results:

Ingredients
4 pig's trotters
Water

Equipment
A pot

Preparation
Place trotters in water
Bring to boil
Simmer for 4 hours

Serve with a can of Guinness.

nice1franko

Sounds good. I'll need to get a couple of ingredients in the shop to try it out.

Word on the street is you have a cook book out Mr Hill Billy?! What's it called?

_blank_

I'm making this tomorrow I think, have to get the ingredients sorted out.

Never had couscous before, so it's something different for me.

Minder

Hill Billy wrote: »

Ingredients
4 large chicken breasts, halved lengthwise (alternatively you could use chicken thighs - which I personally think have more flavour)
Enough cous cous for 4
2 medium onions, quartered
2 medium peppers in large chunks
1 small turnip cut into good sized chunks
4 large carrots (cut in similar size to the turnip)
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp of Harissa paste (If you can't get this mix 2 tsp chilli powder, 2 tsp ground cumin in 2 tbsp olive oil)
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 lemons
500ml to 750 ml chicken stock (stock cubes are fine)
3 tsp dried oregano
Bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

Turnips? That's a surprise, I don't immediately associate turnips with Arabic or North African cooking. I read some where that to make good cous cous there should be turnips in the cooking liquor. We eat a lot of cous cous in my extended family but I've never had it with turnips. What does it add?

Alun

Minder wrote: »

Turnips? That's a surprise, I don't immediately associate turnips with Arabic or North African cooking. I read some where that to make good cous cous there should be turnips in the cooking liquor. We eat a lot of cous cous in my extended family but I've never had it with turnips. What does it add?

I'm assuming that what's meant here are the smaller white turnips rather than what we here call a turnip (rutabaga, swedish turnip or swede). These have a less intense and slightly sweeter flavour.

Minder

Alun wrote: »

I'm assuming that what's meant here are the smaller white turnips rather than what we here call a turnip (rutabaga, swedish turnip or swede). These have a less intense and slightly sweeter flavour.

I don't disagree, but large yellow swedes or small purple and white turnips are not immediately associated with the sunnier climate of the Mediterranean. Name a mediterranean vegetable - most people say tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, peppers - bursting with flavour, skins taut as a drum, full of sugar from basking in the sun. Name a Siberian vegetable - Turnips!

Tiriel

Sounds great! Looking forward to having this at the weekend! Nom

Hande hoche!

Quick question when exactly do you add in the coriander
and ground cinnamon?

The Hill Billy

Hande hoche! wrote: »

Quick question when exactly do you add in the coriander
and ground cinnamon?

You can add it to the spice mix for the chicken.

Hande hoche!

Ok thanks tried this tonight and it turned out very tasty. First time trying cous cous. Sorry for the low quality of the photo.

Little Alex

Looking forward to this. I'll probably make it on Sunday.

Alun wrote: »

I'm assuming that what's meant here are the smaller white turnips rather than what we here call a turnip (rutabaga, swedish turnip or swede). These have a less intense and slightly sweeter flavour.

Where can I get actual turnips, not swedes, does anyone know? All they ever seem to have (in supermarkets at least) is swedes.

Alun

Little Alex wrote: »

Where can I get actual turnips, not swedes, does anyone know? All they ever seem to have (in supermarkets at least) is swedes.

You see them around every now and then, and I think I've seen them in Tesco's once or twice, but a specialist greengrocers would probably be your best bet, or one of the farmers markets. The really small ones seem to appear on the market about now .. I remember when I lived in Holland they were called meirapen or "May turnips".

BTW In reply to Minder, I looked up the Dutch wiki page on them and there's a bit there that (translated) says ...

wikipedia wrote:

Turnips were already being grown by the Romans and ancient Greeks. Their cultivation probably took place in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Mediterranean.

.. so not Siberian after all In fact it mentions in that article that they're not frost resistant at all unlike our hardier varieties.

The Hill Billy

To be honest, I use the purple ones (that some call "swede"). Feel free to use any root veg.

Like the title says - it is a Tunisian-style stew. It is my interpretation of a dish I had there & comes very close in taste, contents & texture to the original. (Mrs Billy agrees too. )

_blank_

Having this this evening, currently simmering away in 2 pots (1 veggie, one real food).

Easy recipe to follow, and it smells lovely right now.

NeoSlicerZ

Des wrote: »

Having this this evening, currently simmering away in 2 pots (1 veggie, one real food).

Easy recipe to follow, and it smells lovely right now.

What a coinky dink, me too Though I'm just having it with rice instead of cous cous.

The Hill Billy

I hope you all enjoy it.

Agüte! (Swiss German for 'Bon Ap!')

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Hill Billy wrote: »

I hope you all enjoy it.

The two of us did, it's really tasty indeed.

Thanks for that recipe Hill Billy, we'll be having it again.

It was my first time "cooking" Couscous, thought it was delicious.

Veggie on the left, real one on the right, it got a bit messy:)

NeoSlicerZ

'twas good, my sauce looks less viscous though.

John Mason

thanks hillybilly, that was absolutely delish, des will definitely be making this again - it had a lovely summer taste even thought its stew :)

The Hill Billy

Thanks to all who have tried it. Am glad you like it.

Your comments have cheered me up no end on a shítty weekend stuck here in Switzerland. Thanks!

IB - I have a recipe for a cous cous salad that is great with a BBQ. You may like it too. Will post it tomorrow.

John Mason

Hill Billy wrote: »

Thanks to all who have tried it. Am glad you like it.

Your comments have cheered me up no end on a shítty weekend stuck here in Switzerland. Thanks!

IB - I have a recipe for a cous cous salad that is great with a BBQ. You may like it too. Will post it tomorrow.

thanks would love that

Tar.Aldarion

NeoSlicerZ wrote: »

'twas good, my sauce looks less viscous though.

You can cook now? :pac:

NeoSlicerZ

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

You can cook now? :pac:

Indeed

Little Alex

Hill Billy wrote: »

I hope you all enjoy it.

Agüte! (Swiss German for 'Bon Ap!')

Danke vielmals! Sehr gut hat's geschmeckt!

Thank you, Hill Billy, for your recipe. I'm working lates (again) this week and just made it now:

Mr Magnolia

Cooked this last night and it was very enjoyable. Light and sweet but still filling, a great dish for the weather and time of year.

Hill Billy wrote: »

Ingredients
4 pig's trotters
Water

Equipment
A pot

Preparation
Place trotters in water
Bring to boil
Simmer for 4 hours

Serve with a can of Guinness.

Boiled mine in a bottle of cider, some water and a good dash of calvados with some chopped carrots, celery, garlic and a few pepper corns. When they were cooked I reduced some of the stock down and added a dash of cream to serve them with.

Some of the meat was fantastic, some not so much. Delighted I tried them. I did use hocks btw and thanks for the advice

The Hill Billy

Good effort Mr M - on both counts!

Malari

I really liked this. Browning the chicken helped strengthen flavour of the marinade and it was an unusual, distinctive taste, but would definitely try this again with different combos of root veg.

I actually used finely chopped preserved lemons in the stew and through the couscous, which worked very well.

Thanks HB!

The Hill Billy

You are very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. Nice touch with the preserved lemons!

The Black Oil

Gave this a go tonight. I can imagine you'd get something like this in a jar, but making this from scratch was worth the effort. Many thanks, HB!

Little Alex

I just made a veggy version of this after looking in the fridge and rediscovering the tube of harissa paste that I got a while back. :pac:

I used potato slices instead of chicken breasts and water instead of chicken stock.

Lovely!

foodaholic

Made this just now by the looks of OH's plate its a winner. Really easy to make and very tasty. Sorry for poor picture quality, cant find camera anywhere.

Thanks Hill Billy

Lovely Bloke

Having this tonight, not had it in a while, but it's always a winner - simmering away now, just waiting for it to finish off.

mondymike

Made thus yesterday n threw in cubed salad potatoes. Awesome, thou I didn't see where the oregano cinnamon n coriander went. So in the stew while she simmer

The Hill Billy

What a coincidence that this thread came up again! Mrs Billy is a bit poorly at the mo, so when I was home at the weekend I made a massive pot of this (upon request) to see her & The Kids through the week.

I'm delighted that it is still being enjoyed 4 years after it was posted.

I made this on Monday night and had it last night, was really nice! I also didn't put in the oregano as I didnt see where it went in.

My peppers were a bit too moist for my liking but the turnip was lovely in it. Will mix it up next time with different veg I think.

The Hill Billy

My bad on the oregano - I usually add it when sweating the veg. If I have fresh (very rarely) - I'd add a sprinkle just before serving. No big deal if it is used or not.

Edit: When I made this at the weekend I used butternut squash instead of turnip. It absorbs the flavours even better, but you need to keep the chunks of squash quite large, otherwise it can disintegrate.

Lovely Bloke

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Edit: When I made this at the weekend I used butternut squash instead of turnip. It absorbs the flavours even better, but you need to keep the chunks of squash quite large, otherwise it can disintegrate.

I dislike turnip, so used Sweet Potato in mine, quite similar to Squash in texture after cooking.

I also put in some halved button mushrooms, which were lovely too.

It's such a versatile and forgiving dish, whack anything in.

It was also my first time using Harissa Paste (I'd been using the spice mix previously), definitely added a dimension to it.

I'd like to know some other uses for Harissa.

The Hill Billy

I've added harissa to hummus & yoghurt to give a kick to them when used as dips.

It is also great as a rub for lamb in tagine-types dishes.