Ingredients
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp parsley, chopped fine
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, cilantro chopped, or more
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
1/8 tsp saffron, powdered
2 1/2 lb chicken, broiler/fryer cut into se
1/2 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
1/3 cup green olives
Directions
Heat oil in a heat-proof casserole or Dutch oven. Stir in next 7
ingredients. Add chicken pieces and turn to coat with onion mixture.
Arrange lemon wedges over top. Cover and simmer turning occasionally,
1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until very tender. Remove chicken to warm
serving platter, arrange cooked lemon wedges on top and keep warm.
Cook liquid, stirring, in casserole over high heat until reduced to a
thick sauce. Add olives and heat through. Pour over chicken.
Servings: 4 servings
Chicken With Olives & Lemon Tajine Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Chicken; Dutch Oven; Fruit; Poultry
The History of Recipes
We can track the history of written recipes back into the distant past, certainly as far back into recorded history as the Egyptians, and maybe even further. However, in the main part, these ancient recipes were just simple pictorial instructions for meal preparation.
In fact, the oldest recipe in existence, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are a few clay tablets in Sumerian which describe the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Progressing into Roman times around 25BC a man called Apicius assembled some documents detailing recipes prepared by the Romans. In his publication, he tells us how the meals were split into hors d`oeuvre, entrees and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Additionally, he informs us how the ancient cooks were skilled in the use of many spices, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs like thyme, fennel and parsley. Later on, there are a couple of cookery books from the 1300s - a recipe book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, these have no connection with the spicy food that is served today, but rather recipes for the types of meals eaten by the upper classes of that period. Later, in the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought us many new foods, spices and herbs from Arab cooking, such as coriander, parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices created an explosion in manuscripts on cooking, most of which are now in private cookery archives. During the following few hundred years, the wealthy families of Europe strove to serve the best banquets, and as a consequence, cooks and their collection of recipes were at a premium. Even so, it wasn`t until the 19th century that cooking and recipe books rose to prominence. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to assembling, testing, and recording recipes common in their social group. By the time we get to the 1900s, recipe books were starting to become popular due to more people being able to read, people having more spare time and having more disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Chicken With Olives & Lemon Tajine recipe.
