melissa's morrocan chicken stew

I've alluded to this recipe a couple of times, especially the first few times we had the turmericky Delicious version we know and love. However after a beautiful balmy Sunday spent prepping the garden for a great summer of barbeques, we both have a craving for Melissa's version of Moroccan Chicken, stuffed with cinnamon, apricots and raisins, and a thick savoury gravy - perfect to be soaked up by cous cous.

I think the Delicious version is homelier; the combination of the turmeric, ginger and the gremolata making it more of a winter/autumn warmer than this version. The fruit and the lemon juice make Melissa's version lighter and fresher.

The trick here is the chicken needs a good few hours marinading for the spice, garlic and lemon juice to do their work. When we lived in Putney (pre-blog, darlings) I used to make it first thing in the morning before work, and then we'd have it that evening. No such luck today, but a good couple of hours whilst I cut and re-seeded the lawn whilst Milo was at a birthday party, just about did the trick.

Even better for our waistlines, we're using up some sort of barley cous cous, which has a nuttier taste than the usual stuff and clearly is much healthier by dint of fact it's got the word 'barley' in it. Feel the roughage!

sources
Moroccan chicken stew - Melissa Turner, The Black Book