Moroccan Chicken - Voila

I have to share a recipe with all of you.  It's my famous Moroccan Chicken one pot meal!  It's fabulous.  Also, like most of the wonderful things in my life, I came upon it purely by accident, a large dose of creativity and a prayer.  Don't you just love it when things come together just so?

The story behind this outrageously delicious recipe goes as follows:  My parents were visiting, that meant that Sergio and I actually got a date night...out...without the kids!  Yippee!  Still I'm the type of person that hates to impose, so much so that in my quest to not impose I often find myself imposing on people who probably wish I would just go away quietly without so much hoopla. The thought of leaving my aging (don't tell them I said that) parents with my kids and have them make dinner would just be too much.   So, I decided to make a quick and easy chicken fricassee.  Only it wasn't so quick and time was ticking and the movie would be starting and we still needed to stop and have dinner ourselves.  In my rush, I grab what I thought was cumin and doused the chicken with it.  The aroma hit me like a cinnamon stick, because instead of cumin I had just doused the chicken with cinnamon!  YIKES.  No time to fix it, I just put the lid on the pot, kissed everyone goodbye and prayed that it would all work out in the end.  I mean we had cheese and tuna and milk in the house.  I'm sure that would somehow come together for a lovely meal.

Much to my surprise everyone (including the kids) love this dish.  My dad asked me if it was a Moroccan recipe, which is how it got it's name.  The recipe has since evolved.  Please note that you can add as many or as few of the ingredients listed, but don't forget the cinnamon.  You are just going to have to work and test the amounts, because I'm a dash of this, pinch of that type of cook.  Enjoy!

Chicken thighs (you can use whatever part you like, sometimes I throw drumsticks in there too)

Heat about 2 TBLSP of your favorite oil in a pan and brown the chicken

Once your chicken is slightly browned add the following:

1/2 cup of chopped onions

3 mashed garlic cloves (or more if you like garlic)

one 8oz. can of tomato sauce

one 15oz. can of chopped tomatoes (or even better sun-dried tomatoes)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of:

Oregon

Thyme

Cumin

Lots of cinnamon (I like each part to be covered in it, but start with less, add more)

1 15oz can of Garbanzo Beans (rinsed)

A handful of manzanilla olives

1/4 cup of white wine

Cover and let simmer until the chicken is fully cooked (about 45 minutes)

Serve over rice or couscous...Enjoy! 

Also I've been working on this pretty young thing.  She's a mess, but she'll be gorgeous.  Stay tuned.