In September I tried my hand at making preserved lemons. The first batch has been sitting on the top shelf of my refrigerator ever since and I finally decided to pull them out and make something with them. The obvious choice: a chicken tagine with green olives and preserved lemons. I captured the adventure on video.
Preserved lemons are wonderful. They have the bright lemony flavor with none of the acidic tartness. I’ll have to try using them with other dishes. I also need to make some more!
Per Matt’s recent request, I uploaded this video in high definition. However, it seems a bit unwieldy to embed it in high definition as it will be twice as wide as my pictures normally are. So if you want to see it in high definition, click here. Otherwise, enjoy it as embedded.
christao408 
As always I am unable to recommend this post (for some reason when I rec your posts it doesn’t take), but I hope a lot of people find it. I’m sure they will enjoy it as much as I did! Yum!
Somehow I was not able to recommend this post either, the icon does not seem to work for me, althoughI saw other people able to. Anyway, I really enjoyed the show, the careful to details (wash hand, wash hand, hehe), and the multiple layers of wonderful spices. I was getting hungry watching, and glad ot see Tawn smiled when he tasted it, That is priceless, isn’t it? All the hard work preparing the dish is surely worth it. I need to grab something to eat now, my tommy is making noise, hehe. Yummy yummy yummy!
Looks yummy but I wish I had “smell-o-vision”! So was it really good or is Tawn a good actor? hehehe!
Looks yummy and delicious – I am tempted!
You really do have a good voice for doing these types of videos. Very easy to follow along!
already “liked” it on FB… but thought i’d “like” it here on xanga too p.s. this is better than rachael ray 30 mins meals… but yeah… this is so much work (4 me)!
I enjoyed watching the preparation and cooking process. Very nicely edited. At the ending scene, seeing Tawn’s satisfied expression was the crowning moment. Well done!
@Sinful_Sundae – More like a 9-minute meal? 😀
Chris, I am going to make this tomorrow night. What a wonderful chef you are. Love it, I could almost taste it. I always have preserved lemons at home. Mine are a little more spicy than what you have shown.
I will have to try my hand at the lemon thing that really does sound good…I wish I could figure out how to make alot of the dishes that I have seen on here without curry the smell of it just gags poor Jeff but I love so many curry type dishes…Do you have any idea’s of spices I could use besides curry
@SisterMae – Hi there, thanks for subscribing. I find that cumin provides a somewhat curry-like flavor. Perhaps that would be more acceptable to him?@ZSA_MD – Oh, please let me know how your dish turns out. Anytime I’m dealing with these spices, I realize the dishes would be so much better under your expert care! Perhaps if I add some chilies to the lemons when I pickle them?@Sinful_Sundae – @yang1815 – Actually, this is a pretty easy dish if I had constructed it differently. For example, you could put all the chicken and marinade in the ziploc bag overnight so it was ready when you return from work. Then brown in a skillet (you could do the onions at the same time as the chicken if you want), add broth and go do something else while away. The cous cous is really simple – boil water, add cous cous, let sit ten minutes – and instead of adding toasted nuts you could just add untoasted nuts. And if the garnish is too much work, you could skip that, too. Totally easy to make this in 30 minutes of prep time.@CurryPuffy – @murisopsis – Tawn’s reactions were totally authentic, although he did add some salt to the dish afterwards. Of course, he always adds salt to my dishes.@Roadlesstaken – “Why, thank you” (spoken in a deep voice)@Fatcat723 – Give in to the tempation! =D@stevew918 – @ItsWhatEyeKnow – It is odd that the recommend feature sometimes doesn’t work. Anyhow, thanks for the virtual recommendation! =D
@christao408 – Thank you so much for the idea I think he could handle that believe it or not at age 56 I have just learned to cook in the last few years and I am just getting brave enough with my cooking to be adventurous
Love the video! Nice to finally hear you talk for real! Also, yay preserved lemons! We have a jar of those in the basement. xD
super video chris! i admit, i too was a little nervous when you were about to try the lemon but i’m glad that you’re ok. (i’ll assume that since you commented on my site today and that video was probably made earlier this week, haha!)again, great video man!
@yang1815 – @christao408 – chef chris/andy: you both are amazing. all that magic you do in the kitchen is incredible…. “cooking for dummie” would still be too advance for me so… I’ll watch and enjoy your works (while eating subway or kfc or in-n-out )ps. have u heard about this?!http://sinful-sundae.xanga.com/740377308/item/reminds me of one of my best buddies in high school – who is extremely talented, super bright, very successful – but i think most ppl overlook that after they realize that he was raised by two mothers 😦
@Sinful_Sundae – Magic in the kitchen HAR HAR HAR
@ThePrince – The funny thing is, with just a touch of hypochondria, every ache, pain, and burb could potentially be a result of the lemons! =D
@Sinful_Sundae – Yes, I have that video posted on my facebook page actually.
haha…. tawn is funny at pretending while still maintaining his proper posh attitude. gosh, i’m hungry now. it’s been a while since the last time i went to a moroccan restaurant n i always ordered chicken tajine with olives n preserved lemons too!. hhmm, this gives me an idea for a dinner possibility later this weekend.
A few years ago, I almost bought a tagine. I may still do so. Your recipe looks delicious! Not sure I could bring myself to discard the lemon flesh, though. Did you try it, or find out if you can use it?
It seems like an easy dish to prep for on a week night since some of the things can be done the previous night. I’ve never tried preserved lemons before and I’m not a big fan of marmalade. I sometimes make a lemon chicken dish and sweeten it a bit with honey. But maybe I can use the preserved lemons instead. As always, you did a great job on the video. It’s got a great flow and your mellifluous voice is wonderful.
@lonelywanderer2 – All recipes I’ve read say to discard the flesh as it is irredemably salty.@rudyhou – Go Morocco!@ElusiveWords – Nobody has ever used that adjective with me, Matt. As for the dish, the preserved lemons are nothing like marmalade. Very clean lemon flavor without the tartness.
@christao408 – ops! sorrry… didn’t know 😦 i’ll check nxt time!
@christao408 – You compliment my cooking too much Chris. I am amazed at your skills in the kitchen. To answer your question, I always add chilies to my lemons that I marinate or pickle. The cook at home, used to take fresh lemons, and slit them, stuff them with a mixture of salt and chili powder, and leave them in a tray out in the hot sun. He would bring the tray in every night, but take them out again in the morning. In about a week, they would shrivel up, and then you could slice them and add to the curries, or ( like the banshee kids that my brother and I were.) just suck/eat them till our tongues got warped. He did this with raw mangoes also.
CHRIS! OMG! I made this dish ( Chicken Tagine ) tonight. I modified a little bit; I am like you, never follow the recipe to the t. I didn’t have green olives, so I added the black olives, and added cilantro w/ green chili paste about half a tsp, 1/4 tsp chili powder, and instead of plain cinnamon, I added 1/4 tsp of the ground mixture of cinnamon. cloves, cardamom and black pepper. ( garam masala ). Mohamed absolutely LOVED the dish, and has asked me to thank you personally. Honestly Chris, I think I will probably never make chicken the old indian way anymore. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yumm!
That’s beautiful. I’m checking your other link for preserved lemons now. I’ve never heard of that.
@ZSA_MD – The garam masala sounds like a fantastic addition and I prefer black olives to green. I’ll try these modifications, too! As for complimenting your cooking too often, you MUST be kidding. =D
@throughthinking – I stumbled across preserved lemons a couple of places last year and so they entered my consciousness. As always, once I’m conscious of some sort of dish I become curious how to make it so just had to try! Thanks for commenting.