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Harissa Moroccan Chicken w/Roasted Peppers & Olives

by Ann
19 comments

Harissa Moroccan Chicken w/Roasted Peppers & Olives ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #Mediterranean #chicken #dinner #recipe

It’s always a delight for me when I can sit down and thumb through the pages of a good cookbook. If it’s a really good one, I need lots of bookmarks, one to mark each recipe I want to try. So when I was asked if I wanted to review my friend Alice Phillip’s new cookbook, the answer was an immediate yes. I didn’t have to hesitate at all because I knew this book would be a good one.


Ally's Kitchen: A Passport for Adventurous Palates ~ Cookbook Review

Ally and I have been foodie friends online for years and I’ve always loved her bold, Bohemian style of cooking. I thought I knew Ally’s style of cooking, but when I took time to peruse her beautiful cookbook, I discovered that even after years of following her recipes, it turns out I really only had a slight glimpse into the cooking repertoire of this talented lady. It was terribly hard to choose what to make. Her cookbook literally takes you around the world in flavors and you do feel a bit like you’re on Ally’s magic carpet … how could I possibly choose? I wanted to make every single one of the boholicious sauces and spices. I was intrigued by the refreshing grape mint tomato salad, fascinated by the rosemary red potato and leek galette and I had only gotten through the first two sections of the book. The next section was the stunning Mediterranean. Oh, this section was calling to me!

Should I make the Adriatic Feta Tomato Shrimp Skillet? Or perhaps the Chianti Eggplant Chicken Parmesan? Oooh catalan flatbread, and Moroccan spicy meatballs & red wine fruit sauce. That one was tempting. I paged on, though, anxious to see what else my dear friend Ally had in store for me. The Dead Sea Spiced Granola looked interesting … and oh, lamb shank shawarma. That sounded so good! I paged through so many more delightful salads, sumptuous main dishes, and tempting desserts before I finally landed in Africa and settled on this Harissa Moroccan Chicken with Roasted Peppers and Olives.

Harissa Moroccan Chicken w/Roasted Peppers & Olives ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #Mediterranean #chicken #dinner #recipe

I was super excited to try Harissa. I’d heard of the spice before, but never had tried it. I used Ally’s recipe for Harissa powder from the “spices and sauces” section. (There’s a paste version noted there, too … I just made the powdered Harissa.) The chicken turned out tender and juicy, and the Harissa along with the peppers, olives, tomato pesto and salsa gave the chicken a marvelous Moroccan flavor with a bit of spice to dance on the tongue. You definitely want to serve this up with something to soak up that luscious sauce. I thought my Minted Moroccan Quinoa Pilaf was just the perfect compliment.

I have many more recipes from this delightful cookbook bookmarked, truly the sign of a great cookbook in my house.

If you’d like to win a copy of this Bohemian flavor trip around the world, here’s your chance. There are three copies to be given away! Enter to win using the rafflecopter below.

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Harissa Moroccan Chicken w/Roasted Peppers & Olives ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #Mediterranean #chicken #dinner #recipe

Harissa Moroccan Chicken w/Sweet Peppers & Olives

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
  • Yield: 3 - 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 34 large chicken leg quarters, skinned
  • 1 Tablespoon harissa
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup tomato pesto (I used my Pesto Rosso recipe)
  • 3/4 cup chardonnay or other white wine
  • 1 cup medium-heat salsa (I used my Copycat Chili’s salsa recipe)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 912 sweet mini peppers, sliced
  • 12 small cans of olives (black and/or green)

Instructions

  1. Put the chicken in a glass container and coat all over with the harissa, salt & pepper. Pour the buttermilk over to coat the chicken pieces. Let marinate at least 20 minutes or up to 1 day.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the oil in a heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and pan-sear on all sides a golden brown. Add white wine and deglaze the skillet, moving the chicken around to scrape off anything that’s sticking to the bottom of the skillet. Add the tomato pesto, salsa and water; stir to blend in and around the chicken. Sprinkle with the pepper slices.
  3. Cover tightly with a lid and bake in the oven for about 1 hour 5 minutes. Pull from the oven, remove the lid and add the olives. Put the lid back on and let the chicken rest about 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

I did “tweak” this recipe a bit from Ally’s version, but it is pretty close to hers. You’ll have to get the cookbook to see her version!

Recipe tweaked from Ally’s Kitchen: a passport for adventurous palates

Cheers to the Journey!

Harissa Moroccan Chicken w/Roasted Peppers & Olives ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #Mediterranean #chicken #dinner #recipe

This recipe was shared at Tuesday’s TableFoodie Friends Friday, Freedom Friday with All my Bloggy Friends, Weekend Potluck and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.

Get your copy of Ally’s Kitchen on Amazon:

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19 comments

Beverley Press May 18, 2015 - 7:28 am

I love this recipe too! Ann you wrote a beautiful review and summed up Ally to a T.

Reply
ally May 18, 2015 - 7:32 am

Annneeee! This looks sooooooooooo succulent! I love the pix of the chicken torn from the bone!! And serving it w/the quinoa pilaf is perfect b/c I know just being in the same dish, side by side, it soaked up some of those luscious juices.

The review is just fantastic…I love how you made me feel like I was right there w/you as you turned page after page!! And, your boho’ing w/your tweaks…a big resounding YES YES!! You are a boho sister through and through and doing this seals your fate to forever be joined by our DNA food!

Thank you, Ann, for taking time to do this, for reviewing my cookbook and for sharing those beautiful and special comments…it has been years and where does time go? Love you, girl!! xoxo ~peace~ ally

Reply
Kim | a little lunch May 18, 2015 - 8:03 am

Ann, I literally stopped and stared at each photo in between reading your review. Now I want Harissa Moroccan Chicken for breakfast! Delicious photos, delightful review. Thank you!

Reply
Ann May 18, 2015 - 9:46 pm

Aw, thank you Kim! You really should try it … it’s delicious. 🙂

Reply
Dee May 18, 2015 - 11:19 pm

Gorgeous photos! I’ve never tried anything with harissa, but your post has me ready to experiment…

Reply
ally May 21, 2015 - 6:41 am

I agree…the photo is so drool worthy! Hope you experiement w/that harissa, luv! ~ally

Reply
Kris ~ Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies May 19, 2015 - 6:14 pm

Your dish looks absolutely amazing! I really need to try Ally’s Harissa. I am sure it will become a staple in my house once I sample it!

Reply
ally May 19, 2015 - 6:40 pm

Kris! I literally use all the spice mixtures in my cookbook like I would cinnamon or garlic! REally! Like tonight, I drained a can of garbanzo beans, put them in a HOT cast iron skillet (a little EVOO) and sprinkled on harissa! Wallah! Amazing flavors! Thanks, luv! xo ~ally

Reply
Holly - Twisted Tastes May 20, 2015 - 7:26 am

That chicken looks great! I have never heard of harissa, I’ll have to check that out. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
ally May 21, 2015 - 6:40 am

Holly! I think it’ll become your ‘go to’ spice mixture! Just fabulous! ~ally

Reply
Mary Marshall May 24, 2015 - 5:52 am

Awesome review and the chicken looks amazing! I too have loved every page of Ally’s cookbook and had a hard time choosing a dish to prepare, but her Moroccan Leg of Lamb is killer and one of my favorites now. GREAT review Ann! Loved reading it.

Reply
Ann May 24, 2015 - 4:45 pm

Thanks Mary! I adored your review too … if I ever bring myself to buy a leg of lamb, that will definitely be the recipe I turn to!

Reply
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swathi May 25, 2015 - 7:48 pm

I know Harissa is versatile, lovely chicken recipe, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop. pinning, tweeting

Reply
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