{friendship} february: a tastey tagine

Hello there!

How has your week been? Life can be so busy, can't it? But for a few moments take a seat & put your feet up & enjoy a wee chat with my friend Annabella who not only sews beautiful things but also cooks delicious food..

Thank you to Karen for letting me loose on her blog today as part of her {friendship} february series. I`m Annabella and I blog over here normally. For the last 10 years, I have lived in Marrakech, Morocco which is at the far North West of Africa.  Things get pretty laid back here.

If you are creatively inclined, it is a wonderful place to spend some time. The light is incredible, it is crazy colourful and vibrant and if you love photography or quilting there is inspiration wherever you look. I love both!

Now it`s no secret that I love my food and it`s a pleasure to be living somewhere where food and mealtimes are so important. Mealtimes, particularly lunch, remain a time when the family usually gathers. While a working lunch in the city is becoming increasingly the norm, shops shut, tools are downed and offices close while many people head home to eat with their families. So I have a super simple but tasty and authentically Moroccan dish, which I would love you to try. It`s great for cold winter days. My mother in law has taught me a few Moroccan dishes and she has given them the thumbs up, so I hope you like this one too. It`s one of the most famous Moroccan dishes and can be cooked in a tagine (a conical pot) or if you don`t have one - then put it in an oven dish with a cover.

Chicken Tagine with Lemon and Olives
Serves 4

For the Chemoula Marinade

1 tbsp. of flat leaf parsley

4 cloves of garlic (crushed)

1 tspn. of ground ginger

1 half tspn. of cinnamon powder

1 tspn. of ground cumin

1 tspn. of paprika

salt and pepper

A couple of pinches of saffron soaked in a couple of tablespoons of water  for half an hour*optional*

For the Tagine

Large chicken  (jointed or 2 breasts and 2 legs or 4 breasts)
1 medium grated onion

2 large tomatoes (peeled and quartered)

2 medium potatoes (peeled and sliced)

2 - 3 tbsp. olive oil

A handful of green olives 

Half a preserved lemon

Place the parsley and garlic in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped or if you fancy flexing your muscles, do as my mother in law would do and give it a good bashing with a pestle and mortar. 

Place the parsley mixture in a large bowl and add the marinade spices, the saffron water (if using otherwise a couple of tablespoons of water) and a tbsp. of olive oil. Mix well. 

Place your chicken pieces in the bowl, roll up your sleeves and rub the spicy paste all over the chicken. I would advise wearing plastic gloves unless you want orange hands! Put the chicken, half a cup of water and grated onion on the base of your tagine or oven dish.

Take your preserved lemon and remove the flesh.  Slice the rind.  It should look like this. (If you like a particularly lemony taste (I do but Mr LRP doesn`t), you can simply slice it leaving the flesh in.) 

Arrange the sliced potatoes on top of the chicken mixture and place the tomatoes in the centre. Sprinkle the lemon slices on top. Pour a good glug of olive oil over the potatoes. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Don`t add too much salt as the olives and lemon are already salty.

Cover with the tagine lid or if you are using a baking dish, some aluminum foil.

Leave to simmer on a low heat on the cooker top or if you are using an oven dish, place in the oven at 180 C or 355 F with a lid, or cover with aluminium foil. Now go and put your feet up.

After 20 minutes, you should have more liquid as the tomatoes cook. Push a couple of the potato slices aside and baste the potatoes and tomatoes with the liquid. Push the lemon slices down into the cooking liquid. Put the slices back.

After another 20 minutes, add the olives.  Use as many or as little as you like.  There are no rules. Leave for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked!  The sauce should have reduced and thickened.

Moroccans would eat this with bread and side salads.  If you fancy adding other vegetables then that`s fine. You can add any vegetable you like - sliced carrots, peas, whatever takes your fancy.

Bon Apetite!

Thanks so much Annabella - that's tea sorted out for the Hamilton household tonight!! Isn't it lovely how friendships just make life a whole lot better (& tastier!!) 

Hope you all have a great weekend

Karen

PS Don't forget you still have a couple more days to enter the giveaway for Catherine's earrings. To see the details of the giveaway, just click here. 

If you are having trouble commenting, do please drop me a wee line as Blogger seems to be playing up a bit at the moment. Good luck!

{friendship} february & a giveaway

Hello there!

How is all with you? Here in the UK things are getting very, very cold - but I have some exciting news to share which hopefully will help you feel warm & fuzzy inside....

February is the month of Valentines & of love. Its a time to show someone special how much they mean to you. Its also a time to celebrate friendships, some new, some which have lasted a lifetime. I thought it would be a great opportunity to link up with some of the incredibly gifted & lovely people who I am lucky to have met on my creative journey. So I'm delighted to present {friendship} February a series of bloggy fun, giveaways & inspiration which celebrates crafty friendship across the globe! 

First up, I'm so thrilled to introduce you to Catherine Keenan, who makes incredible lampworked jewellery and glass-blown pieces like this

I met Catherine when I took a glass beading class with her at our local arts centre & I had a great (but not overly productive) time making this little lot

Actually these are Catherines beads, not mine.... but I did have a great time with that bunsen burner!

Catherine trained at the National College of Art and Design Dublin, & the International Glass Centre West Midlands. She lives nearby & has kindly agreed to let me interview her...

Why glass?

I love glass' ability to affect light and transmit colour.  The process of working in molten glass, whether blowing or working on the torch, making beads, is fascinating, the way the glass moves, the red/orange glow is mesmerizing.

What has been your favourite thing to make?

My favourite thing to blow are plates whether it's for my 'Poppy Patch' installations or 'Wild Flower' vessels.  

The technique of spinning out the form as the final stage is very dramatic and good fun! This is a video of me making a 'Wild Flower' 

My favourite beads to make at the minute are my new 'rose bud studs', I fuse a transparent rod to an opaque colour and spiral the 2 together.

Where do you find inspiration?

My inspiration mainly comes from nature. I like to simplify forms often abstracting them to create something new and yet familiar.  Colour and pattern are always central to my work.

Is there one tip you could share about being a successful artist?

So far I think the key to success as an artist is to keep a fascination and curiosity in how you see things. It is important to always be learning and developing so that you remember why you are doing what you are doing!

Thanks so much Catherine! Its so lovely to get some insight into your work & creative life! Catherine has also kindly agreed to sponsor the February giveaway, which is for a beautiful set of Rose Bud Studs like these.....

So, to enter, simply pop over to Catherine's jewellery shop by clicking here, then come back & let me know which of her pieces is your favourite... its that simple! We will keep the giveaway open until 12MN (gmt) on 13th February & announce the winner on 14th.... 

Good luck everyone!

Karen

PS. Call back on Friday for some more {friendship} February fun!