Morocco | Chicken Mkalli

(chicken with preserved lemons and olives)

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED

Morocco had many many options to chose from and I am sure I will be trying other Moroccan foods in the future!

I chose this particular recipe because I've been on an olive kick lately and I was curious about the preserved lemons. There are recipes to make your own preserved lemons online but I do not have access to Beldi lemons and I wanted to know what they tasted like. So, I ordered some from Amazon.

This wasn't especially difficult to make but it did take some time, effort, and attention.

It ended up taking less time than the recipe states because I used chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken or chicken quarters (we only see chicken quarters at our store every once in awhile). I knew the thighs would cook more quickly than larger chicken pieces so I sautéed the onions, by themselves, longer than stated in the recipe. And adapted the time of everything else to work with the cook time for the thighs.

And it was delicious!

The preserved lemons add a tang that is less intense than fresh lemons but still delicious. The Kalamata olives add a punch of flavor that, when combined with the saffron, is fantastic. This is packed with flavors!

I ate the chicken Mkalli with couscous and wilted spinach. A bite of the chicken with the sauce and a little couscous? Divine! I will happily eat the leftovers but will I make it again?

If I could get the preserved lemons locally, I definitely would.