Moroccan Chicken and/or Moroccan Chick Peas

Here is a two way recipe for Moroccan Chicken and a vegetarian variation - Moroccan Chick Peas. Make the flavorings first - then add half to a cut-up chicken and the other half to two cans of chick peas. Here is how:

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut up. Cut the breasts into two pieces each.
2 cans chick peas with liquid

Flavoring:
1 large onion coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 TBLS olive oil plus extra for the chicken
2 tsp paprika plus extra to sprinkle on the chicken
1 tsp cumin plus extra to sprinkle on the chicken
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
salt
pepper
1 cup green olives with pimento sliced or coarsely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 meyer lemon sliced
1/2 cup water
cilantro and/or parsley and fresh lemon slices for garnish

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. When soft, lower the heat and stir in paprika, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric. Combine with the onions and garlic. Stir a few minutes until the mixture is well blended. Add 1/2 cup water. Add raisins and olives and stir until blended. Pour half the mixture into a casserole dish. Add the 2 cans of chick peas and stir. Reserve the other half of the mixture in a bowl.

Add more olive oil to the pan. Sprinkle chicken pieces with paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Saute in olive oil until golden on both sides. Transfer chicken to a 9x 13 baking dish. Pour the other half of the reserved spice/olive/raisin mixture over chicken.

Place lemon slices on top of the chicken and the chick peas. Bake both dishes at 350 for approximately one hour until the chicken is done.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and or parsley. Serve with cous cous.

Fig Tart
Variation on a Theme

Theme: My daughter-in-law gave me a present, a yummy goat cheese fig tart.

Variation: Our brown turkey fig tree, my birthday present on the way home after the whale watching boat was was canceled, is making figs. It seems like it takes forever. The figs are green, green, green all summer and then one day in late fall, all at once, they are brown, sweet, and juicy. There is nothing like a ripe fig. But what to do with so many? Mr. Dr. Sue bought a fruit drier on Craig's List and he has already dried two large batches. And still the figs are coming. Yesterday, I picked a large bowl of figs. And this morning, here is what I created:


Fig Tart with Cream Cheese

Ingredients:
1 box frozen puff pastry (2 sheets)
1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Meyer lemon (if you are as fortunate as we are to have a fig tree AND a Meyer lemon tree) or a regular lemon
1 tsp vanilla
1 pint or more of fresh figs
Honey

Directions:
Night before - defrost the puff pastry in the refrigerator
Preheat oven to 400
Spray one large baking sheet pan with Pam (or use 2 smaller baking pans)
Unfold the 2 sheets of puff pastry and spread them to the edges of a large flat baking sheet pan. It is OK if they overlap in the middle.
Beat cream cheese until soft.
Add 1 cup sugar and beat until blended.
Add 2 eggs and beat until smooth.
Grate 1 tsp lemon rind into the mix and squeeze in the juice of one lemon.
Add vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Spread cream cheese mixture over the puff pastry.
Cut the figs in half.
Place cut side down at regular intervals throughout the cream cheese mixture.
Heat a few tablespoons of honey in the microwave - 15 - 30 seconds until thin and warm.
Brush honey over the figs.
Drizzle any remaining honey over the cream cheese mixture.
Bake at 400 until the pastry is browned and the cream cheese mixture is set - about 1/2 hour.
Let cool in pan.
Cut into squares with one fig or rectangles with 2 figs (that was how they did the goat cheese fig tart that started all this).

More variations: This recipe should work for other fruits in season. Some ideas: for fall, thinly sliced apples; winter, dried cranberries and sliced almonds; spring, strawberries; summer, plums or apricots.

If you ever have a choice - whale watching or a fig tree - I recommend the tree. Still hoping to go whale watching some day....