Moroccan Melts In Your Mouth Chicken

I have heard the term "melts in your mouth" before, I had never actually experienced it until I made this dish. The original recipe is from Bon Apetite (fancy right) I just adapted a few things to make it clean and viola, you have the most moist, flavorful and yes, melt in your mouth chicken ever! I would imagine that this recipe would be easy to make in the crock pot. My sister Nicole is always looking for quick easy crock pot meals being a busy mom of 2 crazy cute boys, I have been trying to work on her request of more crock pot recipes! If you try it in the crock pot, post a comment and let me know!

Moroccan Chicken

1 Medium to Large Chicken

2 TBSP Olive Oil

2 Lemons

3 Cinnamon Sticks

6 Shallots thinly sliced (you could substitute red onion)

6 Carrots peeled and chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces

12 dates halved

1 C. Chicken Broth

1 1/2 tsp Ginger

1 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/8 tsp Cayenne

Salt and Pepper

1/2 C Cilantro

1/2 C. Sliced Almonds Toasted

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a dutch oven heat 1 Tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat. Put the chicken in breast up and cook for about 5 minutes to brown the skin. Flip it over and cook for 5 minutes on the breast side. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the chicken and put the rind into the cavity. Scatter the veggies and dates around the chicken, squeeze the other lemon on top and slice into a few pieces. Scatter the pieces of lemon in with the veggies. Pour over the other Tbsp of Olive oil. Mix all the spices together and sprinkle over the chicken and veggies. Nestle the cinnamon sticks among the veggies cover the dutch oven and cook for 1 hour. Raise the temperature to 425 remove the lid and cook for 45-1 hr more, or until the internal temperature reads 180 degrees. There will be the most amazing sauce on the bottom, this is the part that melts in your mouth, take the chicken out and slice it into pieces, serve the veggies on the side and spoon the sauce over the top. Sprinkle with cilantro and a few toasted almonds.

aren't the veggies so pretty?

Here is the look you are going for when browning the chicken

Wait until you smell all the spices! Your house will smell amazing!

I forgot to take a picture with the almonds and cilantro, it is a very pretty dish and worth making for dinner company.

This recipe is a little more work than most of the recipes that I make, but it is well worth the work!