Recipe: Baked Chicken with Artichokes, Cinnamon, and Preserved Lemons

After I made a batch of preserved lemons, I started looking for things to do with them. I came across a tagine recipe, but since I don't have a tagine, I decided to modify the recipe by using most of the same ingredients, but making it a baked dish rather than a tagine.

Baked Chicken with Artichokes, Cinnamon, and Preserved Lemons

Ingredients:
3 chicken thighs
3 chicken drumsticks
1 preserved lemon, rinsed, seeds and insides removed, rind chopped
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon sweet or hot paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1 large pinch saffron
1 1/2 cup frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 F. In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix well. Arrange in a baking dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve over couscous.

(Image: Kathryn Hill)

Comments (6)

I love baked chicken - it's so easy and consistant (at least with my convection oven it is) here are some more healthy chicken recipes http://howtocookanything.net/how-to-cook-healthy-with-chicken/

Wow, that looks great! Was the chicken dry at all? Did you do anything to compensate for the missing tagine lid?

I am so into baked chicken right now, thighs especially. I have to say I have Chicken Marbella to thank for it, but I've been looking for more recipes, and this looks like it'll hit the spot.

@rocketo no it wasn't dry, the liquid from the lemons and oil seemed to keep it well moist.

...and I just HAD to be a vegetarian.

We were a little confused by this recipe - since when do chicken parts come in 3's? And, how is 1 lemon enough? And, how exactly is a cinnamon stick supposed to impart its flavor here? Answer: it doesn't, so use ground cinnamon. We used 2 chickens (for 6 people), a lot more lemons (10 small ones, prob didn't that many, but definitely more than 1!), used 50% more spices, and marinated the chicken. It turned out well but again, zero cinnamon flavor, which probably would have been nice.