Tag: dinner

Moroccan-Style Chicken

On By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn morocco, Recipes2 Comments

We love the spices of Moroccan food and one of our favorite memories of visiting Morocco was going to the market and buying spices to bring home with us. We also bought a tajine while we were in Morocco, but we chose to use a slow cooker for this recipe. Obviously, you can use a Dutch oven or tajine if you prefer. In addition to the spices, this dish also features olives and raisins, which again reminds of our time in Southern Spain as well as Morocco. Especially when cooking with olives, it is important to use high-quality olives whose flavor you really enjoy. We used olives stuffed with pimentos, which just added to the flavor of the dish. The chicken turned out tender and even though there are a lot of spices, it is certainly not a spicy dish. We did the recipe just for the two of us, but it can easily be increased to serve a crowd.

Spice Vendor in the Moroccan Market
Spices for the Moroccan-Style Chicken

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Large Chicken Thighs
  • 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp All-Spice
  • 1/4 tsp Salt or to taste – but don’t over salt as the olives are salty as well
  • 1/8 tsp Fennel Seeds – crushed
  • 1 dash of Fresh Nutmeg – about 3 or 4 scrapes of the nutmeg across a micro-plane
  • 1/2 Yellow Onion – roughly chopped
  • 1 1/2 cloves Garlic – minced
  • 1/2 cup Olives Stuffed with Pimentos – cut in half
  • 1/4 cup Golden Raisins
  • 1/2 Fresh Lemon (or 1 small Lemon) – thinly sliced
  • 2 to 3 cups Chicken Stock – just enough to cover the chicken
  • Basmati Rice – cooked to the package directions
  • Parsley for garnish
Everything in the Slow Cooker

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix all of the spices in a small bowl to combine thoroughly. Spray the inside of a slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add the onion and place the chicken thighs on top of the onion. Cover the chicken with the spice mixture, being sure to thoroughly coat the the chicken with the spices. Add the garlic, olives, raisins, lemon, and add the chicken stock just until the chicken is covered. Cook on low for 5 hours, stirring once close to the end of cooking. Serve over Basmati rice.

Large Variety of Olives in the Moroccan Market
Spice Mix
Spiced Chicken
Adding the Olives and Raisins
Moroccan-Style Chicken over Basmati Rice

Tuscan Chicken with Green Beans and Bacon

On By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Italy, Recipes3 Comments

We have enjoyed many different styles of chicken dishes throughout our travels. Tuscany is known for its cooking and use of fresh ingredients, so we decided to create a Tuscan style chicken for dinner recently. Butterflying the chicken, technically called spatchcocked, is a great way to reduce the cooking time and still giving a crispy skin. Also, making an herb butter and spreading it underneath the skin and directly on the meat will also make sure that the chicken is moist and tender. We also sautéed some green beans with bacon to have with the chicken, which complimented the chicken extremely well. We decided to cook the chicken in a cast-iron skillet in the oven, but it works equally well on the grill. It truly was a wonderful meal.

Softened Butter with Herbs

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 Whole Chicken – spatchcocked
  • 8 tbsp Unsalted Butter – softened
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Rosemary – chopped
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme – stems removed
  • 1 clove Roasted Garlic – minced (unroasted garlic is fine)
  • Zest of 1 Lemon
  • 1 lb Green Beans – trimmed
  • 4 slices Bacon – cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Green Beans and Bacon

INSTRUCTIONS

To spatchcock the chicken, take a sharp knife or scissors and remove the backbone of the chicken by cutting down either side of the spine. Then flip the chicken over so that the interior is exposed and remove the breastbone by sliding the knife between the bone and the meat. This will allow the chicken to lay flat inside of the skillet. In a bowl, combine the butter, rosemary, thyme, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Using your fingers, separate the skin from the meat and spread about two-thirds of the butter over the breast meat. Spread the final third of butter over the exterior of the skin. Place the chicken in a cast-iron skillet and roast in an oven heated to 500 degrees. Cook the chicken for 30 to 40 minutes or until an internal thermometer reads 165 degrees. While the chicken is cooking, place the green beans in boiling water for about two to three minutes to blanch them and then immediately place them in ice water to shock them and cool them down. Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for about 15 minutes while the beans are finishing. Heat the vegetable oil to medium-high heat in a skillet and add the green beans, bacon, seasoning the beans with salt and pepper. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. Carve the chicken and serve with the green beans and bacon.

Roasted Chicken
Spatchcocking (Butterflying) the Chicken
Chicken Lays Flat for Even Cooking
Herbs and Butter
The Finished Dinner
Look at How the Herbs Melt Into the Chicken Breast

The Food of Telluride, Colorado

On By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Colorado, Food5 Comments

The town of Telluride has managed to keep a small-town feel despite being a popular destination for tourists. Excluding the restaurants that are located in the Mountain Village, there are only about 36 restaurants in Telluride. During our visit, which was obviously impacted by the pandemic, not all restaurants were open and some were only open for pick-up and not for inside dining. The town did make every effort to have as much outside seating as possible in order to allow for people to enjoy the scenery and still be able to enjoy food from the local restaurants.

Spaghetti Rustico
Spicy Tempura Rock Shrimp with Shishito Peppers
Beers at the High Pie Pizzeria and Taproom

Typical of any resort area, restaurants of varying price ranges and styles of food can be found. There are casual restaurants as well as fine dining restaurants, but like almost anywhere in Colorado, even in more upscale restaurants, people tend to dress casual. We went to several restaurants during our short stay and enjoyed a variety of food. We also had a couple of glasses of wine at the Historic Bar in the Sheridan and a couple of beers at the High Pie Pizzeria and Taproom.

Delicious Duck at The National
Barbeque Ribs with Mac N Cheese
Winter Warmer Beer at the Smuggler Union Restaurant and Brewery

On our first night in Telluride, we enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal at Rustico where we had Caesar Salad and Spaghetti Rustico. For a more casual dinner, we ate Barbeque Ribs with Mac N Cheese at the Smuggler Union Restaurant and Brewery. On our final evening in Telluride we decided to splurge and have dinner at The National, which is a newer fine dining restaurant where we had spicy Tempura Rock Shrimp and a 5 Spiced Duck with a Fig, Sage and Pecan Pudding as well as a Sweet and Sour Huckleberry Sauce.

Ornate Ceiling in the Historic Bar at the Sheridan
Scrambled Eggs with Poblano Peppers at The Butcher & The Baker
Elk Eggrolls

Since we wanted to get and do some hiking early, we went out early and stopped for brunch before getting on the trail. The first day we went to The Butcher & The Baker and the following day we went to Baked in Telluride, both of which offered fresh baked food. We only ate one lunch in the Mountain Village as we spent most of our time in the town of Telluride itself. This was our second time in Telluride, but it has been a while and we certainly enjoyed the food and drinks that we had during our short stay.