calamata olives

This rich and fragrant chicken stew is laden with complex flavors and spices reminiscent of the sort you might encounter in a mountainside cafe in Morocco. Save yourself the cost of a plane ticket, however, and make this at home. First, rub the chicken with a redolent combination of garlic, saffron, ground ginger, paprika, cumin, turmeric and black pepper, then pop it into the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours to marinate. Once that's done, brown the chicken parts, and remove from the pan, making room for a pile of sliced onions that you'll sauté until golden brown. Nestle a cinnamon stick into the tangle of onions, pile the chicken parts on top and scatter with slices of preserved lemons and olives, a combination of green and kalamata. Add a bit of chicken stock and lemon juice, then cook over low heat until the chicken is cooked through, and your house smells amazing.

Chicken Tagine With Olives and Preserved Lemons

garlic,

saffron threads, pulverized

ginger

sweet paprika

cumin

turmeric

Salt and black pepper

chicken,

extra virgin olive oil

onions,

cinnamon

calamata olives, pitted and halved

green olives,

chicken stock

lemon

flat-leaf parsley

Mix garlic, saffron, ginger, paprika, cumin and turmeric together. If not using kosher chicken, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add pepper to taste. Rub chicken with mixture, cover, refrigerate and marinate 3 to 4 hours.

Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add chicken, and brown on all sides. Remove to platter. Add onions to skillet, and cook over medium-low heat about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to tagine, if you are using one, or leave in skillet. Add cinnamon stick.

Put chicken on onions. Scatter with olives. Quarter the lemons, remove pulp and cut skin in strips. Scatter over chicken. Mix stock and lemon juice. Pour over chicken.

Cover tagine or skillet. Place over low heat, and cook about 30 minutes, until chicken is done. Scatter parsley on top, and serve.

This dish came to The Times in a 2003 article about Jamie Oliver:

"What I found quite interesting with this dish, being English," Mr. Oliver said, "is that when you eat this, it's quite delicately flavored. It's perfumed with the wine and the rosemary. You get this kind of meaty kind of saltiness from the olives, and what's really interesting is if an English housewife got hold of the recipe, she'd probably stone the olives and have quite a lot of them. But in Italy, literally for eight people they put that much and they leave the pits in." In his hand, he cradled about two dozen olives.

Mr. Oliver continued: "When you cook olives whole like this, it's almost like an anchovy. The salt comes out of the olives, and the olive becomes more like a vegetable. And the salt from the olive flavors the chicken really wonderfully."

This is an adaptation of his recipe.

Braised Ligurian Chicken

flour

Sea salt and black pepper

rosemary

white wine

anchovy

calamata olives (with pits)

plum tomatoes, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped

In a large bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken pieces and toss until evenly coated.

Place a large flameproof casserole dish over medium-high heat, and heat olive oil. Add chicken pieces, and fry until golden underneath, about 5 minutes (Fry in batches if your pan isn't large enough to accommodate all of the chicken without crowding). Turn chicken, and add rosemary and garlic. Continue to fry until garlic is softened but not colored, about 3 minutes. Add wine. When it comes to a boil, add anchovies, olives and tomatoes.

Partly cover pan, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer until chicken is cooked and tender, and broth is reduced to a rich sauce, 15 to 20 minutes. To serve, discard rosemary sprigs, and season well with salt and pepper to taste. Place a piece or two of chicken on each plate, and top with a spoonful of sauce.

The natural sugar in the vegetables caramelizes during roasting, giving this tart from Eating Well magazine an incredible sweet-savory flavor. Roasted garlic adds a mellow note and moistens the filling. This is a very adaptable recipe: experiment with different vegetables – eggplant, bell peppers, zucchini – and cheeses like fontina or Jarlsberg, just be sure to cut the vegetables uniformly (about 3/4-inch pieces).

Roasted Vegetable Galette With Olives

all-purpose flour

whole-wheat pastry flour

baking powder

sugar

salt

water

olive oil

Kalamata olives

carrots (3 medium)

parsnips (3 medium)

butternut squash (1/2 medium)

diced peeled beet (1 medium)

extra-virgin olive oil, divided

salt,

pepper

garlic

creamy goat cheese (4 ounces), divided

To prepare crust: Combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse several times. Mix water and oil; sprinkle over the dry ingredients and pulse just until blended. Add olives and pulse to mix. (Alternatively, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the water-oil mixture, stirring until well blended. Stir in olives.)

Press the dough into a disk; if it seems dry, add a little more water. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. The unbaked crust will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

To prepare filling: Combine carrots, parsnips, squash, beet, 1 tablespoon oil, rosemary, salt and pepper in a large bowl; toss to coat. Spread the vegetables on the prepared baking sheet. Cut the tip off the head of garlic. Set on a square of foil, sprinkle with a tablespoon of water and pinch the edges of the foil together. Place the packet on the baking sheet with the vegetables. Roast, stirring the vegetables every 10 minutes, until they are tender and beginning to brown and the garlic is soft, about 35 minutes. (The garlic may take a little longer.)

Transfer the vegetables to a bowl. Unwrap the garlic and let cool slightly. Squeeze the garlic cloves into a small bowl; add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and mash with a fork. Add the mashed garlic to the roasted vegetables and toss to mix. Add 3/4 cup goat cheese and toss to coat.

To assemble galette: Roll the dough into a rough 14-inch circle about 1/4 inch thick. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and place the dough on it. Arrange the roasted vegetables on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Fold the border up and over the filling to form a rim, pleating as you go. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup goat cheese over the vegetables. Stir egg and water briskly; brush lightly over the crust.

Bake the galette at 400 degrees until the crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

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Chicken Tagine With Olives and Pres...

Braised Ligurian Chicken

Roasted Vegetable Galette With Oliv...

Top 3 calamata olives recipes from across the web

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Chicken Tagine With Olives and Pres...

Braised Ligurian Chicken

Roasted Vegetable Galette With Oliv...

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