Moroccan Chicken and Chorizo Stew with Couscous

The quest continues to use up a lot of our pantry items before we move on from the UK. Here we've put a spare chile (more about that later), the rest of our couscous and some chorizo picante.

I have had this chile for a bit, and it has been on my mind as one of the things we had to work into a dish to use it up. Well, it turns out it was a scotch bonnet chile, which is among the hottest in the world. Good thing I just used one! Once you get past how hot it is, the scotch bonnet chile really has some fruity and almost sweet characteristics. Next time, I'll use HALF of one.

Anyhow, I sat down and came up with the recipe on Friday, and looking at it today, there was just way to many ingredients in it. It was obvious to me that I was pushing too hard to use stuff up, versus making a dish that was going to work.

So here you go. Use a good chorizo with plenty of paprika content. Keep an eye on the chicken and stop cooking immediately when they are done and take the pot off of the heat.

STEW
2 tablespoons olive oil
225 g chorizo picante, deskinned, diced
8 chicken thighs, skinned
1 large onion
2 chiles, deseeded and diced
2 carrots, diced
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon saffron, crushed
750 ml chicken stock
salt and pepper
⅓ cup cilantro

COUSCOUS
450 g couscous
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup broth, from the stew
salt and black pepper

STEW

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add the chorizo an cook down for 3-5 minutes, stirring, allowing the chorizo to render some of it's fat out to the oil. When cooked, remove from the oil. Season the chicken thighs and brown them off in batches in the oil until they have all browned to a nice, golden brown color. Remove and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, chiles and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes, until softened and translucent, but not colored. Add the cinnamon and ground ginger. Stir through to combine and cook for 1 more minute.

Add the chicken stock and saffron and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Add the chorizo and chicken back to the pot and submerge in the liquid as best as possible. Let cook for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through. Set aside off of the heat.

COUSCOUS

Put the couscous, butter, salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine. Add the broth and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes or so, until the liquid has been absorbed. Taste and season as necessary.

FINISH

Stir the chopped cilantro through the stew. Make a bed of couscous on a warmed plate. Top with two chicken thighs and a ladle of some of the stew. Serve hot.