The cooking pot is a tajine, a traditional style of pot from Morocco. The recipe is not traditional Moroccan. I am using my tajine to give one of my favorite chicken flavor combinations a bit of an exotic twist. This tajine is for oven use only and it starts in a cold oven to avoid thermal stress and cracking. The directions for the recipe take that into account. You may have to alter the recipe to adapt it to the manufacturer’s recommendation for your tajine. Starting in a cold oven, we have to make some adaptations to even the cooking time and be done in about two hours; the string beans and the carrots have to be parboiled, and the potatoes thinly sliced. After 2 hours in the oven the chicken will be about 180°F and the vegetables just tender.

• ½ cup Lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
• ½ teaspoon Accent - optional

• ¼ cup Lime juice
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• Light sprinkle of cayenne, to taste
• ½ teaspoon papain (tenderizer) - optional

• 2 Medium chicken breasts, quartered into serving pieces
• 3 Medium carrots, cut lengthwise, parboiled
• About a dozen cherry tomatoes

• 4 Medium potatoes, sliced thin
• Green beans, enough to cover the bottom of the tajine, parboiled
• 1 10.5-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup plus ½ can of water

1. Quarter the chicken into serving slices. Smaller pieces are easier to serve from the tajine and the greater surface area provides quicker and more even cooking.
2. Mix the marinade ingredients. I use Accent to reduce any added salt to the dish. If you do not wish to use MSG you may have to add salt to taste. Place the marinade and chicken pieces in a bag. Gently knead and squeeze to remove the air. Close and secure the bag, kneading gently to coat all of the chicken pieces with the marinade. Place in the refrigerator. A short marinade is fine but 4-hours is better and overnight better yet. Knead several times during the marinade period.

   

3. Prepare the vegetables. Peel and slice the potatoes a bit less than ¼-inch thickness. Got a mandolin? Peel and cut the carrot into 4 or 5-inch lengths. Cut the pieces lengthwise. Quartering them making pieces about the diameter of the beans. To even out the needed cooking time you will have to parboil the beans and carrots for about 5 minutes at a good boil. Drain
4. Lay the beans on and cover the bottom of the tajine. Place the chicken pieces on the beans leaving spaces between the pieces. Place the potato slices over the chicken – sort of like overlapping tiles. Add the carrots and cherry tomatoes.

   

5. Mix the condensed cream of chicken soup with the ½ can of water. Pour the soup mix over the ingredients in the tajine. Most will run off and go to the bottom but try and pour a little over all the potatoes and carrots. As given, the recipe will fill the bottom part of a 2 1/2-quart tajine almost to the brim.

   

6. As required for this tajine, move oven racks so the tajine is in in the middle of the oven. Set the temperature to 350°F and roast for 2 hours. Place a cookie sheet on a lower rack under the tajine. If there is a boil-over it is easier to clean the cookie sheet rather than the oven.
7. Remove the tajine from the oven and place on a non-conductive surface (wood, towels, etc.) and not on marble, glass or metal surfaces to avoid cracking the tajine. Let rest 10 minutes before opening. Tilt the top towards you so any trapped steam will exit away from you. AS noted, the chicken was about 185° and the potatoes and vegetables cooked through.

   

8. Place the tajine on the table over a wood or thick cloth trivet to serve family style. Offer with a choice of bread and a side of fruit or melon.