Chicken and Fennel Tagine

2 TBSP vegetable oil
4 chicken thighs
1 onion, sliced thin
½ fennel bulb, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, whole
1” ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1 stick cinnamon
1 star anise
¼ cup white wine
½ tsp saffron; bloomed in the wine
1 TBSP preserved lemon, diced
1 blood orange, sectioned
1 piece lemon grass, split and halved
1 cup green olives
1 cup stock
Salt

1. Heat a large cast iron skillet on high with the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and sear it until golden brown. Flip it over and repeat this on the other side, then remove the chicken from the pan.

2. Turn the heat down to medium, add the onions and fennel, and saute them for 7-8 minutes, or until they are tender. Stir in the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and star anise until the mixture is well coated.

3. Place a heat diffuser* on another burner with the tagine resting above. Place the onion mixture in the base then nestle in the seared chicken. Add the remaining ingredients, cover them with the tagine top, and let turn the heat to low. Cook on low, turning the chicken after 30 minutes.

4. Re-cover the tagine and cook the mixture for another 20 minutes until the chicken is tender and the flavors have combined.

Note About Tagines:
First, you do not need one to make this dish. But, what we realized after breaking a lot of tagines over the years was that although less authentic, we liked the cast iron ones. You can do all of the searing and have no transfer of food, and do not need a diffuser. A diffuser is devise you place under your pan to diffuse the heat so the pan won’t crack, in this case.