Moroccan Chicken with Lemon-Stuffed Olives and Dates

Ah, green olives and ginger snaps--together at last.

There had been much upheaval Chez ToastPoint lately. We're moving, so pots and pans and spices and utensils have been inaccessible and meals have been hurried. But everything has settled down for the moment (We're crashing with ToastMom between summer travels), and the result was this fairly kick-ass Moroccan improvisation.

Two strokes of genius: 1) Crumbled ginger snaps make a delicious, intruiging topping for tagine-style stew, and 2) Instead of locating (or making) preserved lemons, I cracked open a can of lemon-stuffed green olives for the same effect.

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Moroccan Chicken with Lemon-Stuffed Olives and Dates

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, or dutch oven, or even a tagine if you're really hardcore, heat:
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Add and brown (about 5 minutes):
1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs

Add:
1 teaspoon ground ginger (don't use fresh)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chile powder

Fry spices until fragrant, then reduce heat and add:
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.

Then add:
3/4 cup lemon-stuffed green olives (or plain green olives and preserved lemon)
4 large dates, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup water

Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 30 minutes, until chicken is falling apart tender.

Serve over rice with:
Toasted slivered almonds
Crumbled ginger snaps
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And introducing a new feature in which ToastMom comments on each meal prepared in her kitchen:
"ToastMom Says": "Mmmm... The house smells like dinner--cooked by someone else."