Moroccan Chicken

This was fabulous! You won't be disappointed if you give it a try sometime yourself. Yes, prunes can be part of the main dish, and not just served for snacks or dessert. Here's the inspiration recipe, which we scaled down from 12 to 4 servings. Next time we'd increase the spices (or add some chutney) to give it a bit more "kick," but it was stil very, very delicious. Couscous would make a great accompaniment for this dish.

Moroccan Chicken

• 4 bone-in chicken thighs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon tumeric
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup water
• 8 prunes, diced
• 1-2 tablespoons honey
• 1-2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Brown the chicken on both sides in the olive oil, then remove to a plate. Add the onion, cinnamon, and tumeric and saute until the onion was soft. Add enough water so that it's 1/8" deep in the frying pan. Return the chicken thighs to the pan, salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until done.

Remove the chicken and keep warm. Add the prunes, honey and almonds to the pan and bring to a simmer to reduce the sauce a bit. To serve, spoon the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

While chutney added another flavor that didn't quite meld (although didn't necessarily taste bad either), the leftovers were delicious on a bed of couscous.