Casablanca Chicken

According to Wikipediea:  Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Filmed and set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate (Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Bergman) and helping her husband (Henreid), a Czechoslovak resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans.

I named this dish Casablanca chicken because Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco, and of course because Casablanca is one of the best movies EVER.  This recipe is actually inspired by several Moroccan chicken dishes I found posted online.  I especially liked the Chicken and Prunes dish on Giangi’s Kitchen website.  Although that recipe calls for the chicken thighs to be browned in the bottom of a tagine and then braised, I opted to bake the thighs in a casserole surrounded by thinly sliced (almost shaved) onions and spices and prunes.  I also added some brown sugar to Giangi’s recipe and to my taste buds it was an improvement.

And I have to say that the couscous I served with this chicken almost became the star of the dish.  In fact, if you can’t find couscous at the grocery store, order it from Amazon:  https://amzn.to/46dbkhn  Based on a tip from the cashier at Dorignac’s, I made the couscous in my rice cooker, adding a healthy squirt of lemon juice and golden raisins.  Wow, it was terrific.  I wound up scooping rice, chicken, raisins and prunes with a chunk of Dorignac’s beautiful Italian bread, and it was fantastic.  While cooking at 415 degrees for one hour, this casserole filled my house with a homey, warm, cinnamon-y smell that evoked the holidays.  Perfect on a cool, drizzly, foggy Friday night while screening Casablanca (again). My tips for making this dish are: (1) slice the onions on a mandolin as thin as you can, so that they are almost shaved, but don’t shave off the tip of your finger like I did a few years ago; (2) pour the wine around the chicken, not on it; (3) after you dust the thighs with spices, let them sit for at least half an hour, or let them marinate in the fridge for a while and then allow them to return to slightly colder than room temperature before cooking; (4) for the couscous, toast those almond slivers at 415 degrees for about five to seven minutes, watching them carefully so that they don’t burn, and (5) serve with a luscious and juicy white wine like an Alsatian Hugel Pinot Blanc.