Holiday Dinner: Moroccan Chicken?

You may think Moroccan Chicken is an unusual choice for holiday entertaining, and I agree it's not your all-American traditional dish, but it shares many of the same flavors that you find at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. It's savory, sweet, colorful and finger-licking good!

My family doesn't have a lot of standing holiday traditions, which provides a perfect opportunity for me to experiment with dishes. I made this dish recently for an impromptu gathering in Connecticut of my husband, my mother, and my brothers. It was a big hit! Even my brother Greg liked it, and he's a very suspicious eater.

8 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Juice of two lemons
1 TB ginger grated
2 garlic cloves grated
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup green olives pitted
1 cup dried apricots (hydrated: pour boiling water over apricots, let sit for 8 mins, and then drain)
1 finely chopped onion

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken on baking sheet, season lightly with salt/pepper and put in the oven.

Mix honey, oil, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper, pepper and salt, and set aside.

Sauté 1 onion in butter until soft, add above mixture, olives and apricots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and keep warm on stove. When the chicken has cooked for about 30 minutes in oven brush tops with a little bit of the sauce. Cook for another 15 minutes or until the skins start to crisp.

Once the chicken is done, pour olive and apricot sauce over top.

Serves 4. Goes great with couscous.