Moroccan Chicken & Apricot Stew with Israeli Couscous

It's my soft spot for foods from that neck of the woods.

Moroccan Chicken & Apricot Stew:

3 - 5 chicken breasts, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
20 - 40 dried apricots, chopped
1 small can diced tomatoes
2 small cans of chicken broth
2 - 4 TSP spices**
Olive oil
1-3 bay leaves

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a couple glugs of oil in heavy casserole. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Remove to bowl. Add chicken to pot and brown 5 minutes. Add garlic and toss 1 minute. Pour onions and juices back in pot. Add tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Add spice. Stir occasionally and simmer for about 1 hour or more.

**I've experimented with varieties of this spice mixture and you can too. Here's what I did this time (I'm using ratios instead of amounts...I prefer plenty of spice, but others don't. Use at your discretion):


1 dry-toasted cumin
1 dry-toasted coriander seed
1 garlic powder
1 1/2 paprika
1 cinnamon
1/2 tumeric
1/2 salt
1/2 pepper
1 sugar

Grind into a fine powder and use.

For the Israeli Couscous, I used a Trader Joe's Brand and followed the instructions to cook. I added it to my stew - amazing touch.

Enjoy!

~ Brock