Rick Wang's Weblog

After two botched attempts at using the tagine, burning on the bottom, I decided to try the oven method. The tagine claimed to be oven safe, so I figured it was worth a shot. I decided to try chicken marinated in soy sauce and tangerine, for a change of pace from the ras-el-hanout and preserved lemons taste. I kept it minimalistic with the intent of isolating the cooking method from the melange of spices typically used. Anyways, after an overnight marinading, I stuck it in the tagine, and the tagine into the oven pre-heated at 350F. I was not sure how well the moisture would keep in the oven, so I added enough water to bring the liquid level to half of the chicken.

The results were that while cooked, the chicken did not brown on top as much as I would have liked. I think I could have gotten away without adding extra water at the beginning. This probably would have reduced the moisture level and helped it brown. Also, the soy sauce taste totally overpowered the tangerines, so I would use more tangerines next time. Overall, it was tasty, but tasted no different from normal soy sauce chicken. Finally, I think the tagine can take higher temperatures than 350F, as I did raise it briefly to 375F without problems. I think 400F might be a better temperature to try next time.