Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Roasted Almonds with Vondeling Wines

The first vintage of Vondeling wines was in 2005. There are now approximately 100 hectares of vineyard, mostly planted to Mediterranean varietals.

Most are planted in granitic soils and on cooler south west facing slopes. The older vineyards, which include Sauvignon Blanc planted in 1983 and Chenin Blanc in 1986, have come into perfect balance over the years and provide some of our most valuable fruit. On average, crop yields range between six to eight tons per hectare.

VONDELING BABIANA 2017

(64% Chenin Blanc, 19% Viognier, 8.5% Roussanne & 8.5% Grenache Blanc)

Named in honour of Babiana Noctiflora, which is a rare species of fynbos found only on the Paardeberg Mountain. It has a delicate yellow flower which releases its scent in the evenings to attract an extremely rare moth for pollination. The Syngrapha Circumflexa of the Noctuidae moth family is also known as Owlet moths.

Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Roasted Almonds Recipe

Serves 4-6

  • 10 pieces of free-range chicken, preferably thighs
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • Glug of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 20g tagine spice (see recipe below)
  • 40g honey
  • 80g dried, soft Turkish apricots
  • 80g pitted dates
  • 2 medium red-skinned sweet potatoes / yams, cut into large chunks
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 50g tomato paste
  • 1 lemon, juice only
  • 100g flaked almonds, roasted

For the tagine spice mix:

  • 2 tsp ginger powder
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp coriander powder

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat butter and oil in a large frying pan and brown chicken pieces on all sides. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set aside.
  2. Add the onions and garlic to the pan, cook until lightly coloured. Add in the tagine spice and fry for a couple of minutes.
  3. Add the honey, apricots and dates and cook for a further couple of minutes.
  4. Pour in the chicken stock, tomato paste and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, season to taste.
  5. Place chicken and sweet potatoes into a suitable ovenware dish and cover with the sauce. Cover with a lid and place into a preheated oven and cook for 1 hour until sweet potatoes are soft.
  6. Remove from the oven and finish with the roasted almonds. Serve on jasmine rice.

Serve with Vondeling Babiana 2017.

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