Chicken Tagine with Olives and Preserved Lemons

I made this on Sunday night for CTM and Andrew prior to their quaint little "boys' night out," which usually consists of shooting pool and talking about algebraic topology or something. Last time I went out with the girls we just sat around reading excerpts from Grundzuge der Mengenlehre out loud to each other and weeping over Hausdorff's unfortunate fate. I know, chicks are so emotional.

The recipe can be found here.

I used frozen thighs and breasts from TJ's, which was fine, though the breasts could be taken out of the oven sooner. I threw all the onions, garlic, and spices into the Cuisinart and pureed them together; it's extremely pungent when raw but mellows substantially in the oven. Don't chop the olives, and be sure that your lemons are small; I used 2 1/2 big ones and rather more olives than necessary, and the sauce was excessively salty.

To go with the chicken, I boiled some green beans (which I left in the water way too long, making them perfect for CTM and way overboiled for me. Since they were nice and organic and fresh, though, they retained a lot of flavor.) I melted about three tablespoons of butter and mixed in several spoonfuls of ground hazelnuts, about a tablespoon of lemon juice, and some salt and pepper, to go over the beans. This preparation was met with high praise, though I found it a little greasy. Less butter and maybe a splash of balsamic vinegar next time.