Saffron chicken in crock-pot

I bought myself a cookbook (or five) for christmas. This one is called "I didn't know my slow-cooker could do that" and it's full of weird recipes that you might not normally make in a crock-pot. And a few really useful ones, as it turns out. I was immediately drawn to one that was called "Moroccan Tagine-Style Chicken Thighs" and though this isn't that, it's heavily inspired by it.

Saffron chicken in crock-pot

Serves 4

1 kg boneless chicken thighs, skinned

Marinade: 

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cardamom

 good pinch of chili flakes

Next: 

about 15 dried apricots, quartered

400 ml water or chicken stock

1/2 g saffron

salt and pepper to taste

To serve: 

cooked cous cous

fresh cilantro

Creme fraiche or sour cream

toasted almonds

raw red onions thinly sliced

Cooked sliced carrots (my favorite way is to thinly slice, then cook in a tight-lidded container in the microwave until soft, then add a little butter and salt) 

Start by mixing the marinade. Add this and the chicken thighs to a plastic bag, massage well to distribute the marinade and then place in the fridge over night. 

In the morning, tip the entire bag into your crockpot. Add water or chicken stock, the apricots and the saffron. A little salt and pepper if you'd like, but you can always add that at the end. Give it a good stir, and then put your crock-pot on low for about eight hours. (I usually do half an hour on high just to give things a start, but that's not strictly necessary.) 

When you're ready for dinner, prepare all the sides and then taste the stew for seasoning. And that's all, folks!