Moroccan Night!

Typical Friday night at the Fricks’ apartment—themed cooking!  This time we packed our bags and headed for Morocco.  A little research on-line and consultation from our Moroccan culture and food expert Coley (Michelle’s cousin who studied abroad in Morocco for a semester during college) inspired us to try our hand at some exotic North African flavors.  Here’s what we came up with…

For starters, a nice crispy and fairly simple salad.  A special shout out goes to Amber Shaus thanking her for the mandolin she gave us as a wedding shower gift.  It was the perfect tool for thinly slicing radishes (and we managed to keep all of our fingers in tact!)

Moroccan Orange and Radish Salad

Dressing Ingredients:

·1/3 cup orange juice

·juice of 1 lemon

·¼ teaspoon lemon zest

·½ teaspoon orange zest

·cinnamon

·paprika

·cumin

·cayenne pepper

·fresh ground black pepper

·½ TBSP olive oil

Salad Ingredients:

·romaine lettuce

·radishes, thinly sliced

·orange segments

·chick peas

·red onion, thinly sliced

·cucumbers, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions:

1.Make the dressing in advance. Whisk together all dressing ingredients. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

2.Toss together salad ingredients. Top with fresh ground black pepper and serve with dressing.

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Next we moved on to a “tagine.”  We use this term loosely because we cheated quite a bit on the meat preparation process by boiling and shredding boneless skinless chicken breasts rather than slow cooking bone-in birds.  Our apologies to Coley, if this quick version doesn’t compare to your authentic experiences!  We still thought it was really tasty.  And don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients—most of them are dried spices that simply need to be scooped in.  Feel free to add and subtract to fit your tastes or based on what you happen to have on hand in your spice cabinet.

Chicken Tagine with Olives and Apricots

 

 Ingredients:

·2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

·5 dried apricots, cut in half

·1 teaspoon honey

·olive oil

·¼ red onion, finely chopped

·¼ sweet Vidalia onion, finely chopped

·3 cloves garlic, minced

·2 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced

·½ teaspoon ground ginger

·½ teaspoon ground coriander

·½ teaspoon paprika

·¼ teaspoon ground cumin

·¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

·¼ teaspoon saffron threads

·1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

·freshly ground black pepper

·6-8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced

·¼ cup sliced almonds

·8 Kalamata olives (without pits)

·fresh chopped cilantro

·Greek yogurt

·Naan bread or cooked couscous, for serving

Directions:

1.Add chicken to a pot with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool. Shred chicken into small pieces. Place shredded chicken in a bowl and toss with lemon juice. Allow to marinate, so lemon flavor is infused in the chicken for at least 15 minutes (preferably longer).

2.Meanwhile, rehydrate the apricots. Combine the apricots, 1/3 cup water, and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook until the apricots are plump, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid is syrupy, about 15 minutes more. Set aside.

 3.Dry roast the almonds over medium heat, until lightly browned. Set aside.

 4.Lightly sauté the garlic, onion, and carrot with olive oil and ground spices (ginger, coriander, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, saffron, cayenne pepper, and black pepper) for about 5 minutes, or until veggies begin to soften. Add mushrooms and sauté 2 minutes more. Add lemon chicken and stir to combine.

5.Transfer chicken and veggie mixture to mini casserole dishes. Cover dishes and bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend and become tender.

6.Remove from oven. Stir in olives and apricot syrup. Garnish with toasted almonds and chopped cilantro. Serve with naan or cooked couscous and Greek yogurt.

**for an extra bit of sweetness, cube rehydrated apricots and stir into dish before serving along with the syrup

**consider adding cauliflower when sautéing veggies

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Mary had a little Lamb….and then we ate it!  This dish highlights one of our favorite elements of Moroccan cooking: a combination of sweet and savory ingredients in one delicious concoction.  As always, feel free to experiment with different veggies and spices.  You could use another meat as well, but we do feel that Lamb is the best for this preparation.  Without further ado….

Lamb Pastries

 

Ingredients:

 

·        1/3-2/5 (yes, 2/5) lb of ground lamb

·        1 tsp allspice

·        1 tsp cinnamon

·        1 tsp ginger (fresh ginger chopped)

·        pinch cayenne

·        1/2 tsp coriander

·        1 tsp cumin

·        1/3 white onion (approx., 1/4 cup)

·        1/8 red onion (approx. 1/8 cup) 

·        84 frozen peas (or approx. 1/3 cup) 

·        2 "normal" carrots, copped to approx. the size of a frozen pea 

·        pepper, as much as you like 

·        1/2 tsp paprika

·        2-5 cloves garlic (as your preferences and clove size dictate)

·        2 tbl currants (or raisins if you are less fancy)

·        2 sheets, puff pastry

·        olive oil (a bit)

·        1 egg....if you want (see directions, number 6)

YOGURT SAUCE:

·        1 container of Greek yogurt (or yoghurt)

·        1/4 cup cucumber

·        1/3 tsp cumin

·        1/4 tsp coriander

·        salt & pepper

·        lemon juice (fresh or old and stale from the bottle--really makes little difference here)

 

Directions:

0. Defrost puff pastry sheet (one of the tri-fold store bought is perfect (or about 9" by 9") and preheat oven to 300 degrees.

 

1. Heat olive oil (maybe 1 tsp.) in a pan and add half of the onions and all of the garlic. Cook for until slight browning and the amazing garlic/onion/oil fragrance exudes the kitchen. Then add the carrots, ginger, and the rest of the onions

2. After adding the carrots and remaining onions, turn the heat down to low (or about the level you use to simmer rice while cooking). Cook for about 2-3 minutes at this temperature

3. After carrots are "sweating," add the lamb. Shortly after adding the lamb, add all the remaining spices (allspice, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, and coriander) ***cooks' suggestion, extra cinnamon, cumin and pepper are delicious--but find your own spice mixture.

4. Let the lamb cook for a bit and stir occasionally. Cook the lamb PART WAY. A little red is good!! Once you have some browning and the lamb is about 50-70% cooked, take out of the skillet and place in a bowl. Immediately add the currants (raisins for most of us) and the lemon juice. Stir a bit and let sit.

5. Throw flower on flat surface. Take the puff pastry sheets and spread them out to about 25% their original size. Take a fork and poke 88 (or 87 if your fork has 3 prongs) in the middle of the puff pastry--leave the outsides hole-free.

6. Take lamb mixture and place in the middle of the pastry. Fold over and press the ends together....you can put an egg wash (1 egg beaten and brushed along the edges of one side of the pastry) to help the ends stick together and even put additional egg on top to create more "brown-ness." Not necessary, but a nice touch.

7. Close your pastry and cook in the preheated oven (see, the lamb is going to be fully cooked) for approximately 10-20 minutes.....but really who cares about the time, just take it out when your pastry is brown and crunchily.

 

MEANWHILE...while the lamb pastry is cooking...

1.      Dice the cucumber.

2.      Pour yoghurt (or yogurt) into a bowl 

3.      Add lemon to yogurt (or yoghurt) 

4.      Add cumin, coriander, and salt/pepper to your liking 

5.      Stir the hell out of it....

 6.      Dip finished crunchily lamb pastry in this delightful fresh sauce.

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It is hard (actually impossible) to find many cocktails from Morocco….however, they do love Mint Green Tea!  So, we improvise a bit and take a classic Southern United States drink and bring the Moroccan to the U.S.!

Green Tea Mojito

Ingredients:

TEA:

·        2 cup water

·        1/4 cup green tea leaves (approx.)

 

DRINK:

·        1/2 tbl lime juice

·        4-12 mint leaves (personal preference)

·        4-12 arugula leaves (personal preference)

·        2 shots rum

·        splash of Fresca or "fizzy water"--tonic, seltzer, soda water, etc...many names, essentially the same)

 

SIMPLE SUGAR:

·        1/4 cup sugar

·        1/2 cup water

·        1/4 lemon

·        more mint

Directions:

TEA:
1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add tea leaves
3. Stop boil, and let steep for 5-10 minutes (or more, the longer the steeping, the strong the tea flavor)

SIMPLE SUGAR:
1. Add water to saute or sauce pan
2. Add lemon cut into "quarters" or "wedges"
3. Add 2-3 "sprigs" or mint
4. Add sugar
5. Add HEAT....heat until the sugar is dissolved. Heating past the point when the sugar dissolves is OK, but take of the heat and leave the lemons and mint in the pan.

DRINK:

1. Take mint leaves and arugula leaves and mash, grind, smash, etc. in the bottom of your glass (cook prefers 10 arugula leaves and 6 mint leaves...but and personal preference is always encouraged).
2. Add lime juice to destroyed arugula and mint
3. Add rum
4. Strain simple sugar and add a small amount (cook prefers only about 1 tsp...but you may like a sweeter drink....the cook feels he is sweet enough already...)
5. Add tea--approximately 1/2 to 1 cup. This again depends on your preference for tea flavoring and how strong you like your drinks....the cook prefers about 3/4 cup.
6. Garnish with lime....or just drink if you don't like frilly stuff.