M for Morocco

Chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives

Chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp saffron, crushed

250 ml hot chicken stock

3 onions, chopped

2-3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1 chicken, jointed or 7 chicken thighs/legs mixed

1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed

6 small preserved lemons, quartered (or 2 large ones, chopped)

100 g mixed olives

1 handfuls coriander leaves, chopped

1 handfuls flat leaf parsley, chopped

Crusty bread or couscous to serve

Method:

Put the saffron in the stock to infuse.

Meanwhile, gently fry the onions in the olive oil until soft. Add the ginger, cumin and garlic and cook gently for a couple of minutes.

Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat with the onion and spices. Sprinkle over the crushed peppercorns and preserved lemon. Add the saffron infused stock and bring to the boil.

Cover and cook on a very gentle heat for 1 hour, or until the chicken is falling apart. Add the olives and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

Stir in the chopped coriander and parsley just before serving. Serve with crusty bread or couscous.

Cooks' note: if you are using a Tagine pot to make this dish, soak it for about 3 hours before its initial use if it is unglazed. Use a diffusion plate on your cooker, so it doesn't crack. Tagines are not suitable for Halogen hobs, but can be used in the oven.

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Chicken tagine with couscous

Moroccan Couscous

Ingredients:

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

1 red, green, or yellow bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces

2 zucchinis, halved lengthwise and cut into 3/4 inch pieces

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Grated zest of one orange

1 (14.5 ounce) can low sodium garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup orange juice

1 1/2 cups couscous

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Method:

Place a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in the cumin, ginger, cloves, cayenne, cardamom, coriander, and allspice; gently toast until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in oil and onion, cook until softened. Stir in the bell pepper, and zucchini; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the raisins, salt, zest, and garbanzos.

Pour in the chicken broth and orange juice; turn heat to high and bring to a boil. When the mixture is boiling, stir in the couscous and remove from heat; cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and fold in chopped mint.

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Eggplant Salad "Zaalouk"

Ingredients:

50 g de butter

4 eggplants

3 tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon of Moroccan sweet paprika

Salt and Pepper

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

At the same time wash, peel and cut the eggplants into large cubes and place in the oven for 40 minutes.

In a pan mix together the garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, sweet paprika, cumin and salt and pepper Cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes, then remove the lid, add the eggplants and cook for 10 minutes more (without the lid).

Before serving, add in the parsley.

This dish can be garnished with slices of black olives and Belazu  preserved lemon sliced.

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Moroccan Coffee and Date Dessert

Coffee and date dessert

Ingredients:

14 oz / 400 g stone less dates

15 fl oz / 450 ml strong black coffee

10 cardamom pods

1 heaped teaspoon sugar

Method:

Put the dates in a large bowl.

Brew the coffee, measure out the correct amount in a measuring jug and add the sugar to it. With the handle of a knife gently crush the cardamom pods and their seeds. Add these to the coffee.

Stir the coffee mix until the sugar has dissolved. Taste and add a little more sugar at this point if the coffee is too bitter - it should still have a bit of a ‘bite’, however. Note: If using coffee liqueur, add this first and adjust the amount of sugar accordingly.

Leave the coffee to stand for 5 minutes to allow the flavours to develop before pouring over the dates through a sieve. Discard the cardamom pods and seeds.

Let the coffee cool for about 10 minutes before transferring the bowl to the fridge to chill.

The dessert should ideally stand in the fridge for 24 hours before being eaten, as the flavours will continue to develop and the coffee sauce become thick and syrupy. But for a dessert the same day, give it at least an hour.

Divide the dates between four colourful bowls and serve with thick yogurt or quark to offset the dessert’s sweetness.

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Khobz wholemeal flat bread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cup wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 x 7 g sachet yeast

1 1/4 cups of tepid water

1/2 teaspoon ground sweet paprika

1/3 cup corn meal

1 tablespoon of oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:

 Preheat oven to 180°C, Combine 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water in bowl.

Stand covered in a warm place until foaming.

Sift rest of flour, paprika and corn meal into bowl, add oil. Stir in yeast mixture.

Mix to firm dough. Knead until smooth. Stand covered in a warm place 20 minutes.

 (Add prepared yeast mixture to oil, flour, cornmeal and paprika. Mix into a firm dough. Knead until smooth and stand in a warm place.

Divide dough into sixteen even portions. Roll out balls into 10 cm flat rounds.Brush bread with beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake.)

 Divide into sixteen, roll into balls, flatten into rounds .Place on greased baking tray. Brush with egg. Bake 12 minutes.

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