Treat Yourself to a Moroccan Feast!

Here’s a secret.  Want to be an instant expert on damn near anything?  Charge down to the Children’s section of your local library.  Pick any topic and grab a kids’ book. Presto!  See, people who write history, geography, and dozens of other subjects have no time for B.S. when they write for kids.  The ideas are simple and the language matches.  Matter of fact, universities should give it a try.

With a kid’s book, you can know all you need to know about Abraham Lincoln, Castles, or in my case exotic recipes.  To be more specific, Moroccan recipes. 

What’s more, when you cut the extraneous, the info’s a lot more interesting and useful.

Even the title is simple:  Foods of Morocco, by Barbara Sheen.  Think you’re going to have to wade through fifty ways to raise chickens and the history and development of salad?   Spices known only to botanists? French lard?   Not a chance.  In a kid’s book, chicken is freaking chicken and cinnamon comes from the spice aisle in your local market, not on special order from Sri Lanka.

By the way, the top five cinnamon producers, with their percentage of the world market:  Indonesia (46.7%), China (33.7%),Vietnam(10.1%), Sri Lanka (8%), Madagascar (1.1%).

With Foods of Morocco, I not only found out about Morocco, Muslim customs, and the derivation of Moroccan foods, but got enough easy recipes to whip up a splendid meal, with instructions that will allow a small child, or even your wife to help you.

Olive and Chickpea Salad

Couscous

Chicken Tagine

Of course, I fiddled a bit with the recipes.  After all, a recipe is only a mild suggestion, a timid finger pointed somewhat in the right direction. To get to the truth of the matter and really tantalize your taste buds, you have to dig deeper into your culinary bag.  A glass of wine is good for thinking.  Whiskey is better.

Along the way, you’ll get somewhat disparaging, open ended questions that challenge your manhood, integrity, and normally amicable personality. The questions won’t come from the small child.  Ignore the naysayer and stride forcefully into the spotlight of excellence.

After you’ve fought the worst of the objections, you’ll find that best of all, this main can be prepared in the oven or slow cooker, so just slap it in a slow oven and eat it when you get home.  Salad you can make the night before. The couscous only takes minutes, so that can wait.

Chickpea Salad on the left, Couscous on the right.

Quiet down!  Let’s start with the Olive and Chickpea Salad

1 can (16 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/3 cup pitted black olives

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (about a quarter of a lemon’s worth)

1 tablespoon fresh mint*

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

salt and pepper

Put the olive oil in a bowl.  Add everything else and mix.  Serve it fresh, or put it in the frig until you’re ready to serve.

·      *mint grows like a weed and sends underground shoots all over.  Plant some in a sunny spot with room to spread.  Use it for salads, stews, or delicious teas.  Can’t have enough mint.  Also, there are lots of varieties.  I lean toward spearmint.

·      Mint tea:  pack a teapot with a big fistful of mint, stems and all.  Pour on boiling water, and add sugar to taste.

Chicken Tagine

Did you know?  Tagine means both the pointed top cooking utensil and the stew itself?

Heat the oven to 225ºF (110ºC)

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken

1 large onion, sliced

4 large carrots, peeled and cut in chunks

2 cans chicken broth

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

½ small can tomato paste

4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

½ cup raisins

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

½ cup dried dates, chopped

2 tablespoons flour, mashed together with 1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon each of powdered ginger, cumin, cinnamon

½ lemon, thinly sliced

Grill the chicken, then cut it into 1 inch chunks.  My preference is chicken thighs, but breasts will do.  Won’t they always?

Put the chicken, onion, and fruit in a Dutch oven (any large pot with a lid will do).  Mix everything else together in a bowl, except the butter/flour and the sweet potato. Pour the mixture over the chicken/onion.

Put the pot on the stove and bring everything to a boil.  Stir in the flour/butter mixture.

Place the top on the pot and slide it into the oven.  Leave it there for two hours.

Add the sweet potato cubes and cook for another hour.

I don’t have a slow cooker, but if you want to use yours, I suggest a total cooking time of 6-8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high.

Couscous

1 cup couscous

1 ½ cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon butter

¼ teaspoon turmeric (optional) Turns the couscous a lovely yellow

1 teaspoon cinnamon

slivered almonds (optional)

raisins (optional)

Bring the broth, turmeric and butter to a boil.  Add the cup of couscous, cover and remove from the heat.  In five minutes it will be ready.  Stir the couscous and mix in the almond slivers and raisins, if desired.

Another Tidbit to clutter your brain: when Abraham Lincoln lived in Indiana, he went to a ‘blab school.’  Students said all their lessons out loud and the teacher’s job was to pick out mistakes in the midst of all the noise.

From Who Was Abraham Lincoln, by Janet Pascal

Wonder how the teacher would have handled simultaneous texting?

Couscous Salad – a ‘Go-To’ Dish

Plumping the raisins

Whenever my spouse starts off, “Sweetie, I forgot to tell you,..”  I know I'm going to be doing some fast-enough-to-stop-your-heart cooking.  It’s seven in the morning and the brunch is at ten, or it’s five in the afternoon and she needs a dish for the seven p.m. church supper.  I’m Pavlov trained.  I race for the pantry when I hear ‘Sweeetie.’

Like any good fielder, ya gotta be ready when the ball is smacked in your direction.  No excuses about ‘I wasn’t ready!’ or ‘That ball took a bad bounce.’  You’re either a cook or you’re not.  You either pull something out of the oven/off the stove, or you’re just another wannabe cook and full time whiner.

What’s fast and delicious and a crowd pleaser?  Man, I already gave you some biscuit choices:  plain, cheese, sugared, scones, and shortbread.  Those recipes only require you to keep a normal, well-stocked pantry.

Couscous salad is another addition to your ever-expanding repertoire of ‘got it covered’ recipes.  Check the recipe below.  Everything comes straight from the cupboard except for celery and spring onions, which everyone always has handy, and a bit of fresh cilantro, mint, or parsley.  I use cilantro, but your choice.  Mint grows like a weed.  Plant some now and it’ll last until the first frost and be back even stronger in the spring.

Couscous is one of those ubiquitous pasta-like dishes that stretches from shore to shore around the Mediterranean.  Serve it hot.  Serve it cold.  It’s everywhere, by itself and as part of elaborate stews.

Besides speed, why would I pick something like couscous salad to serve to unsuspecting diners?  It has the freshest of tastes and compliments any dish you’d care to name.  No weird or offensive ingredients. Vegetarian if you want it to be.  Versatile is the word I’m looking for. Spans cultures.  Spans ages.

Don’t be timid.  Charge right in.  First time is a charm.

Couscous Salad

3 T unsalted butter

1/8 t powdered turmeric (This is strictly for color)

1 1/2 Cups chicken stock  (one can is about 2 cups, so you can up the couscous to 2 cups)

1 1/2 Cups dry couscous

1 1/2 Cups diced celery

2/3 Cup currents or raisins, plumped in hot water

1/3 Cup thinly sliced scallions

1/3 Cup lightly toasted pine nuts (or almonds, or cashews)

1/4 Cup minced fresh cilantro

1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/2 Cup olive oil

In a large skillet with a lid, melt the butter at medium heat and add the turmeric.  Add the stock and bring to a boil.  Stir in the couscous, cover the skillet and remove it from the heat.  Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes, then uncover and transfer the contents to a ceramic or glass bowl, breaking up any lumps. 

Toast the nuts in a small, ungreased pan.  When they take on just a bit of color, they’re toasted. Add the celery, scallions, raisins, pine nuts and parsley to the couscous.  Toss the mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk (I use a blender) together the lemon juice and cinnamon.  Continue to whisk while adding the olive oil in a slow stream.  Whisk the dressing until it is emulsified.  When emulsified, the dressing will look creamy.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad.  Toss the salad and season it with salt and pepper.  The salad may be made a day ahead and kept covered and chilled.  Decorate with sprigs of greenery. Serves 6.

Whenever and wherever I serve it, this dish never fails to disappear.  It has one of those complex, yet satisfying flavors that make you want to have ‘just one more’ spoonful.

No longer will ‘Sweetie, I forgot to tell you…’ strike terror.  You’re no longer just a cook.  You’re a kitchen warrior!