Winter Roots Tagine

As a way to make our meals more healthful and be a little more environmentally friendly, I've been trying to cut some of the meat out of our daily meals. I'm starting to do "Meatless Sundays", "Less Meat Wednesdays", and "Sustainable Seafood Thursdays". In a few weeks, when the farmers' markets open, I am going to do "Locavore Tuesdays" too. The rest of the days of the week, I try to source my groceries as locally as possible and as organic as possible. The new Yes! Organic grocery store in our neighborhood has been a boon. (http://www.yesorganicmarket.com).

Along those lines, I made a great Winter Root Tagine with couscous last night (to offset the delicious flatiron steak we had the night before from the Springfield Butcher (http://www.springfieldbutcher.com).

In addition, my partner was in New York last week and brought home a bunch of exotic spices from Kalustyan's (http://kalustyans.com/), including a packet of Tagine spice mix.

My tagine was inspired by the Root Vegetable Tagine recipe at epicurious, but only loosely as I used my new spice mix and a 3lb bag of seasonal root vegetables from Yes! that included a couple orange and yellow carrots, parsnips, and white and red turnips. I stirred in some butter at the end for added richness, but you can leave it out if you want to go vegan.

Winter Root Tagine

Prep time: 30-minutes (its a lot of peeling and chopping)
Cook time: 45-minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
3 pounds mixed root vegetables of your choice (carrots, yams, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, etc.), peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Tagine spice mix (or 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper, mixed together and ground in a spice grinder.)
3 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon course-ground black paper
1 cup vegetable
1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions:

1. Heat half of the olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and spice mix and sauté until the onion softened and beginning to brown and spices are toasted and fragrant, about 7 minutes.

2. Move the onions to one side of the pan and add the remaining olive oil and half the root vegetables and red pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes without stirring, allowing the vegetable to begin to brown.

3. Stir in the remaining vegetables, garlic, ginger, broth, and water and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft (but not disintegrated). Stir about every 15 minutes and adding more broth or water as needed. As the vegetables cook some of them will break down and thicken the sauce.

5. When done, stir in the butter and serve over couscous or rice.

Cook's Note: For added protein you can add ½ cup dry lentils or a can of chick peas at step number 3 above. If using lentils, they will absorb a lot of moisture, so be sure to check the stew doesn't get to dry while cooking, add more broth or water as needed.

Tunisia

Our little caravan hugs the beaches along Tunisia’s coastline. Though hot, the sea breezes are magnificent and the Camels seem to prefer the sand. We are in the tiny beach town of Plage de es Chaffar on the Gulf of Gabès. A town of only a fewer than 2000 people but has plan for expanding its tourism. It is known by the locals (and bargain-hunting French students) for its fine sand beaches and excellent kite-surfing.

Like every evening of our trek, Mr. Chebba has coordinated a rendezvous with the two small trucks carrying the bulk of our supplies and luggage. When we arrive in camp each evening, the workers have already erected the bedroom tents and are working on the main pavilion. They are breezy structures of creamy canvas and white linen. At the end of a long day of camelback riding a cool shower and clean dishdasha are heaven. Now it’s off to the pavilion for drinks and dinner.

Speaking of dinner… tonight is Makhouda D'aubergine, a Tunisian style frittata with eggplants, onions, and parsley from the Yellow Door garden. This is an easy recipe great for dinner or brunch. I found it at www.food.com.

Makhouda D'aubergine (Tunisian Eggplant Frittata)

Ingredients:

1 large globe eggplants

1 tblsp salt, for sprinkling

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onions, finely chopped

1 red bell peppers, seeded, deribbed and diced

8 large eggs

1 handful chopped fresh parsley (about 1/2 cup packed) or cilantro

4 garlic cloves, minced

6 ounce gruyere cheese, shredded

1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons harissa or hot pepper paste or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste

1-2 teaspoons Tunisian spice blend (bharat) (or a mixture of 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon rosewater, and 1/4 teaspoon fine salt)

lemon wedges for garnish

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 45 mins

Total Time: 2 hrs

Directions:

1. Peel and cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch dice. Sprinkle generously with salt and place the cubes in a colander to drain for about 20 minutes.
2. Rinse eggplant and pat dry with paper towels.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil and cook the eggplant, onion, and pepper, stirring occasionally until golden and soft, about 20-25 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400ºF
4. Transfer this mixture to a colander to drain off as much of the oil as possible.
5. In a large bowl, mix the eggs and add the herbs, garlic, cheese and bread crumbs.
6. Add the eggplant mixture.
7. Season with the bharat, salt, and a small spoonful of the optional harissa or cayenne pepper.
8. Grease a 2-quart soufflé dish.
9. Pour the egg mixture into the dish and bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown and puffed in the center, 40-45 minutes (a knife inserted into the center should come out clean).
10. Let cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto a serving platter (you can also just leave it in the dish).
11. Cut into wedges or squares to serve.
12. Serve hot or at room temperature with lemon wedges on the side.

Algeria – Spicy, salty, and delicious!

We’re traversing the Tell Atlas Mountains in northern Algeria now. This vast range stretches from Morocco to Tunisia. Unlike the empty expanses of sand in southern Algeria, this is beautiful mountain country with a Mediterranean climate. Our camels look out of place in this almost-Alpine-like setting, but they are sure footed and reliable (but also perpetually grumpy).

We’ve been eating well of the local foods; more tagines and plenty of grilled vegetables, meats, and fish. Almost every meal is accompanied by a fiery, salty condiment called harissa. It is a mixture of fresh hot peppers, roasted red peppers, cilantro, garlic, olive oil, and spices. It’s used as an ingredient in sauces and marinades and as a relish along side meat or fish; it’s sort of North Africa’s version of pesto. Depending on how hot your peppers are a little can go a long way, but be fearless!

This harissa recipe comes form my Modern Moroccan cookbook by Hassan M’Souli. I only made about a quarter of a batch. You’ll notice in the picture of the ingredients, that my cilantro looks a little odd. ...that’s because its basil. I forgot to buy cilantro, so I used basil from my garden; it worked fine. Also, the recipe has you roast and peel your own red peppers. I used jarred roasted peppers. Lastly, I did not have a preserved lemon, so I used the juice and zest from a fresh one.

Harissa

Yields 4 cups

1 lb small hot red chili peppers, stems removed

2 large red pepper, roasted, peeled, and seeded

1 preserved lemon

3 cloves garlic

½ bunch cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon salt

Olive oil, to cover

Mince the chilis, roasted peppers, preserved lemon and garlic by hand or in a food processor. Mix in the cilantro, cumin, and salt. Transfer to a storage jar and let stand for one hour. Then add enough olive oil to cover the mixture. It will keep nearly indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Morocco: Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Apricots

We landed in Tangier, Morocco, on North African coast. This is the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. While most tourist head south to the ancient cities of Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakesh, our destiny lies in the East, across the Mediterranean Maghreb; eating. We were met by our guide, Mr. Chebba, a Berber caravanner, who whisked us to the train station for a five hour train ride to Fnideq, a frontier town where we will meet our caravan. As the train passes the ancient coastal fortress of Ceuta we gaze north across the waves toward Spain for a glimpse the lights of Gibraltar, which we will see many months from now. We will travel by (a more or less authentic) caravan through Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya. Mr. Chebba will get us safely to the Suez in Egypt where we will begin the next leg of our journey.

The food in Fnideq, like Morocco itself, is a mix of is Berber, Arab, and Moorish styles, and heavily influenced by French and Spanish cuisines. Our one night in Fnideq we…

Ok, ok, this is a food blog! What did we eat? A tagine of course! A traditional stew of vegetables and meat, slow cooked and served over couscous. The recipe is by Mark Bittman in a recent NYTimes article. I changed it up slightly, skinning bone-in legs and thighs and using the dry spices as a rub on the meat prior to browning. Also, rather that bulgur, I added couscous to mine toward the end of cooking. As a result, I used a little less broth than Mr. Bittman suggests. The follow in my version of the recipe. The URL for his original recipe is at the bottom of the page.

Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Apricots
Time: About 45 minutes

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken legs, skinned
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 dried hot red chili pepper
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1 14-oz can of chopped tomato (with juice)
1 14-oz can of chickpeas, drained, with the liquid reserved
1 cup chicken stock, bean liquid or water, or more as needed
1/2 cup couscous
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley and 1/2 cup slivered almonds, for garnish.

1. Mix together coriander, cumin, cinnamon in as small bowl. Place chicken pieces in a large bowl, add about a tablespoon of olive oil over the chicken and stir to coat all pieces well. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the chicken and mix to evenly coat all the chicken pieces with spices. Let sit for one-half hour or refrigerate overnight.

2. Put remaining oil in a large, deep pot over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add chicken and brown well on both sides; remove from pan and set aside. Reduce heat to medium, add onion to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes; add chili pepper, garlic, ginger, dried apricots and tomatoes. Cook and stir just enough to loosen any brown bits from bottom of pan.

3. Add chickpeas and 1 cup of stock or bean liquid to the pan and turn heat back to medium-high. When mixture reaches a gentle bubble, return chicken and accumulated juices to the pan. Cover pot, turn heat to low and cook, checking occasionally to make sure the mixture is bubbling gently, for about 30-minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in couscous, adding more stock if necessary so that the mixture is barely covered with liquid. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Cover and turn off the heat and let stand for about 5-minutes or until the couscous tender. Taste, adjust the seasonings and serve in bowls garnished with parsley and slivered almonds.
Yield: 4 servings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14minirex.html?ref=dining.