Morocco was the theme of our December cooking club. Kyle and I hosted the dinner and were really excited about the menu, hoping that the flavors would work as well together as we imagined they would. Kyle took care of decorations, bringing almost every candle in our house out and lighting them throughout our kitchen, dining and living room area. He put on some Moroccan club music (courtesy of Pandora) and we were set.
The food turned out even better than I could have hoped. Everyone actually commented that the recipes were very easy and, in fact, were easily prepared in advance so it gave minimal trouble to get ready for the evening. As for serving sizes, I actually told most people not to double their recipes. My plan was for each plate to be small portions that would add up to one large plate of food.
The flavors were fantastic – each dish complemented the others yet was robust on its own. My favorite was the squash and carrot stew, but the lamb tagine was so tender that it’s hard not to mention it as well. As I can’t decide which recipe I liked best to share, I decided to go ahead and share them all.
Moroccan Cooking Club Menu
Dolomint Cocktail
Moroccan Winter Squash and Carrot Stew
Lamb Tagine with Figs and Walnuts
Moroccan Chicken Brochette
Moroccan Stone Fruit Soup
Dolomint Cocktail
Cocktails of the World
30 ml Gin
30 ml Galliano®
30 ml Lime Juice
Soda Water
Mint Leaf
Ice Cubes
Pour gin, Galliano and lime juice over ice into a highball glass. Complete with soda water and rub mint on the edge of the glass. Garnish with a mint spring and serve.
*Amazing cocktail that will definitely be made again in the summer!
Moroccan Winter Squash and Carrot Stew
Bon Appetit, January 2006
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch of saffron
1 cup water
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups 1-inch cubes peeled butternut squash (from 1 1/2-pound squash)
2 cups 3/4-inch cubes peeled carrots
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint, divided
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until soft, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Mix in paprika and next 8 ingredients. Add 1 cup water, tomatoes, and lemon juice. Bring to boil. Add squash and carrots. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) Rewarm stew. Stir in half of cilantro and half of mint. Spoon into serving dish and sprinkle remaining herbs over.
Quinoa
Bon Appetit, January 2006
1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups water
Rinse quinoa; drain. Melt butter with oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and carrot. Cover; cook until vegetables begin to brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, salt, and turmeric; sauté 1 minute. Add quinoa; stir 1 minute. Add 2 cups water. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; simmer until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.
Lamb Tagine with Figs and Walnuts
Gourmet, Adventures with Ruth (Morocco)
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
2 1/2 lb boneless lamb shoulder cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium red onions, sliced lengthwise
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
12 oz dried figs (about 1 1/2 cups, preferably Calimyrna), hard ends discarded
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup walnut halves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 small tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
Lightly toast saffron in a dry small heavy skillet over moderately low heat, shaking skillet, just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer saffron to a small dish, let cool, then crumble with fingers.
In a 12-inch tagine, or 3-qt shallow covered casserole, combine lamb, with oil, onions, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon sticks, 2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 tsp pepper, and reserved saffron, tossing to combine. Add 2 cups water to tagine and simmer, covered, 1 hour. Add figs and honey to tagine and simmer, covered, 30 minutes longer, checking occasionally toward end of cooking time to be sure tagine is not dry, adding more water if necessary to keep meat from burning and sticking to pot. Simmer tagine until lamb is very tender and most of liquid has evaporated.
While tagine is simmering, toast walnuts in butter in a small skillet, over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until a shade darker, then set aside.
To serve, arrange tomato slices over lamb and top each with a fig. Sprinkle with walnuts and chopped cilantro.
Moroccan Chicken Brochette
adapted from About.com: Moroccan Food
1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into 3/4″ cubes
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Combine all ingredients except the chicken. Add the chicken, and mix well to fully coat the meat. Cover with plastic, and leave the chicken to marinate for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Transfer the chicken to skewers and grill or broil about 4 or 5 minutes on each side, or until the meat is done. Serve immediately.
Moroccan Stone Fruit Soup
adapted from cuisine.com.au
2 peaches or nectarines
4 apricots
4 red plums
100 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp orange flower water or rosewater
1 tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier
2 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp sultanas (golden raisins will substitute for this)
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1 tbsp flaked almonds
1 tbsp small mint leaves
Original Recipe: Slice the fruits in half, remove the stones and cut into segments. Place in a bowl. Combine the orange juice, orange flower water, Cointreau, honey, sultanas and cinnamon sticks in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to melt the honey.
Pour the syrup over the fruit and leave for 10 mins for the fruit to absorb the flavours. Pile the fruits in four shallow bowls and spoon on the syrup. Add half a cinnamon stick to each bowl. Toast the almond flakes in a dry frypan until golden and scatter on top, with a few mint leaves.
Adaptation: As stone fruit is not in season anywhere when we had our cooking club, we adapted with the following. We made the sauce as directed, then served with thawed, frozen peaches and a scoop of cinnamon ice cream (vanilla ice cream would be great too).
*The greens was just kale sauteed with garlic and olive oil. I don’t know how Moroccan it is, but I just felt like we needed something green on the plate.
