Easy comfort food from Morocco and Turkey, using tagines!

Yesterday, I presented these two dishes at D.A.Niels Kitchenware, to highlight cooking with tagines.  Both are quite simple to prepare, once you have the mise en place ready.  In the Turkish Eggplant and Lentil stew, the recipe without a tagine suggests to cook for 1 1/2 hours.  In the tagine, the stew was ready in less than 30 minutes.

 

Moroccan Beef Tagine (can use lamb)

2 lb beef roast, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tbs ras el hanout
1-2 tbs olive oil
1-2 tbs butter
good pinch saffron
2 large tomatoes, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 green peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 - 1 cup prunes
2-3 tbs honey
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup red wine
salt, to taste

Slowly sauté onions on medium-low heat with olive oil until they begin to caramelize. Stir in Ras el Hanout spice blend. Turn up heat to medium-high and add butter and saffron. Brown meat well on all sides and add tomatoes and other vegetables. Add broth, prunes and honey. Add red wine and salt and let simmer for 1-2 hours, depending on using the tajine and toughness of the meat. Meat should melt in your mouth when done.

Serve with flat breads, rice, couscous or bulgur.

Enjoy!

Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses
(Adaptation from a Paula Wolfert recipe)

1 1/2-pound long, narrow eggplant
Salt
1/2 cup lentils
Water
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp Turkish Baharat
2 long green chiles, such as Anaheims—stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses

Peel three strips length-wise into the eggplants. Slice, score, and cut into three pieces shorter.

Cook the lentils in a small saucepan, simmering for about 15 minutes. Drain.

Add olive oil to the tagine and prepare the vegetables by combining the onion, garlic, tomatoes, spices, and salt.

Spread half of the mixture into the tagine and top with half of the eggplant. Cover with half of the lentils, then repeat, ending with the vegetables on top. Pour the remaining olive oil around the mixture and drizzle with the pomegranate molasses.

Bring the stew to simmering in the tagine, and cook over low heat, covered, until the eggplant is tender, up to an hour. May need to add a bit of water.

Serve hot, cold or warm.


Enjoy!
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Rose Harissa! Divinely delicious.

I recently received a beautiful gift with dried, edible roses as part of it.  I have found that I have been using the dried roses in so many ways, it is worth it to secure a source.  Rachel Thoo is a most amazing source with her beautiful website with fantastic instructional videos on fermentation, gardening, cooking, etc.  Homemade with Rachel is an invaluable resource. 

http://www.homemadewithrachel.ca/

In the interim, if you can't find edible roses easily, try the teas section in an Asian grocery store. 
 
Rose Harissa

3-5 red peppers, halved and seeded
4-8 (make it as spicy or as mild as you like) chilies
5-7 garlic cloves
4+ tbs olive oil, with extra for topping jar
4-8 tbs dried or fresh edible rose petals (http://www.homemadewithrachel.ca/)

1 tsp sea salt, to tastes
up to 1/2 tsp rose or orange blossom water (I found that the orange blossom water was a milder flavour that matched better)

 Preheat oven to 250ºF (120ºC).

Place peppers and chilies cut side down on a lined baking sheet with the garlic cloves and a good drizzle of olive oil.  Roast for about an hour.  The peppers should not be blackened, just softer.  Remove from the oven and let cool. 

Place all ingredients in a food processor and purée.  

In a medium saucepan, heat some olive oil and add the puréed mixture.  Cook until the moisture has evaporated, stirring. 

Place harissa in a clean, sterile jar, with room to top with olive oil.  Refrigerate and enjoy on pasta, steaks, toast, dips, etc, for at least a month.

Holiday treats - Chocolate Pecan Pie Gluten Free!

We spent Thanksgiving at my brother's and brought dessert.  I've attempted chocolate pecan pie once before and I don't know why only the once. Likely, I don't have corn syrup on hand that often.  What makes this Gluten-free is having the wonderful Piccola Cucina tart and pie shells on hand.  They are a wonderful and versatile product, made here in Winnipeg. 

I doubled this recipe. 

Chocolate Pecan Pie
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter (I like Notre Dame Butter)
1 tbs cold water
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup dark chocolate callets (chips, Fair Trade)
3 eggs (I love Nature's Farm Eggs)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp bourbon
1 1/4 cup pecan halves
Piccola Cucina pie or tart shells

Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC).

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter, chocolate, water, and cornstarch. Bring to a full boil, stirring, and remove from heat.  

 In a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Gradually beat in cooked syrup mixture. Stir in salt, vanilla, and pecans. Pour into pie shell. 

Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until filling is set.  

Enjoy!