Sensing a trend here?  I don’t know about anyone else but sometimes I get on a flavor kick and this time it’s Morocco.  The blend of spices, the end of winter, the texture of the food in my mouth — not sure what it is but we’re really enjoying the experimentation.

I had some eggplant jam a few weeks ago and have been dying to try it and yesterday was the day.  It was a good thing really because we had intended to have thick juicy beef filets for dinner.  I’d bought the meat, cut the steaks really thick and sat them on the counter to bring to room temperature.  I went to the sofa with my iPad to send some Twitter messages and then went back into the kitchen.  I put the grill pan on the stove to heat to sizzle and then turned around to get the steaks.  No steaks.

Small dog who has learned to jump was very damp around his mouth and looking VERY guilty.  Damn well he should!  I’d been looking forward to my steak all day long.  “Bad dog!!” didn’t make me feel one bit better.

But then…

We’d had a big dinner the night before and we’d had lunch so why not a dinner of dips with my fancy dancy eggplant jam and the other dips in the fridge?  Dinner was sorted.  I’ll admit that rather than tossing away the baked potatoes and asparagus, we ate those too.  Not very Moroccan but good.

Eggplant jam originates from Morocco but until recently had fallen out of favor with the younger generation.  The Jewish community in Morocco has kept the dish alive and its popularity is now spreading around the world and I can see why.  It’s absolutely delicious and it keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It’s sweet and tangy and goes well with heaps of dips.

I put the pizza stone in the oven.  Then I brushed some pita bread with olive oil on both sides and cut it into triangles with my pizza cutter.  Once the stone was hot, I put the “chips” on just until they started to turn brown and crunchy.

That was all dinner required.  Making the eggplant jam was really easy. Start by peeling and chopping the eggplant.  I like the little ones but I think any eggplant would work.

Then chop the onion and garlic and cook these three ingredients in batches because it looks like a lot but it reduces as it cooks.

When all the ingredients are soft, place all the batches back into the pan and add the paprika, cumin, turmeric and chilli and cook for only 30 seconds.

Then add the vinegar and brown sugar and stir well.  Reduce the heat and cook til most of the moisture has evaporated.  Stir in the salt and pepper to taste and the fresh herbs.

Eggplant jam is best at room temperature but it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  It won’t last that long at my house.

Place the jam in a bowl and sprinkle with chopped parsley or coriander (cilantro) and serve with pita bread, pita chips or anything else you want to use as a shovel.  heh

I had a meal of lamb and chicken Marrakesh last week and I liked it but without the lamb.  I came home and tried it with just the chicken and it was great.  I love Moroccan cuisine. My sister spent a few weeks in Marrakesh last year and ever since I saw all her photos, I’m dying to visit. Moroccan cooking feels like you put everything in the spice rack in the pot but the combination of flavors is fantastic.

Nothing about this meal is difficult unless you find peeling and chopping vegetables difficult.  I don’t.  I would much rather cook a meal from scratch than get anything prepared from the supermarket.  I know exactly what goes into the meals I put on my table.  I like that.

Start by heating oil in a frying pan and adding the diced onion.

Once the onions are softened, add the garlic and spices.  You can use ras el hanout, which is Arabic for “top of the shop” meaning all the best spices the spice blender has in his shop, or you can add 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cumin, pinch of paprika and 1 tsp ginger.  Ras el hanout gives a more complex taste and it’s what I prefer to use.

Add the chicken and brown in the onions, garlic and spices.

Once the meat has browned, add stock to cover chicken, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Once the 20 minutes are up, add all the vegetables, raisins, chickpeas and preserved lemon.

Simmer this until the veggies are cooked and then check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

I served it over couscous with currants but plain couscous would be fine.

Here’s the recipe:

p.s. I know it’s been too long since the last post.  I’m finally coming out from under all the quirky problems I’ve been having.  My apologies!  You’re all wonderful to visit and I should post more often!

 

Dave D from What Is It?  made this recipe and sent a photo for you to see.  Looks Yummy Dave!

 

Last week when I was at the farmer’s market the pineapple grower and I started chatting and he asked me if I had ever roasted a whole pineapple.  I hadn’t but it gave me a great idea.  Roast a pineapple and make sorbet out of it.  It was delicious.  It’s different than pineapple sorbet made from fresh or canned pineapple.

I love cooked pineapple, especially with ham but I’ve never roasted the whole pinapple. I’ve always grilled or fried it.  I have to tell you, your entire house will smell of sweet roasted pineapple.  It was fantastic!

I loved this.  This sorbet has so much pineapple in it that it doesn’t freeze rock solid so it’s easy to eat.  Roasting the pineapple first makes it really sweet.  I added some sugar but I think next time I will taste the roasted pineapple before just plonking the sugar in.

No skills are needed to make this sorbet but it does take a bit of time and an ice cream maker.  Start by preheating the oven to 200° C or 400° F.  Cut the leaves off the top of the pineapple if your pineapple came with leaves and place it in a roasting pan.  Roast til soft for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  My pineapple wasn’t huge so it only took 1 1/2 hours.  Then let it cool.

Once the pineapple is cool, cut the outside layer off and cut out the little brown things and then cut the pineapple in quarters and remove the core and discard.  Roughly cut the pineapple and place it in the food processor with a simple syrup made from 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water.  I only used about 1/3 cup of syrup but you might need more or less.  My sorbet was definitely sweet.

Then I added 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1/4 cup of water.  I added water until I thought it looked like sorbet.  I suppose it will depend on how roasted your pineapple would be and how dry it ended up.  Whiz in the processor for a few minutes to break down all the pineapple fiber and then place in the refrigerator to chill.

Once cold, place the sorbet mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze.  You’ll love it!

When I make this again I’m going to try adding a bit more water or roasting the pineapple for a shorter length of time and make popsicles out of it.  Yum !!