MarocMama

A Fearless Guide to Food and Travel

Breakfast

My Favorite Moroccan Breakfast: Hrbil

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Winter comes slow and late to Marrakech. One day we’re sweating, wondering when the heat will finally break and then suddenly there’s a rain storm one day that snaps the weather awake to realize it’s time to change seasons. Reluctantly the weather wavers for a few weeks. Alternating between those scorching hot days and dreary, rainy ones. A sandstorm might blow through and then we’re lurched into winter.

But this too is beautiful. 

Atlas Mountains Beyond City Walls

The haze in front of the High Atlas lifts, giving way to the beautiful mountain backdrop that makes my heart sing. It’s a sight I wait for all year. Rarely do the mountains appear until they’re capped with snow, leaving many people to believe they have snow all the time (they don’t). The clear, sunny winter days are what I love waking up to. I just really hate leaving my bed!

Few people, including us, have indoor heating. We really don’t need it. Winter will only last two or maybe three months and it will never get to freezing – even though some days feel like it. An extra blanket on the bed, a space heater tucked under the desk, and taking advantage of every chance to warm up the house when the sun shines make it possible. You see Morocco is a cold country with a warm sun. The sun changes everything and even in the middle of winter is warm.

 

Kotoubia Mosque at Sunset

Our morning start a little later now but it’s still just barely light when the kids get up for school. I love a warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning with nuts and brown sugar. But, I also love the Moroccan version of oatmeal – that’s not made with oats at all – called hrbil. Normally it’s only made for special occasions. It’s always on the table the morning of Eid al Adha and Eid al Fitr. But, I’ve also made it and saved it in the refrigerator to heat up the next day. It’s always better right after it’s made.

Breakfast for Eid Moroccan hrbil recipe

Moroccan Oatmeal: Hrbil

Moroccan Oatmeal: Hrbil

Yield: 8 servings
A delicious breakfast dish served during Eid and other special occasions in Morocco.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of dry wheat grains (wheat berries)
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • water

For the Top

  • melted butter
  • olive oil
  • honey

Instructions

  1. Soak the wheat in water overnight. The longer you soak this the faster it will cook.
  2. When you're ready to cook, add the olive oil to a pressure cooker and drain the water from the wheat.
  3. Add the wheat to the pressure cooker and stir to coat with olive oil.
  4. Add enough water to fill pressure cooker about 1/2 full.
  5. Cover and cook on medium temperature for about 45 minutes – 1 hour. You will need to check the water level of this often. The goal is to cook out all the water so that the wheat plumps to it’s maximum.
  6. You can test the water level by holding the pressure cooker off the heat and swirling around.
  7. When you feel most the water has been cooked out, release the steam and remove the cover.
  8. If there is some water left, continue to cook on low – medium heat until it has been mostly removed.
  9. Stir in the milk, until the consistency is a little more liquid than porridge.
  10. Fill a bowl or large rimmed plate with the grains.
  11. In the middle create a small well and add olive oil, butter, and honey.
© Amanda Mouttaki
Recipe for Hrbil, a Moroccan breakfast popular at Eid.

Quail Egg, Potato and Merguez Tortilla

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I could watch cooking shows all day long – in any language. I am always intrigued by what a chef chooses to create with ingredients, especially unique ingredients. On an episode of Chopped one of the ingredients was quail eggs. I remember thinking how adorable the little eggs looked, but slightly queasy thinking of the little birds that could hatch out of them. (I know, no birds come out of unfertilized eggs!) I’ve had a lot of fun shopping in the markets and grocery stores here. On a recent trip to supermarket mega store Marjane I found quail eggs in the refrigerated section. Then I looked at the price and immediately put them in my cart.

Quail Eggs

For 18 eggs I spent not even $2! I think in the US quail eggs are probably about that much PER egg. For a few days they sat at home while I considered what I could make that would showcase these eggs.  Simple scrambled eggs just wouldn’t do. I wanted to keep the eggs whole so that their tiny size could be appreciated.  Last weekend as I made breakfast for the kids, I glanced at my little quail eggs and remembered the merguez sausages I needed to use up. I also happened to have some leftover potatoes from dinner the night before. Perfect!

Quail Egg and Merguez Tortilla

I often make a tortilla espanola for dinner along with a big salad but it makes an equally hearty, and easy breakfast dish. If you have leftovers to use up, better yet. What surprised me the most as I put this together was how the little eggs are a bit difficult to break. I used the back of a knife to cut off the top of each egg. If you didn’t care whether the yolks broke or not you could crack them as you would a chicken egg but trust me, the yolks will break too. MarocBaba shared this breakfast with his mom and I got a thumbs up.  You can make this tortilla with chicken eggs too – but quail eggs are a unique surprise.

Broken Quail Eggs

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Quail Egg, Potato and Merguez Tortilla

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Ingredients

  • 10 quail eggs
  • 1 lb pre-cooked, sliced potatoes
  • 1/4 lb merguez sausage
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp butter
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp cumin

Instructions

  1. Begin by preparing all of the items to assemble this dish. Remove merguez from casing and crumble. Slice or dice onions thinly. Slice pre-cooked potatoes as thin as possible. Carefully break all of the quail eggs into a bowl.
  2. Heat a large skillet on the stove-top. Melt 1 tsp butter and vegetable oil into the pan.
  3. Add onions and merguez to the skillet and cook until onions are translucent and merguez cooked through.
  4. Remove onions and meat from the skillet onto a plate and set to the side.
  5. Return the skillet to the heat, add 1 tsp of butter and spread the sliced potatoes in a single layer. Top with cooked onions and merguez.
  6. Finally carefully add the quail eggs,spreading to cover the top of the potatoes.
  7. Sprinkle salt and cumin on top.
  8. As the eggs start to cook, cover the skillet with a lid to cook the top of the eggs.
  9. When everything is set and cooked through, remove from the heat and serve.

15 Recipe Ideas for Day Old Bread

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In  Morocco it’s almost unheard of to throw away old bread. Even though it is consumed at least three times a day and there inevitably is bread leftover, it is saved, reused if possible and if not, put into the garbage in a separate bag.  It’s then often fed to animals. Instead of letting these day-old pieces go to waste, why not give them a second life?

15 Recipe Ideas for Day Old Bread

Now, want my recipe for an easy chocolate chip bread pudding?  It’s a great dessert or sweet breakfast for a special occasion.  You might want to double this recipe because everyone at my house was fighting for the last few bites!

Chocolate Bread Pudding

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Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups of cubed day old bread
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
  • cooking spray or butter for baking tin
  • Loaf pan or 8×8 baking pan

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine whole milk, cream, and eggs. Whisk until blended.
  3. Beat in sugar and vanilla.
  4. Add cubed bread to the liquid mixture. Mix bread and press into liquid to make sure the bread absorbs as much liquid as possible.
  5. Spray or butter baking pan.
  6. Pour saturated bread into the baking dish and add chocolate chips to the top. (You may want to stir the bread, but be careful as the chocolate chips tend to fall to the bottom).
  7. Bake for 30-45 minutes until the top of the bread is crispy. The bread pudding will remain dense but all of the liquid should be cooked through.

Day Old Bread Recipes

Croutons

Italian Seasoned Croutons from Aimee of Like Mother Like Daughter

Homemade Croutons from Modern Christian Homemaker

Bread Pudding

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding 

Toffee Bread Pudding from Crumbs and Chaos

Croissant Bread Pudding from The Culinary Life

–  Gluten-Free Orange Almond Bread Pudding 

Slow Cooker Spiced Pear Bread Pudding from Snappy Gourmet

Leek Bread Pudding from Fifteen Spatulas

Cranberry Pistachio Bread Pudding from Taste, Love, and Nourish

Mushroom and Leek Savory Bread Pudding from Confident Cook Hesitant Baker

Other Great Ideas

Israeli Panzanella Salad from What Jew Wanna Cook

Panade with Swiss Chard and Onion from Farm Fresh Feasts

Bread Patties a la India Style – Fusion Bread Dumplings from Masala Herb

– Austrian Beef Bread Dumplings

–  Cheese Bread Patties

What’s your favorite way to use up day-old bread?

15 Recipe Ideas for Day Old Bread

15 Minute Doughnuts

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Unexpected company show up for breakfast or brunch? In 15 minutes you can have a hot plate of doughnuts on the table! Pair with cold glasses of milk and fresh fruit for a perfect – albeit last minute – meal!

15 Minute Doughnuts

I regularly make many things from scratch, however time is always an issue for me. There are a lot of shortcuts I rely on to make meals easier – and especially breakfast time.  I have lived most of my life in the “dairy state,” and so a lot of my meal inspiration comes from dairy products.  I shop the perimeter of markets, and the final stop in my circle is the refrigerated dairy section. Some staples I always grab are; milk (of course!), shredded cheeses, jalapeno hummus (MarocBaba’s favorite), ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt, pre-sliced hashbrowns, and eggs.  One of the items I occasionally pick up is refrigerated biscuit dough.  It’s so affordable and can be used in hundreds of ways – besides making biscuits! I flatten biscuits to make pizza roll ups for my kids, or cut in half and press into a muffin tin to make taco cups.  But, my favorite use of biscuit dough is to make these doughnuts.

Biscuit Doughnuts

Making doughnuts from scratch takes way more than 15 minutes and can be finicky.  Buying doughnuts can cost as much as $1 each.  By using biscuit dough, I’ve made 8 for about $0.30 each.  Not only do you get the doughnuts but little doughnut holes too! To shape them, I use a melon baller to take out the centers.  On a plate, the dough is then rolled in cinnamon and sugar – and baked. Of course you can use any number of toppings to flavor these.  It’s just a start!

Melon Baller Doughnuts

If you want to find more meal time inspiration check out Easy Home Meals website, the The Dish Diary Tumblr and like Easy Home Meals on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Resourceful Mommy Media is also hosting a Twitter party this Thursday June 27th from 8-9 EST. Be sure to follow @ResourcefulMom, chef @AidaMollenkamp and @EasyHomeMeals and follow the tag #dairybeyondcool.  The grand prize is a $100 gift card, another a $50 gift card, and 4 – $25 gift cards.  Everyone can use extra cash! RSVP here.

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15 Minute Doughnuts

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Ingredients

  • 1 tube of biscuit dough
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • melon baller
  • parchment paper or silpat
  • cookie sheet

Instructions

  1. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat and preheat oven to the temperature indicated on the biscuit dough.
  2. On a plate add the cinnamon and sugar and mix to combine.
  3. Open the biscuit dough and use a melon baller to cut out a center of each biscuit.
  4. Roll the centers in cinnamon and sugar.
  5. Coat each doughnut in cinnamon and sugar and space out on cookie sheet. (Note – the biscuits won’t spread much).
  6. Place centers in open spots on cookie sheet.
  7. Bake 10-12 minutes until doughnuts are cooked through.
  8. Eat hot with a big glass of milk!
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for the National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association.  This recipe and ideas are, as always, my own.

Mommy Protein Balls

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Mom's Protein Power Balls

 

I can’t believe how fast April is flying by!  We’ve been busy and I have to say I haven’t been cooking a lot.  It’s been easy things that I can pull together fast or relying on meals I’ve prepped and stored in the freezer. Speaking of which, I’ll be sharing a post next week to fill you in on freezer cooking.  It’s part of my real food on a budget series and I have to tell you, this has been revolutionary for me.  I have another batch of meals to prep this weekend so I’ll be taking you with from beginning to end. Make sure you’re following me on Instagram as I post pictures through the process.  If you’re not on Instagram, don’t worry I’ll be posting pictures in the post Wednesday too.

In the chaos that has been our life lately, breakfast has been really hard for me to squeeze in.  I’ve never really liked to eat breakfast so it’s a stretch for me to get anything in.  As weird as this may sound, I also struggle with eating regularly in general.  After having my weight loss surgery, I lost most of appetite. I have to force myself to eat.  It might sound like a great problem to have but I assure you – it’s not. My sister always gives me  a hard time about not eating and/or drinking protein shakes.  I admit if eating doesn’t sound good, drinking is even harder. She shared this recipe with me for protein balls to help me boost the amount of protein I get, and to have something around that I can just pick up and eat when I walk by the fridge. We affectionately refer to them as mommy balls.  (It’s a long story!) I’ve been using Shaklee 180™ products for the last two months and while drinking a protein shake isn’t always in the cards for me, I will eat 2-3 of these a day to get in protein!

Really, these are perfect for anyone who needs a breakfast or snack to grab and go.

 

Protein Ball Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp PB2 powder
  • 4 Tbsp all0natural peanut butter or other nut butter
  • 1 c Shaklee Vanilla Smoothee Mix (or other protein of your choice)
  • 1/2 c quick cook oats
  • 1 Tbsp flax seed meal
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
  • 4-6 Tbsp raw honey

Directions

  • In a bowl, mix the PB2 powder with water until a paste is formed.  It will look like regular peanut butter
  • Add to the bowl the nut butter, smoothee mix, quick cook oats, flax seed meal, chia seeds, and honey.
  • Mix all of the ingredients together, you can use a spatula but your hands will probably work the best.  You may need to adjust the honey and/or add a little water.  If it feels too wet, add a little more oats, if it feels to dry add a bit more honey or water.
  • Roll into balls, whatever size you like.

Using this recipe, I rolled 16 balls and each ball has about 5g of protein.  Not bad!  You could increase the amount of PB2 and decrease the actual nut butter amount to lower the fat content.  The total protein will vary depending on the brands that you use and the size of each.   To store, keep in an air tight container or a ziploc bag in the refrigerator. I really love these and I hope you will too!

**If you’re wondering where to get PB2 powder, I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s, and at my local pharmacy (believe it or not!). You can purchase on Amazon PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter – and Bell Plantation that makes this product has a store locator on their site if you are looking for local options.

Peanut Butter Protein Balls | marocmama.com

This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I have received free products, online support and incentives for participating in the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. My opinions are my own. I am also a Shaklee Independent Distributor. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week.

Chocolate Chip Banana Mini Muffins

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Mini Banana Muffins

Every time we go to the store my youngest sons asks me if we can buy these.

And, every time I say no.

There’s something about the little packages that make a 6 year old perk up his ears and want to dig in.  But the zillion ingredients that go into making one of these little muffins scares me!  I have been promising him for weeks that I will make him little muffins and finally I’ve done it!  I made quite a few substitutions with ingredients to make these as nutritious as possible.  I use the best quality ingredients, cut out any butter or oil and used gluten-free flours. They are way better than those chemical laden boxed variety. My boys couldn’t tell if they had gluten or not, so either they’re getting really used to eating gluten-free foods or I did a really great job! If you’ve got little ones who avoid gluten, this is a great gluten free food for kids!  If you’re not gluten free you can swap out the flours for between 1 1/2 and 2 cups of an all purpose flour.

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Chocolate Chip Banana Mini Muffins

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 48 mini muffins 1x
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup white rice flour
  • 3/4 cup tapioca starch
  • 1/4 cup sorghum flour
  • 1 T xanthan gum
  • 2 tsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup agave
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2/3 cup milk (or almond milk)
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 2 ripe bananas

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl place 2 peeled bananas and mash with a fork until they are broken up.
  3. Next add the applesauce, milk, and agave stirring well to combine.
  4. In another bowl combine the flours, xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon and chia seeds.
  5. Slowly begin to incorporate the dry mixture with the wet mixture.
  6. Continually whisk the mixture to ensure everything evenly combines and as many lumps as possible are removed.
  7. Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips.
  8. Grease a mini muffin tin with butter or cooking spray.
  9. Spoon the muffin mixture into the tins, about 1 tsp fits in each cup.
  10. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the muffins are firm to the touch and can slide out of the pan.
  11. Allow to cool on a baking rack before serving.

If you don’t have a mini muffin pan I highly recommend adding one to your baking arsenal.  I love the small size for making all kinds of finger foods. If you’re like me and are constantly fighting to get muffins out of the pan without wrecking them, mini muffin liners can also be purchased.  I love these jewel tone muffin liners or these mini silicone muffin cups. If all else fails – just make regular sized muffins! Whichever size you decide to make, just be sure to serve with a big glass of cold milk!