Stop in any patisserie in Morocco and you’ll find a back counter lined with all varieties of fruit. You’ll likely hear the whiz of blenders and frothy cups of thick liquid on the tables. While some patrons sip the infamous avocado smoothie that Morocco is known for, others choose a panache or a smoothie blended with whatever fruit is in season. But one of my choice drinks is almond date milk.
Salads in Morocco are a big deal. No matter what you will always find at least one, but usually several different small plates with salads served. Lately, I’ve been eating them simply as my meal. There’s a rice, potato, and corn salad (I know it sounds like a bad combination but it’s not!) that I gobble up with a fork, and then my favorite za’alook, a cold eggplant and tomato mashed salad eaten with pieces of warm, fresh bread. Most salads are light and made up with fresh, seasonal vegetables. I never get tired of them. A few weeks ago I got a comment on one of my posts from someone looking for a recipe for an orange salad.
I knew exactly what she was talking about and so took to my archives to find the link. But it wasn’t there and I realized I had never blogged this recipe. How could it be?!? Mandarins are in season right now, and large oranges are trickling in. I decided to show you how to make this using the delicious, sweet little mandarins that we can’t get enough of.
Really, this couldn’t be any easier. I peeled mandarins taking care to leave the oranges in tact. Then I carefully peeled open each orange so that the bottom was still held together by the membrane, creating this flower appearance. It’s just for looks, so feel free to pull all the segments apart and forego this added step. If you’re using whole, large oranges, remove the skin but leave the orange whole. Use a very sharp knife to cut rounds out of the orange. Now how to dress them?
That’s it. So simple. So delicious.
What’s your favorite Moroccan salad? (Find my salad recipes here)
Over the weekend we spent a lot of much needed time with family, enjoying each other and being outside. I even took a technology break. I rarely checked my phone, wasn’t emailing or checking in anywhere. It really was a great vacation.
One of the things that we did was to visit my dad at his campsite. MarocBaba is not a camper. I’ve tried and tried to talk him into tenting but he refuses. My dad doesn’t camp with a tent but a pretty nice camper, that includes beds, a kitchen and air conditioning. Even with this he was pretty sure he wouldn’t spend the night. So a day trip was as good as it got.
Is there anything better than cooking over a real fire? I don’t think so. We made an easy dinner, the kids had fun and no one freaked out about germs, bugs, dirt, dust and all else that is outside. My piece de resistance was a blueberry cheese pudgy pie. If you’re not of the camping set, a pudgy pie is a sandwich — made in a contraption that looks like something from the middle ages.
As I was creating my dessert pie everyone told me it was going to be disgusting. It was awesome and I made everyone eat some just so they too would know how awesome it was!!
Ingredients
I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I am a little nervous posting this recipe. You see, until this weekend I never realized the level of reverence Moroccans have for couscous. It’s the “national dish” of Morocco and in a recent Twitter conversation I was shocked to discover Moroccans take offense to the term “Israeli couscous”. To me it’s semantics but apparently not so – the crux of the argument was that there is no such thing as any couscous other than the Moroccan version and anyone that says otherwise is trying to steal a part of Moroccan culture. I think this is a hard concept for an American whose culture is influenced by hundreds of different ethnic and cultural groups that call my country home.
So maybe you can see why I am a little nervous to share a breakfast couscous. I’ll just disclaim this: This is not a traditional Moroccan couscous, nor something anyone in Morocco would probably make. Heck I didn’t even steam the couscous I used the instant version. But guess what, it’s good. It’s really good. I’ve never liked breakfast preferring to eat a bowl of pasta before grabbing an egg or cereal. This was perfect for me.
Ingredients
Directions
Cook couscous according to package directions. When cooked, add the cream and milk slowly leaving the burner on low heat. Make sure to stir while adding the milk to separate the couscous grains. Once all of the milk is combined, add in the brown sugar, dates, almonds and blueberries. You can certainly add more or less of any of the items depending on your taste and wants. This is best eaten hot.
I think one of my very favorite Moroccan foods is beghrir. They are light airy pancakes that are cooked only on one side and are incredibly versatile. I have toyed with the idea of making them savory instead of sweet something like an accompaniment to moo shu chicken (since we don’t do pork). It hasn’t happened yet but it’s on the back burner! For now I will stick with the sweet version.
One of the great things about living in the Midwest is wild fruit. It’s that time of summer where the bushes are full of wild raspberries, huckleberries, thimble berries, blackberries, blueberries, and soon to come pears and apples. I remember that picking wild fruit was a big part of my childhood and I spent a lot of time with my grandpa and my dad picking fruit. This past week I was in Upper Michigan with my grandparents and found the raspberries and blueberries in full bloom. I can’t take credit for the raspberries as my cousin and uncle picked those but the blueberries I did help with! (I’ll be sharing a recipe for almond blueberry scones with those soon!)
Onto the beghrir. I’ve always struggled with the consistency of this batter. It’s a difficult thing to get right. This time I used this recipe from Dinners and Dreams with a few minor changes. It was simple and had a great result.
Ingredients:
2 cups fine semolina or cornmeal (preferably semolina)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp dry yeast
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk, warm but comfortable to the touch
2 cups water, warm but comfortable to the touch
Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients together and beat until blended well. I didn’t use a blender just a wire wisk and mixed until it started to form a lot of bubbles. Allow it to rest 20-30 minutes. Heat a non stick skillet on medium heat until hot; I add a little butter on the first batch to make sure the pan is ready. Cook on one side until the exposed side is full of little bubbles and dry. These pancakes only cook on one side. Traditionally they are served with honey butter but I spread Nutella on, then rolled them up and served with some raspberries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
*waves* Hi there! Remember me? Probably not it’s been so long since I’ve come by! It’s been busy around here and the kitchen is the last place that I’ve been. You see my husband and kids have gone home to Morocco for a few weeks (7 actually), and I’ve been like a bee getting everything together for their trip. Who knew it could be so much work? I wish I could say that I was going to – I still think a research trip is in order! Do they make travel grants for researching blog writers?
Now however, I will have more time to spend here and also in the kitchen with new ideas! This recipe is a twist on the Beef and Prune Tajine, pretty much the same recipe, but switching out the prunes for apricots – you could really use any dried fruit in the recipe like dates, or even cherries (that’s a combination I have to try!)
Ingredients
Directions:
In a large pot or pressure cooker, add oil to bottom of pan and add onions and garlic, saute until translucent. Mix in the meat and brown, then add spices (salt, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, parsley, saffron)
If using a pot on the stove, add enough water to cover the meat. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 2 1/2 – 3 hours, until meat is very tender and falls away from the bone. You may need to add more water if it cooks off too quickly. Add the cilantro. Bring the meat and liquids to boil. When the meat is cooked removed, and allow the remaining water to reduce to a thick sauce.
If using a pressure cooker, cover the pressure cooker after adding water and cilantro. Cook on medium heat for between 45-50 minutes. Release pressure and open cover. Remove the meat and reduce the sauce uncovered.
For the apricots: (this can be done while meat is cooking)
Add dried apricots to a small pot with honey and some water, simmer on medium heat, checking to make sure there is enough liquid and they are not burning. Continue simmering until very tender. The length of time for this step depends on the oven as well as the apricots. Towards the end add some cinnamon (more if you like it). Cook until they are sitting in a thick syrup.
This is often topped with fried almonds. To fry almonds: using blanched almonds add some oil to a saute pan and put the whole almonds in. This will only take a few minutes once hot. Be sure to watch as they will burn quickly.
Once complete turn out meat and sauce into a large serving dish. Top with the apricots and sauce, and then the almonds. This is eaten with pieces of crusty bread.
