Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives Recipe

Recipe

• Prep time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

This recipe shines with preserved lemons. If you don't have access to any, you can use thin slices of regular or Meyer lemon, and you'll likely need to add quite a bit of salt to the dish at the end. If you use a tagine, you will likely need to soak it in water over-night before subjecting it to the heat of the stove. Doing so will help keep the tagine from cracking

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 chicken, 3-4 lbs, cut into 8 pieces (or 3-4 lbs of just chicken thighs and legs, the dark meat is more flavorful)
• Salt

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped

• The rind from 1 preserved lemon, rinsed in cold water, pulp discarded, rind cut into thin strips (if you don't have preserved lemon, use whole thin slices of regular lemon)
• 1 cup green olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

METHOD

1 Combine all the spices in a large bowl. Pat dry the chicken pieces and put in the bowl, coat well with the spice mixture. Let the chicken stand for one hour in the spices.

2 If you are using a clay tagine (if you have one, you must soak the bottom in water overnight before using), place it on a heat diffuser on the heating element to prevent the tagine from cracking, and place the olive oil in the tagine and heat it on medium heat. If you do not have a tagine, you can use a thick-bottomed, large skillet with a cover. Heat the oil in the skillet on medium high heat. In either case, sprinkle the chicken pieces very lightly with salt (go easy on the salt, the olives and preserved lemons are salty) and place skin side down in the tagine or skillet for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and onions over the chicken. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes. 

3 Turn chicken pieces over. Add the lemon slices, olives, raisins, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat, then lower the heat to low, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and quite tender.

4 Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve with couscous, rice, or rice pilaf.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6.

Heavenly Harira

This post represents an important landmark: my first experience cooking traditional Moroccan food.¹After nearly three weeks of walking through my apartment building, surrounded by tantalizing smells, I finally learned how to make harira, one of the most delicious soups I’ve ever tasted. And lucky you, I’m going to post the recipe! (Courtesy of Mustapha, whose family I dined with last week.) He turned up with the most charming grocery list I’ve ever seen (click for full view):

After a quick trip to the grocery store, we spent a couple of hours cooking together in my kitchen. Notebook at the ready, I took down every detail of this recipe, including Mustapha’s jokes. (He was concerned that I would put those in the blog.) This soup is usually the first thing served during iftar,² and it’s a Moroccan specialty.

Heavenly Harira

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small can tomato paste (70g or 2.5oz)
• 1 cup lentils
• 1/2 can chickpeas³
• 2/3 cup rice
• 1/2 cup rice vermicelli
• 1 cup parsley
• 1 packet saffron (1/2 tsp)⁴
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 bouillon cube⁵ or 1 cup chicken stock⁶
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Chop the parsley. Rinse and drain the chickpeas (if using canned) then remove the skins. Rinse your lentils in cold water.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot. Add the chickpeas to the hot oil, stirring frequently. Add your lentils, reduce heat to medium/low. Rinse the rice in cold water, then add to the pot. Keep stirring!

In a small bowl, blend the tomato paste with 2 tablespoons of cold water until smooth.⁷ Mix into the pot. Add saffron. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and stir well. (This is where it starts to smell very good.)

Add the pepper, parsley, cumin, paprika, ginger, and vermicelli. Add another 2.5 cups of water and bring to a boil. (At this stage, neighbors will be knocking on your door demanding to know why you are torturing them with delicious smells.)

Crumble in your bouillon cube. Simmer for 10 minutes. If it’s too thin, dissolve 2 tablespoons of flour in 1 cup of warm water. Squish any lumps and add the mixture to your soup. I usually find that I don’t need to do this, as the soup is pretty thick on its own at this point.⁸ Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until everything is cooked. (Taste the lentils and chickpeas, as they’ll be the slowest to cook.)

Serves four, but they’ll be coming back to your house every night asking for more.

1. I’m not counting my forays into couscous-themed dishes back in the US. Couscous and vegetable curry, though delicious, does not Moroccan food make. [↩]
2. Remember, that’s the evening meal you break your fast with during Ramadan. [↩]
3. We used canned chickpeas to save time, but most Moroccans buy dried ones and rehydrate them. If you decide to used dried chickpeas, add two hours to the simmering time. [↩]
4. It comes in packets here. Turmeric is often used as a low-cost substitute, but it will produce a very different flavor. If at all possible, stick with saffron. [↩]
5. Chicken, beef, or vegetable. [↩]
6. Mustapha says, “If you have leftover chicken and boil it down to make stock, the soup will be even more delicious.” [↩]
7. Mustapha says, “This is so there are no lumps of tomato paste in the soup!” [↩]
8. Mustapha says, “Some people like soup very thick, but I like it thinner. You can add water until it’s exactly the way you want it. Also, sometimes it thickens after refrigerating. Add more water and some spices, heat it up, and it will be perfect.” [↩]

Easy Dutch Oven Cooking

Cooking with a Dutch oven can be a little intimidating for those who have yet to approach it. The good news is, it's not as difficult as it may seem, and with a little instructional guidance, you'll be serving up family favorites at your campsite in no time flat.

The Dutch oven can handle all types of cooking techniques and cooking styles. It can boil as well as it fries and it can steam as well as it bakes.....even bread! So start with the basics and work your way forward.

Dutch oven recipes are simple and easy to follow, so there's not a lot to learn. Once you're mastered one recipe, moving onto the other doesn't seem so scary. Whether you're looking to whip up a quick breakfast or serve your family a pot roast this is a simple oven to use. So, pick a stew, breakfast or other easy camping recipe to get started.

Dutch ovens come in as many configurations as there are people to cook food in them. There are bonuses and downfalls to each, but overall finding the perfect Dutch oven to suit your tastes isn't all that difficult. They vary in size based upon diameter and number of quarts that each holds.

Here's a handy chart that shows the capacity of the various oven sizes.

Dutch Oven Size Chart

Dutch Oven Size - Capacity - Campers Served

8" 2 quarts 1-2

10" 4 quarts 4-6

12" 6 quarts 12-14

14" 8 quarts 16-20

Remember that you will be using open flame when cooking with a Dutch oven, thus a pair of heavy leather gloves that can resist the serious heat the fire can put out is highly recommended. And don't forget a pair of long-handled tongs that can be used to safely move the coals around and remove them from the fire and place them around your Dutch oven.

Getting your oven ready will usually require nothing more than a solid washing with soap and water. Once dried, cover it with cook oil (every surface, the legs....every where!) and put it in your oven at 350° F for an hour. Once it has cooled, it is pretreated and ready for use!

Whether you're roasting, baking, broiling, or boiling, your hot coal placement will vary. For some, starting with one cooking method until it is just right and moving to another makes good sense. For others, variation is the name of the learning game. Even the lid can be used for excellent griddle style foods! With one step at a time, Dutch oven cooking can become second nature well before the end of the camping season.

To discover all the steps on how to use a Dutch oven to prepare easy camping meals that your friends and family will be amazed at, go to:
http://www.thecampingguy.com/DO_book.html
This is a popular site for campers that want to get the tips and tricks of successful campouts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Dales

A Moroccan Foodie Experience

Moroccan food entrances the senses with pungent odors, colorful platters, complicated flavors and unique textures. As such, it's common for Moroccans to tell you to experience your food. Dishes have much more than just calories-they have stories. Those yearning for an authentic Moroccan "foodie" experience must understand this with each dish consumed. The first requirement for a Moroccan foodie is to eat slowly and savor. Those who follow this rule will notice some clear patterns in Moroccan cooking-no preservatives, fresh food, locally grown products and juxtaposing flavors.

Any Moroccan meal must have a dish of seasoned olives and freshly cooked, round bread on the table. The olives, coming in all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors, serve as a primer for the palate. The official first dish is often a soup or light salad dish. The soup is most often Harira, a thick and hearty lentil, tomato and blended chickpea soup. Depending on the region, the spices will vary. Either way, the texture is rough, the temperature hot.

Salads also have a rather rough consistency. Much of the salad dishes are, like the Harira, a simple combination of chopped vegetables such as onions and tomatoes sprinkled with spices such as turmeric or parsley. Another salad potential is cooked eggplant mixed with onions, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Moroccan cooking has a knack for mixing the salty and the sweet, and this is obvious in the first dish as well as the main dish.

The main dish can either be savory or sweet, depending on the occasion. Weddings and special events tend to offer bastilla-a chicken pastry savored with sweet saffron and cinnamon. On the holy day, Friday, families cook communal dishes such as cous cous-a pasta-like dish covered in broth, cooked vegetables and meat of choice. Cous cous can, in true Moroccan tradition, also be served as a sweet dish. Cous cous is a detail dish that requires diners to sample the different flavors in the various vegetables and meats. Another more colloquial dish is tajine. This dish also echoes the Moroccan mantra of fresh, basic and local. A ceramic dish encases meat, vegetables and spices such as libzar (pepper), cumin, coriander and paprika to cook the dish as a whole. The end product is a fusion of flavors well worth a diner's time and effort.

At the very end, clean your palate with mint tea, brewed and poured in a methodically specific manner, maximizing flavor with bubbles on the top of the cup. The secret to Moroccan mint tea is not the tea itself, but the addition of real mint to a Chinese blend tea. The mint leaves are fresh and crushed adequately to release the mint flavors and allow them to interact with the dark tea. The final ingredient is, of course, a lump of pure sugar.

Speaking of sugar, no Moroccan will let you leave their home without a small desert. Pastries covered in karfa (cinnamon), anise seeds and sesame seeds are very popular. The pastry dough is often covered in pure honey and encases ground nuts, such as pistachio. For those that prefer the more basic deserts, the ultimate Moroccan sweet is extremely simple: orange slices covered in cinnamon. Following these recommendations, while emanating fresh simplicity, anyone can embrace the Moroccan "foodie" tradition.

Anna Sandor writes for Journey Beyond Travel, a Morocco travel company that offers a wide range of Morocco holidays tailored to meet your needs. Visit the company's Morocco travel guide, which is filled with travel advice, articles and up-to-the-minute news on Morocco.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anna_Sandor

Find The Cooking Help When You Need It

Some people view cooking as a chore and dislike doing it. This article gives you some great techniques that you can try today.

Pumpkin preparation involves slicing it in half, from top to bottom. Put both halves of the pumpkin on different baking sheets with the cut side down. Spray a bit of water on each baking sheet, and then put both into an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake them for about an hour.

Leaving the bone in a roast will help if you have a limited amount of time. The bone helps the heat distribute on the inside of the roast, which helps it cook faster. After it is finished, simply avoid the bone as you cut the meat.

Although it might feel great to impress your guests, avoid preparing a meal that you have never cooked before when entertaining someone important. You no doubt would want to impress a date, boss or everyone at your employer's pot luck. Impress them by cooking a meal you already know you can prepare well.

To add more flavor to your dishes, try adding some stock that you have prepared. Made in large batches, it's easy to store in the freezer, if you use resealable plastic bags. Then when you make a soup or other dish that calls for stock, you always have some right at your fingertips. Preparing your own stock in advance will reduce your need to use cheap over-salted options instead.

If you are having guests over for dinner, cook a meal you are confident making. You should never attempt to cook new or extravagant recipes you have not already tried when you are cooking for someone that you want to impress. Doing this will take some of the stress out of cooking.

Put any of the unripened fruits you buy in a plastic bag with small holes on the bag. As they ripen, they will create ethylene gas. The perforations in the bag allow the air to circulate while the plastic retains enough of the ethylene gas to increase the ripening process and keep the fruit tasting sweet and delicious.

If you have sauce left over after a meal, store the remainder in one or more ice cube trays and let it freeze. Take them out to use on another night when you'd like a no hassle home cooked meal. Simply reheat the sauce cubes slowly in a medium pan on your stove top. The sauce will remain edible even after being in an ice tray.

Keep close watch when baking to avoid under cooking or overcooking a cake. Box times are more of guidelines than the actual time a cake should be baked. This is due to various factors that can make a difference, such as elevation. A better idea is to insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. The cake is ready if the toothpick comes out clean; if not, let the cake bake some more.

Before cooking with skewers there are a few things that you need to know. Regarding metal skewers, square or twisted varieties are preferable to round ones, as the round ones do not hold food items as well as the other two types.

Always prepare your ingredients before you start cooking to make it much easier. That way you will be sure you have everything you need, as opposed to finding halfway through the preparations that you are missing an important ingredient. It doesn't take any longer to prepare before you cook than while you cook, but it does make the experience easier and faster.

As you can see, I am a lover as well of coffee and really enjoy chocolate coffee beans. You can find a recipe for them online, and I have included one on my website. Take the ideas presented here and get the help you need for making your own. Follow the recipe to a tee and you will have a great gift for the holidays for your neighbors, relatives and friends.

In conclusion, this article has provided you with advice to make cooking more exciting. If you follow these tips, then you will realize cooking can be a creative undertaking and doesn't have to be boring or tiresome.

Looking to find the best deal on Chocolate Coffee Beans, then visit Susan Greely's advice on finding the best deals and ideas for Coffee Bean recipes and where to purchase them.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Greely

Buying Food in Morocco

Food and spices

Travellers will be especially interested in the spices that Morocco has to offer and you cannot return home without buying some. Every medina has a few spice shops and you should visit one just to see and smell the variety.  There are various spice mixes you can buy and popular choices are a heady mix of Moroccan spices called "Head of the Store", saffron (which can be purchased for about £1 per gram) and Moroccan curry (which is a different blend to Indian curry.

Moroccans also love their olives and export a huge amount.  They come in many flavors with the sour, lemony kind being most popular.  Olives are served with most meals and as part of Tagines and Couscous dishes.  We enjoyed the variety, particularly the garlic and wine flavored olives. 

Olives are also very popular with tourists in Morocco. Morocco is well known for loving their olives and they export a huge amount. Olives in Morocco come in many different flavours and the sour lemony ones are the most popular. Olives are served in most Moroccan dishes and also in Tagines and couscous dishes. The garlic and wine flavoured olives are definitely worth trying.  

Tips for Souk Shoppers

Carry around some Moroccan coins with you for tipping. The going rate is 1-5 Dirhams. 

Negotiation is key when buying something in Morocco. When presented with a price offer about ¼ of the amount. Keep the process friendly but remain firm. If you give a final offer and you are allowed to walk out of the shop then you have underestimated the value. When haggling do not seem to interested in the item (even if you are) and do not be afraid to tell them you will have a look around.

Exchange only as much money as you expect to spend. Always exchange money in banks or at the larger hotels, never on the street. Credit cards are accepted for larger purchases but carry cash for most souk buys

If planning a visit to the souks during your Morocco adventure tours, try and avoid Fridays as this is the Muslim holy day and most shops and stalls will close at around noon.

Watch your belongings as pickpockets roam the souks. And be careful of children as the markets can be very busy and it is easy to get lost.

Follow the Berber trail through Atlas mountain villages, sleep in Sahara desert tents and traditional riads, explore imperial cities, munch couscous in the souqs, and take it easy on the beaches of Agadir. We'll help you build your own Morocco adventure.

http://www.moroccotravelplan.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sally_Plunkett

How to Cook Couscous

It may look like rice, but it's actually a kind of pasta. And as simple as their appearance, learning how to cook couscous is simple as well.

A staple food in North African countries and a popular dish in the Middle East, couscous are starting to gain popularity in other parts of the world. Traditionally prepared steamed, there also pre-packaged couscous available which is prepared by simply boiling it in water. Once it has boiled, it is covered, removed from heat and left to sit, and after five minutes, it is ready to serve. Couscous is very versatile as it can be served in a number of ways; as a side dish, as salads, as soups or stews, as a dessert when mixed with fruit and nuts, or even as cakes. There are numerous ways of how to cook couscous, and they don't take very long to prepare.

Taking ten minutes to cook, traditional Moroccan couscous is prepared by first boiling one cup of orange juice (or any other fruit juice) and a half cup of water in a small pot. In another pan, one teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 cup each of raisins, silvered almonds and pitted, chopped dates are sautéed for two minutes in half a cup of water. The boiled juice and one cup of cooked instant couscous are mixed in afterwards, and the dish is ready.

Couscous salad is typically prepared one day before serving and is of course served cold. Preparation starts by boiling two cups of water, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, and 1/4 teaspoon each of turmeric, cinnamon and chopped ginger in a 1 quart saucepan, then stirred in two cups couscous and 1/2 cup of raisins. The heat is turned off; the pan is covered and left to stand for about fifteen minutes. Afterwards, the mixture is moved to a large mixing bowl, along with a cup of chopped zucchini, 1/2 cup of chopped carrots, 1/2 of chopped green onions, 1/4 cup each of chopped red and green bell peppers, and a fifteen ounce can of drained garbanzo beans. Meanwhile, three tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 to 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and some salt are blended together in a small bowl. This is then poured on the couscous salad, which is mixed well to break up clumps, covered up and refrigerated overnight, eight hours at the least. The salad is best served lined with lettuce leaves and sprinkled with a half cup of sliced almonds.

For dessert, here's how to cook couscous chocolate cream cake. First, 2 to 1/4 cups of water, 1/4 cup of cocoa, 1 to 1/4 cup of sucanat (unrefined cane sugar) and one cup of couscous are mixed together in a saucepan to simmer for ten to fifteen minutes until it thickens. A tablespoon of vanilla is then added into the mix and stirred. The resulting mixture would then be spread into a nine-inch springform pan with a removable side. Next, ten ounces of chocolate chips are to be melted in a double boiler, or if such isn't readily on hand, simmer water in a saucepan and place the chips in a metal bowl held above the steam. The chocolate is then mixed in a blender, first with tofu, and later with maple syrup. This would then be poured onto the couscous, which is refrigerated for about two hours before serving.

Couscous has proven itself a miracle meal by virtue of the many ways it can be prepared. When one knows how to cook couscous, it is like knowing how to cook an entire banquet.

Please click these links if you want to know more about how to cook couscous or how to cook couscous in general.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kenny_Leones