'Nutty' Rice

This recipe is something that I make when I have cooked rice left over.

Original Recipe – Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Cooked Basmati Rice
• 80ml of Pistachio Nuts - shelled
• 1 cup of small sultanas
• 1 small onion –chopped
• 1 Tsp of Ras-el-Hanout
• Olive oil

Fry the onion in oil until tender, add the sultanas and nuts and toast until golden. Add the rice, and stir the mixture in well until well warmed through. This recipe is really enjoyable but using up bits from the fridge prior to holiday gave it a different edge:

Additional Ingredients:

Additional optional Ingredients (but I tend to add these anyway):

• Small handful of chopped coriander
• Handfull of chopped red & green caspicums
• Handful of sliced spring onions

With this version, add the caspicums with the other nuts and then add the coriander and spring onions at the end. Very tasty and a meal in its own right AND vegetarian! I like to serve this warm but you could just as easily serve this cold.

If you want to add meat, try adding pre-cooked (warm) chicken in small strips

(Modified 30/4/24)

Morrocan Meatballs

Here is a rich and tasty dish. You can experiment with a range of sauces but the tomato one here is rich and tasty!

Ingredients:

• 450gms Minced Lamb
• 1 x red onion – peeled and grated
• 2 x cloves of garlic – crushed
• 2cm piece of ginger – grated
• 2 tsp of gropund cumin – I prefer grinding the seeds myself
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• Olive oil
• 200ml of decent chicken stock
• Handful of chopped fresh coriander.

Put the lamp, onion, one crushed clove of garlic, half the ginger and spices in a bowl and mix together well – add seasoning – finish mixing and then form the mixture into small balls. I tend to end up with about 40 of the chaps.

Heat 1tbsp of olive oil in a large pan and then add the meatballs – cook in batches until brown and then remove and put to one side. Now add the rest of the garlic, ginder and spices and cook for 2 mins. Add the tomatoes, sotch and season and simmer for about 15mins. Now add back the meatballs and cook until the sauce is nice and thick – approx 30mins (or less) Prior to serving, stir in the coriander. Serve this with anything you like – I prefer couscous but Jacqui prefers spaghetti or similar – either way use some more coriander in it!

The couscous can be made with stock, butter and coriander stirred in at the end. Enjoy

Moroccan Salad

It’s close but not perfect!

I have tried to recreate the dish but it may be missing something – still very good! If anyone has any advice then please post a comment!

Ingredients:

• 1 large Onion
  
• 4 Tomatoes
  
• ½ Cucumber
  
• ½ Red Pepper
  
• 1 tsp Red wine vinegar
  
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
  
• Mini Cos Lettuce Leaves for decoration
  
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
  
• Ping of sea salt
  
• Pinch of cumin
  
• Optional – 1 tsp sugar
  

Finely dice the onion, de-seed and finely dice the tomato and red pepper, finely dice the cucumber. Mix in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and serve in the centre of a plate with small cos leaves in the corners.

When I had this dish in morocco, some restaurants seemed to add a little dill (?) some a few hard boiled egg quarters and one. I am convinced had some white crabmeat in it. Either way it is a very refreshing dish and great in the summer sunshine.

Spicy Lamb Tagine

If you like Moroccan Tagines, you will love this. Its all fairly easy to do and you can just bung it in the oven – like I tend to do!

 

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1kg of Lamb – lean and diced
  
• 1 Tin of chopped tomatos
  
• 2 onions – halved and sliced
  
• 1 Beef Tomato – thinly sliced
  
• 50gms Butter
  
• 50gms Dates – pitted and roughly chopped
  
• 100gms Dried Apricots roughly chopped
  
• 1 pint Beef or Lamb stock
  
• 2 tsp of Honey
  
• 2 Cloves of garlic – chopped
  
• 2 tsp Ras El Hanout
  
• 1 tsp Tumeric
  
• 1 tsp Chilli powder (miss this out if you don’t like the food too ‘hot’)
  
• 1 tsp Ground ginger
  
• ½ tsp Saffron – soaked previously in a little warm water
  
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander (garnish when serving)
  

 

Brown the meat in the olive oil and set aside. Melt the butter to a frying pan and then add the spices and cook for a few minutes, then add the onions and garlic and cook until soft and golden. Mix this with the meat together with the remaining ingredients in an ovenproof dish and tight fitting lid. (I use an oval Le Creuset Casserole dish) Place in a preheated oven @ 160deg for approx 2 hours. Inspect and turn the meat every now and then. After 2 hours you can remove the lid to allow the tagine to become thicker and richer if it should it need to. The chilli can vary considerably and so I suggest go add less than more as this can give quite a kick. You can easily avoid the chilli and still get a rich spicy dish! I serve with either a fruity rice or a couscous with oven roasted vegetables.

(Serves 6)