Moroccan Seafood & Macadamania - 3/2/2009

This is last week's update that got put off until now because of some school work. Don't worry, though. There's another post brewing for this evening.


I will admit, my aversion to spicy foods often means I have to go through great pains in Thai and Indian restaurants to ensure my tongue enjoys the flavors and instead of suffering from them. Moroccan and Indian food, though, does not revolve around spiciness (few foods do...maybe some Texas 5-alarm chili...). What I enjoy about the flavors of Morocco, is that it uses flavors that are more often seen in desserts and incorporates them with some popular Hispanic seasonings in ways that will surprise your tongue without scorching it. I found this recipe for Moroccan-spiced scallops and lentils from Bon Appetit magazine. As a side dish, I made some simple, pan-steamed cauliflower seasoned with salt and curry powder (enough to give the dish some flavor). The scallops turned out tender with a good amount of flavor. The lentils provided a filling side dish that tasted good (I cooked them correctly this time, unlike the last time when they were a little slimy and tasted of mud). I did tread too carefully on the curry powder in the cauliflower, but it tasted fine. All in all, I did manage to preserve the flavors of North Africa without having to breathe fire.

Macadamias are a delicious nut, probably because of the high fat content. While I do not partake of them often, they are part of one of my favorite cookies: white chocolate macadamia cookies. They can also make a good crust for meats (including fish, as you can often find in Hawai'i where some of the nuts are harvested) as well as a good crust for a cheesecake (a dessert recipe from Dr. Atkins). Anyways, enough blather. The gist is, I bought macadamias for a dessert I wanted to make and had some left over to try a different take on an Italian classic.


Pesto is usually made with pine nuts. But my mountain of macadamias made me make a substitute:
1.5 cups basil
0.5 cup macadamia nuts, salted
4 cloves garlic, minced
0.75 cup olive oil
0.75 cup Parmesan
0.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp pepper
Food process the first 3 ingredients until smooth. Keep the processor running and stream in the olive oil. Add the remaining ingredients and finish mixing. I grilled up some steaks to top with this pesto. Many people love to mix peas into their mashed potatoes. I made a side dish where you mash the peas right into the potatoes. After boiling some potatoes until tender, mash in thawed peas, butter, milk, salt, pepper, and chopped scallions. This is technically a meat and potatoes type of meal, just with some interesting innovations.


More interviewees this weekend, so more desserts. The reason I had the macadamias in the first place was to make these double-decker macadamia brownie bars (Fine Cooking magazine). The brownie layer is actually made in a saucepan. Butter is melted, to which sugar, cocoa powder and salt is added. Then eggs, vanilla and flour are stirred in. This is baked slightly while the macadamia layer is made. The top layer is made from brown sugar, flour, light corn syrup, butter, egg, macadamias, and coconut. This is added to the top of the brownie layer, then cooked until golden brown. The brownie layer turned out nicely fudgy and the macadamia-coconut layer added a deliciously nutty-coconutty flavor.

Chicken Tangine with Couscous - 9/22/08

This past week started off with a Moroccan/Middle Eastern dish, chicken tangine:


I made this with 3 bone-in chicken breasts, but a full chicken would work well. Just make sure you piece the chicken and adjust the cooking time for the individual parts. Salt and pepper the chicken and cook it in a heavy skillet, skin-side down, until browned nicely. Remove the chicken from the skillet and start cooking some chopped shallots in butter in a large pot until soft. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric (careful, it will get under your fingernails and turn them orange), and paprika. Add the chicken to the pot with some saffron and salt, turning the chicken to make sure the chicken is evenly coated. Add about a cup of water and simmer for a half hour. Turn the chicken and add some orange marmalade, cinnamon stick, thyme, cilantro, and chopped apricots. Simmer this, covered, for about 10 minutes, then uncovered for about 10 additional minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

In a small pan, heat some oil in a skillet, then stir in pine nuts, turmeric and paprika. Cook until browned and remove from pan. Also, at this point, I made some couscous according to the package directions (it only takes 5 minutes once the water is boiling). Transfer the chicken to a platter and, if the sauce is not thick, reduce it down. Discard the herb sprigs and cinnamon stick. Stir in chopped cilantro, spoon sauce over chicken, and sprinkle pine nuts over top. One thing I love about this type of cuisine is the balance of sweet and savory, with the nice cinnamon kick.