Looks like a jerky, which is then “confitted” which I don’t think is a word!
Found a number of sources in the US to buy while using Dr. Google. Never heard of this before, but of course, preserving and then actually being able to eat meat was a non-ending quest for civilizations for ages.
I saw a recipe of lentil using this jerky, I might try to see if I can find them in the arabic stores in Paris.
Kefta tagine - spicy meatball, tomato and egg, I saw some recipes called the dish Kefta Mkaouara.
I used beef in my meatballs, other ingredients included onion, chopped cilantro, paprika and cumin. As for the sauce, the recipe asked for red onions, parsley, cilantro, paprika, and strong chili pepper, cumin, safran, olive oil, pepper and salt. I replaced in the recipe the lemon juice by tomato purée. Cannot make this tagine without a tomato sauce!
I was too heavy handed with the chili, and it sauce was really hot and was a bit off balance. I overcooked a bit the meatball as I saw the sauce was a bit too liquid.
Moroccan breakfast! A lot of pancakes, bread and eggs!
A video shows eating with hand! Not easy if there is a big piece of meat and you can use only 1 hand.
A few hors d’oeuvres that could be either served before the main meal but very often at the same time as a main course, especially salads.
Cucumber and olive salad - Grated cucumber, red onion, lemon thyme, red wine vinegar.
Tomato salad with lemon confit - with fresh onion, lemon juice, paprika, chopped parsley and chopped cilantro
Phyllo triangles with goat cheese - with parsley
Phyllo triangles with fish - cod, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro, red onion, minced garlic, olive oil and salt wrapped with “brick” or warqa if you could find them. Fried with oil. Sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon and hot chili pepper.
Main dish
Lamb tagine with oranges, saffron and candied orange peel
Place the leg of lamb (into pieces)in this spice mixture: ginger, ras el hangout, cinnamon, cumin, white pepper, olive oil and saffron. Added in the tagine with butter, add the meat, sliced onion, half cinnamon stick, cover the tagine and cooked, add water when necessary. Half way through, add some orange juice. Cooking time around 1.5 hour Add honey towards the end of cooking, remove the lid and have the sauce thickened.
Orange peel in preparation - Sliced orange zest and had it boil in salted water, then simmered them in a sugar water with cinnamon stick, cloves until the liquid is syrupy and the peel are al dente. Add orange juice
To serve, add orange and the candied peel.
Personally this dish is definitely on the sweet side, could be interesting when paired with a salad or a side that is acid. Meat very tendered and juicy.
Can I like this post more than once?
That reminds me that I really should make a jar of preserve lemon for the Moroccan dishes.
Yes! They are so expensive to purchase in stores but so easy and cheap to make at home. They last basically forever in the fridge, too. I know that they are shelf stable but in my experience they continue to “cure” if you leave them at room temperature, whereas putting them in the fridge once they are cured to your liking seems to halt the process.
I didn’t make my own jar, I found the jar I got a bit too salty to my taste , maybe it is because they cut the lemon in quarters. Do you know typically, how long the cure takes?
That is how we are all told to do it. When it is Meyer Lemon season, consider making a couple of quarts yourself. They are far superior to the store bought. For one thing, you can control the taste of the salt. I use kosher, but some people swear by Mediterranean sea salt. Gives a different flavor.
That’s interesting. The ones I used to buy, they were always un cut. They are some oriental brand. The good part is the inside of the fruit is more firm, and can be used too.
As I recall, I left my jar at room temperature for about 3 months, then put half of them in the fridge and left the rest to cure for another few months. The ones cured for the longer time were completely translucent by the time I used them, almost like gummy candies, whereas the others still had just a bit of firmness/opaqueness at the center of the rinds. I quartered my lemons - I think this is done to ensure the salt penetrates the center of the fruit quickly.
Preserved lemons and limes have a long life in the fridge. Worth keeping a jar of each in the fridge
Some more Moroccan meal last week:
Mussel tagine with tomatoes - pretty straight forward and quite nice, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, garlic, ras el hanout, pepper, salt and olive oil.
Makfoul tagine - my version is with shin of beef, sliced red onion, chopped tomatoes, saffron, raisins, cinnamon, pepper, salt, sugar and grape seed oil. Need to be generous with saffron.
Grilled chicken stuffed with couscous - This was my favourite. Especially good with the couscous and the orange salad, both were quite sweet, but it was a nice contrast with the chicken.
Chicken - sprinkled the uncooked chicken with salt, pepper and paprika, brushed butter all over the bird, stuffed the couscous, and to oven. Traditionally, this dish should be cooked either by steaming in a tagine, and finish the cooking by roasting the bird in the oven. With my recipe, I put the bird in the oven with half a glass of chicken broth. This way, the chicken remained moist, as I turned the chicken a few times during the 1.5 hours of cooking.
Couscous - cooked couscous, raisins, honey, cinnamon in powder, almond and butter. There was some remaining after stuffing the chicken, pretty good with the cooking sauce
Orange and date salade with orange blossom water, mint and almond - goes very well with the grill chicken.
I will definitely make this chicken and salad together again! Actually, this can be an interesting idea for Christmas.
It was last week, with the leftover of Makfoul tagine, I made this famous 7 vegetables couscous - I was actually surprised with this dish, I thought it was a vegetarian dish, but no, every recipe I came across had either beef or lamb.
Looks delicious!
Probably the last Moroccan dish I made before the COTQ ends. After a few days of heavy Christmas meal, I wanted something different. We just returned from our Christmas trip, so fridge was pretty empty. But I have some artisan merguez in the freezer, a butternut lying around, 2 carrots, 2 onions and some remaining of frozen chicken and broth. I made a butternut couscous (well, the original version has called for a pumpkin instead). The recipe asked for radishes and dried raisin which I didn’t have. As for spice, I have used galangal powder, coriander essential oil, parsley, ras el hanout, white pepper grains and Safran.
Not bad for a quick meal.
I finally created the Harissa, Merguez sausage and that became dinner tonight. Here is a link to the post:
Lovely Shakshuka! I agree that runny egg is the best! You mean 1 film wrap is 1 potion? That’s cooking for a village!
