Introducing the Tagine; Moroccan Slow Cooking at Its Finest

If you consider yourself a foodie and you are not yet familiar with the word Tagine I urge you to do all you can to add it to your personal lexicon.  For those of you who already know what a tagine is I bet your mouth is already watering just thinking about your last tagine meal.  

A Tagine is both the name of the food and the cooking vessel used to cook it.  In Morocco, the locals use the tagine similar to how we would use a slow cooker.  A variety of meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices etc. are combined in the pot with a little bit of liquid and then are simmered to a stew like consistency.  The conical lid of the tagine helps condense the steam and flavors that would otherwise be cooked off, and infuses them back into the food making the dish both tender and wonderfully delicious.

I have very much enjoyed experimenting with various tagine recipes, as well as making my own clay tagines for use in our kitchen.  I am proud to announce that I have recently added a couple of tagines for sale on etsy.

Many great recipes may be found at epicurious.com

- Josh Flicker

My Husband the Cook

When my husband and I first got married, he couldn't tell you the difference between a spoon and a spatula.  Ok, maybe that is a slight exaggeration.  Shallots, scallions and chives though, he certainly didn't know the difference between those.  And while his mother boasted about his culinary skills before we got married, in all reality making eggs and pancakes is not what I call culinarily difficult.

Josh has always respected my stubborn refusal to be solely responsible for the household duties.  He has always recognized that since we both eat, so we both should cook, and as a result I believe this has transformed my husband into an amazing cook.  He has learned to cook using a recipe as a guide, rather than a strict set of rules, substituting ingredients here and there to make a beautiful meal.  And so today I want to share with you some of the amazing things he has recently made.

#1:  Chicken Tagine with Almonds and Apricots

A good friend of mine introduced Moroccan cooking to Josh and I.  Ever since, Josh has been experimenting with both the cooking of Moroccan food, as well as the making of ceramic Tagines.  

Tagines will be for sale in our Etsy shop later today.  

Here are a few recipes that Josh has made.  And when I say these are AMAZING, I'm NOT exaggerating.  Honestly these dishes are mouth watering and perfectly savory.  

Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds - Pictured above

(This recipe has been altered from Epicurious.  Follow the mentioned link to see the original recipe.)

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds organic chicken thighs
• 2 cups cut red potatoes or yams (remove the skins if using yams)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium red onion, halved, then sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 5 fresh sprigs cilantro
• 5 sprigs italian parsley
• water
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup dried Turkish apricots, separated into halves
• 1/3 cup whole almonds
• Sever over couscous

Directions:

• Stir together ground cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add chicken and turn to coat well.
• Heat butter and 1 tablespoon oil in base of tagine (or in skillet), uncovered, over moderate heat until hot but not smoking.  Add chicken and cook 8 to 12 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a plate. 
• Add onion and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to tagine and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add cilantro and parsley to tagine along with 3/4 cup water, chicken, potatoes, and any juices accumulated on plate. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30-45 minutes.
• While chicken cooks, bring honey, and one cup water, cinnamon stick, and apricots to a boil in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until apricots are very tender (add more water if necessary). Once apricots are tender, simmer until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 10 to 15 minutes.
• While apricots cook, heat remaining 1/4 cup oil in a small skillet over moderate heat and cook almonds, stirring occasionally, until just golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• Ten minutes before chicken is done, add apricot mixture to tagine. Discard cinnamon stick, then serve chicken over couscous, sprinkled with almonds on top.

Do you like lamb?  Follow this link to an amazing Lamb Tagine dish

And follow this link to yet another great tagine recipe called Kefta Mkawra or Moroccan Meathball Tagine

#2:  Sangria

• 1 bottle white wine - we like sauvignon blanc
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/2 cut orange juice
• fresh or frozen fruit

Directions:  At the bottom of a large pitcher, squeeze the juice from the fruit.  Pour in the remaining ingredients and let sit for 1 -3 hours, or as long as overnight.  Serve over ice.

Wondering what to do with that left over champaign?  Here's another Sangria recipe:

• 1 bottle red wine - lately we have preferred pinot noir or malbec
• 1-2 cups left over champaign
• fresh fruit - anything from grapefruit, to peaches, to berries
• A few Tablespoons of sugar

Directions:  At the bottom of a large pitcher, use the sugar as an abrasive to squeeze juices out of the fruit.  Mix in the left over champaign and an entire bottle of wine.  Let sit for 1-3 hours.  Server over ice.

#3 Asparagus, Potato, Goat Cheese Pizza

Asparagus, Fingerling Potato, and Goat Cheese Pizza compliments Bon Appetit

• 5 ounces fingerling potatoes
• Cornmeal (for sprinkling)
• Pizza Dough
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
• 1 1/3 cups grated whole-milk mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
• 4 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled
• 8 ounces asparagus, trimmed, each spear cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 2- to 3-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Place potatoes in small saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Sprinkle with salt. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Cool. Cut potatoes into thin slices.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Sprinkle rimless baking sheet with cornmeal. Roll and stretch pizza dough to 16x11-inch oval. Transfer to baking sheet. Mix 1 tablespoon olive oil and garlic in small bowl. Brush garlic oil over dough. Sprinkle 3/4 of green onions over, then mozzarella, leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Top with potato slices and goat cheese. Toss asparagus and 1 tablespoon oil in medium bowl. Scatter asparagus over pizza. Sprinkle with Parmesan, then lightly with salt and generously with pepper.  Bake pizza until crust is browned and asparagus is tender, about 18 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Sprinkle with remaining green onions. Cut into pieces.

#4 Thai Crab Cakes

Thai Crab Cakes From A Life Sustained

The funny thing is, while Josh is getting better in the kitchen, he still does funny things from time to time.  For example, when Josh made the Thai Crab Cakes for me on Mother's Day, instead of buying crab meat, he bought crab legs.  And this was no big deal to him, to have to cook the legs and pull out all the meat.  I must say though, I didn't mind either because by using the meat right out of the crab legs, well, the crab cakes were much better, mouth watering really.  So was it a rookie mistake, or maybe he's just more of an expert than I'm giving him credit for.

Turning Those Herbs Into Wonderful Summer Drinks

Do you want to know how to make the world's best margarita?  Have a seat, let me tell you a story.

Last summer... Josh and I helped some friends move.  While the boys moved heavy stuff, in my defense I was 8 months pregnant, Erika and I spent time cleaning out the freezer.  As we cleaned, elbow deep in ice cubes and frozen veggies, Erika came across a big bag of Lemon Verbena Sugar Pesto.  She kindly asked if Josh and I wanted it, a payment for our services.  At the time, I didn't even know what Lemon Verbena was, regardless though, I smiled and happily took the gift.

Two moths later... this beautiful bag of Lemon Verbena Sugar Pesto continued to take up space in our freezer, untouched and taunting me.  You see I, like my grandmother, hate wasting food.  Just yesterday I was thinning my arugula seedlings and instead of throwing away the handful of arugula seedlings I had plucked, I washed them and threw them on top of my dinner that night.  And the water that I used to wash the handful of plucked arugula seedlings, that water got dumped back in the garden instead of going down the drain.

And so the taunting continued...

Two months + 10 days or so... after a bit of experimenting, this beautfiul bag of pesto tormented me just enough that out of my tormented state, the most delicious margarita recipe was born.  And when I say most delicious, I geneuienly mean most delecious.  That summer, we had friends over multiple times and every dinner guest begged for the recipe.  Soon, this lemon verbena sugar pesto was like gold.  People were frantically asking around at the farmers market, needing to get their fix.

Current day... it's that time of year again, time to start planting our gardens and so I remind you, please don't forget to plant all those wonderful herbs.  It's so easy to make pesto in the summer and then freeze them for winter.  To inspire you, here is that margarita recipe...

Sugar Pesto Recipe:
Take two part sugar to one part herbs and food process.  Remember to wash your herbs, just using the leaves and discarding the stems.  Make sure the washed herbs are dry before processing them.  This sugar pesto works well with mint for mojitos or lemon verbena for margaritas.  Great for drinks, fruit salad, baking, etc.

The World's Best Margarita Recipe:
In a martini shaker, shake these ingredients well:  1 shot lemon verbena sugar pesto, 1 shot tripple sec, 2 shots good tequila, juice of 2 limes, and ice.  Using two plates, one with water and one with sugar pesto, dip the rim of the margarita glass first in the water first and then in the sugar pesto to cover the rim with sugar pesto instead of salt.  Pour the margarita into the glass and serve immediately with a sprig of fresh lemon verbena and a slice of lime.

Cheers!