Moroccan Dish - Tagine

I wanted to share a Moroccan dish that has become a favorite in our home, ever since a friend who lives there taught me how to make it. Jeff, Aaron and I were actually able to travel to Morocco in October and tried the real thing a few times while there. It is delicious!!

The dish is called Tagine, mainly because of the clay dish that it is cooked in. Here is a picture of what it looks like....



But, for those of us with no clay "tagine" dish, a big stock pot will work just fine. So...here is the recipe:

You will need: (You kind of have to eyeball these amounts based on how many people will be eating)
Red onions (White or yellow ones will work, too)
Potatoes
Carrots
Chicken breast (or any cut of chicken you may have in your fridge!)
Tomatoes
Cilantro

You will also need to mix the following spices together in a separate bowl or cup:
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cummin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
salt
pepper
garlic salt

Ok, so you start off by cutting the onions into thin slices and placing them at the bottom of your stock pot like so...



Next you peel and slice the potatoes into thin slices and layer them over the onions in the pot...



You then do the same with the carrots. Peel and slice and place over the potatoes...



Next you place your chicken breasts over the carrots and pour the spice mixture over the entire thing. Then add some water to the pot until it's about a 3rd of the way up. Too much water will make this dish more like a soup, so don't overdo it. You want this to be more like a stew. Keep in mind that as it cooks, it will produce it's own juice. I just pour until I begin to see some of the liquid on the sides of the pot. You can add some fresh cilantro at this point, too.

After this you put the lid on the pot and cook on medium heat till the meat is white. You then check the sauce for flavor and add more spices accordingly. At this point I usually just mix the same amount of spices I poured in the first time, with less oil, and pour it over the chicken. You then put the lid back on the pot and continue to cook on medium to low heat until all the vegetables are cooked. I usually let it cook for anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. The slower the better; like stew!! I have cooked it fast in a pinch and the onions burnt, which by the way, is ok with this dish. My friend told me that it's actually ok if they burn some and that's why they put the onions on the bottom! When it's about done, slice some tomatoes and chop up some cilantro and place them over the chicken. Let this cook only long enough for the tomatoes to get somewhat soft.




Then it's time to dig in! Oh, and serve it with bread!


Seem a bit tedious? Well, the first time around it may be, but it is soooo worth it. Seriously...do try! If any of you daring cooks out there try it, let me know how it turns out and what you think!

Best Ever Turkey Soup Recipe

This is for Matt and Pilar (and anyone else who may want to give this a try!)...enjoy!

Keep all the scraps from the turkey i.e. juices, gravy, bones, turkey insides, onions, apples, etc. The steps to preparing a good soup are:

• Prepare the stock (broth)
• Prepare the soup

Turkey Stock (Broth)
The nice thing about a stock is that anything can be used; the ends and skins of vegetables, bones, etc. You don’t want to use old rotten stuff, just stuff that you would normally throw away like the skin of an onion or the end of a carrot. Here are the basic ingredients for preparing a stock.

• Carrots
• Onions
• Garlic
• Celery
• Turkey Bones
• Left over gravy
• Any of the left over vegetables
• Whole Peppercorn
• 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth
• Water
• Olive Oil

Pull all the good meat off the turkey bones and set aside. (The good turkey meat will be used for the soup.) Rough cut the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Keep all the ends and peels in a separate bowl. Throw in the olive oil and let it get hot. Throw in the onions and let them cook until they are slightly caramelized. Then throw in the garlic. After the onions and garlic and caramelized, throw in the celery and carrots. Let those cook for a few minutes. Once those have cook for just 2 or 3 minutes, throw in about ½ cup of chicken/turkey broth. Stir together and then add the bones, peels, ends, leftover gravy, and leftover vegetables. Stir and let those cook for just a few minutes. Then, add the remainder of chicken/turkey broth and enough water to completely cover everything. Let that comes to a boil and then add a half handful of peppercorn. Turn the heat down so that is at a slight simmer. Let the stock simmer for atleast 3 to 4 hours, if not more. The idea is to reduce the stock by a 1/4 . So if the liquid comes up to the top, you want to let it simmer until the liquid only comes 3/4 of the way up. Once the stock is finish, you will want to strain the liquid through a fine strainer or china cap if you have one. A regular strainer will work. You may have to fish out little pieces if they slip though the holes. Set the liquid aside and discard all the bones, vegetables, etc.

Turkey Soup
This soup is not based on measurements. If you like an ingredient, add a little more or less. But I will put some quantities just for guidance. It also depends on how much you want to make. Here is what you will need for the soup:

• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 small shallots
• 2 cups of chicken (or of the Turkey Stock)
• Vegetables of your liking, cooked (I usually use carrots, peas, corn, and onions; You can use fresh veggies which is always better or you can cheat like I do since I am lazy and use half of a family size of frozen mixed vegetables)
• Leftover turkey
• Egg noodles or bowtie pasta
• ½ cup of Heavy Cream
• Turkey Stock
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in the bottom of the pot. Chop garlic and shallots and throw them in. Let them caramelize so that the bottom of the pan has a few little brown spots (don’t burn them). Then throw in a cup or so of your chicken broth or turkey stock and scrape the bottom so the brown spots come up. Now throw in the cooked veggies and stir them around. Add the turkey and mix it well letting it get nice and hot. Now pour enough of the Turkey stock so there is atleast 2 parts turkey stock to one part ingredients. Let all this come to a boil. When it reaches a boil, add in the heavy cream and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy.

*There are 2 secrets to making this soup taste really good. Number 1 is ‘Turkey preparation.” If the turkey is juicy and flavorful, the soup will also be flavorful. Number 2 is the Stock preparation. This is the base of the soup. If you take time to make a good stock, then the soup will taste very good. If the stock is done well, sometimes you won’t even have to add salt and pepper to taste when finishing the soup.

Here we are enjoying turkey soup with some friends last night. This is good comfort food that you will want to share with friends and family!

Best Ever Turkey Soup

Stay tuned for Best-Ever Turkey Soup recipe....compliments of my wonderful husband!! This is a family tradition for us and one that we look forward to almost more than the turkey!!

BTW...Don't throw away any leftover turkey scraps (meat, bones, gravy, aromatic spices, etc...) They can all be used in the soup!

Best Turkey Ever!!

I finally got Jeff to actually write down what he does to prepare his turkey. Every year he makes it a little bit different, but this year was my favorite, so I thought I would share. It's a bit involved, but soooo worth it! If you don't have time to do it all, at least make the gravy! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The first thing you want to do is ‘Brine’ the Turkey. This is done one day in advance of Thanksgiving Day. You are going to brine the Turkey for at least 6 hours up to 24 hours. Brine is much like marinating meat, i.e. steak, pork, chicken, etc.



Brining the Turkey
Use a very large pot, bowl, bucket, etc. whatever will allow you to submerge the Turkey in liquid. I used a mop bucket. (Don’t worry, I bought it brand new just for this use.)
· Add 2 cups of cooled vegetable stock (broth) and enough water to your apparatus so the Turkey will be submerged
(Don’t add Turkey yet)
· Add 2 or 3 cups of Salt, Kosher, regular, or sea salt. (I used sea salt)
· Add 1 to 2 cups of sugar; regular or brown (I used regular)

Now you want to stir in the salt and sugar until it is dissolved. Then:
· Add 2 purple onions; quartered
· Add 1 whole garlic bulb (probably 7 to 10 cloves)
· Add approx. 1/8 cup of whole peppercorns
· Add a handful of garlic pepper
· Add 2 tbls. cummin
· Add several sprigs of rosemary (fresh)
· Add several sprigs of thyme (fresh)
· Add several sprigs of Basil (fresh)

If you can’t get these fresh, you can use the dry stuff.

Make sure that mixture is completely cooled before you submerge the turkey, or else the turkey will begin to cook. Stir mixture and then submerge turkey in the mixture. Make sure the turkey stays fully submerged. So if it floats, you can put cans or coke bottles on top to keep it submerged. Keep submerged for at least 6 hours, up to 24 hrs. Overnight is the best. If you don’t have room in the refrigerator, you can substitute the water with ice water and place it in a cool place; covered.

Roasting the Turkey
You want to start preparing your turkey, depending on the size, 3 to 4 hrs. in advance. A 14 lb. turkey should take between 2 and 2 ½ hrs. total cooking time. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. You want to take your turkey out of the brine and wash it off. After turkey has been thoroughly rinsed off, place in a shallow baking pan, on a rack.

Now you want to prepare the aromatic mixture that will go in the cavity of the turkey. Here is what you will need:
· 1 apple; quartered
· ½ purple onion; quartered
· 5 -6 garlic cloves
· ½ lemon
· 2 sprigs rosemary
· 2 sprigs thyme
· 2 basil leaves
· 1 ½ cups water

Take rosemary, thyme and basil and stuff them in the turkey cavity. Take remainder of ingredients and place them in a dish, along with the water, and microwave for 5 min. While these are cooking in the microwave, coat turkey with canola or vegetable oil. When the 5 minutes are up, take the dish out of the microwave and stuff the ingredients that are in the bowl into the cavity of the turkey. Before you place the turkey in the oven, you need to make a triangle out of tin foil, that will cover only the breast area of the turkey. This is so that the breast does not dry out before the dark meat is done. Form the tin foil onto the breast and then take it off and lay it to the side. This is done so that you do not have to later fold the foil over the turkey when it is hot. Go ahead and add 2 cups of chicken broth to the shallow pan to prevent burning. Now place turkey in the oven that is set at 500 degrees and cook for 30 minutes.


After 30 minutes, pull turkey out of the oven and turn oven down to 350 degrees. If you have a digital thermometer that will alert you when it reaches a certain temperature, you want to stick this into the fattest part of the breast and set the thermometer to alert you when it reaches a temperature of 161 degrees. If you do not have this kind of thermometer, then for a 14-16 lb. turkey, you want to let it cook for approx. 1 ½ -2 hours. Be sure to check with a regular thermometer, to see if the meat has reached an internal temperature of 161 degrees, making sure you are placing the thermometer in the fattest part of the breast. Once your turkey reaches 161 degrees, you will want to pull the turkey from the oven and set it someplace where you can let it rest, fully covered with tin foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. This is because the turkey will continue to cook and if you immediately cut into it, all the juices will pour out. So if your turkey came with a pop-up thermometer, first of all, don’t pay any attention to it and secondly, don’t pull it out before or after the turkey is done. Wait until you go to carve the turkey to pull it out. You want to be sure the turkey rests for 15-20 minutes.

Gravy
Some of this you will be able to prepare while your turkey is in the oven. Here is what you will need:
· 3 garlic cloves
· 1 large shallot
· 2 cups chicken broth
· 1 stick butter
· ½ cup flour
· turkey drippings
· 2 tbls. olive oil
. salt and pepper to taste

Chop garlic and shallot and set aside. In small sauté pan, melt butter and add flour. Add flour a little bit at a time, till consistency becomes almost like a thick paste. You will also notice a nutty, almond smell. This is called a roux. This is to thicken sauces. In large pot or sauté pan, add 2 tbls. olive oil and sauté garlic and shallots till they begin to caramelize in bottom of pan. One they are caramelized, add 1 cup chicken broth. Let this simmer for a few minutes. Take all of turkey drippings and add to pan. If this is not going to be enough gravy, then add the second cup of chicken broth, or as much as is needed. Bring sauce to a boil. Then add roux, a little bit at a time, (Do not add all of it at once) continually stirring, until you reach the correct thickness. This has been obtained when you place a spoon in the gravy and when you pull it out, the gravy coats the spoon. Put gravy in blender and puree till smooth. If gravy is as thick as you like it, you are ready to serve. If you would like it thicker, return it to the pot, bring to a boil and add any remaining roux, until you reach your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Next...pour gravy on turkey and enjoy! We sure did!!

BTW...forgot to mention that Romy and Miguel are from Peru and they made us some wonderful peruvian food! My favorite...Papa la Huancaina

Ok, more on food...for all of you Peruvian food lovers, here is some homemade ceviche de pescado with cancha and camote, compliments of my wonderful sister-in-law, who happens to be an excellent cook! Thanks Favi!!! (and thanks for all the yummy cakes and steaks, too!)



And this is what happens when you spend too much time eating out and forget that you are in public!

Paula Dean's PB and Banana Sandwiches

We are not huge PB fans around here, which is probably a good thing, since it is hard to find and quite pricey here! But we do love peanut butter blossom cookies every once in a while, so I brought one PB jar from the States just for that purpose.

I was browsing through some recipes the other day, which I love doing, and found this Paula Dean recipe for PB Banana sandwiches and they looked so good, that I had to give it a try. I have to say, they were VERY GOOD! Warning, though....they are extremely rich and filling and not a great option when counting calories. But really now...whose counting?!

Ultimate PB Sandwiches

3/4 cup peanut butter
3 tbls. honey
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Bananas
Sugar and cinnamon

Mix first three ingredients together and spread on two slices of bread. Cut up some bananas and place on one slice of bread. Place the second slice of bread over the bananas to make a sandwich. Melt butter in a pan and butter both sides of sandwich as well. Once pan is hot, place sandwiches on pan and cook till both sides are slightly brown. In a separate bowl, mix some sugar and cinnamon together. When sandwiches are done, toss in sugar and cinnamon mixture. Cut sandwiches in half and serve!

Makes 4-6 sandwiches, depending on how much PB you like on your bread!

Dinner Bread

Here is another idea of what you can do with the same dough as the chocolate bread recipe. You just pull off a chunk of dough out of the fridge and roll it out. Brush melted butter over it and add favorite spices,...oregano, parsley, garlic salt, etc.. (it can vary). Add parmesan cheese. Roll it up. Let it rise for an hour and then bake till golden brown on top. If you brush the top with an egg wash, it gives the bread a golden look to it. Cut in slices and slap some butter on it..yum-o!

No-Knead Nutella and Roasted Hazelnut Challah

I found a recipe a few weeks ago that I had to share! I made it for some friends and then for a church fellowship...in fact, I am eating some of it right now!!! Yes, this recipe has quickly become a favorite around these parts!!

The coolest part about this recipe is that you can make the dough and leave it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks!!! So I make it and pull out a chunk of dough whenever I want some bread and the dough just keeps rising in the fridge till you are ready for it!

Oh, and one trick I found is that if you are planning on letting the dough sit for a few days, you can actually put in less yeast than what it calls for and it will still rise up and taste just as good.

Here is a link for the recipe. The link only has a few recipes that you can make with this dough (I tried the Caramel Cinnamon Rolls, too....super good!!), but it gives you the name of the book you can buy for more recipes. This will definitely be my next recipe book purchase!! Happy baking!

Hungry yet?!!