Michael shows how easy the unfamiliar can be with a gastronomic visit to Morocco. A chicken tangine, couscous stuffed tomatoes and homemade hummus with seasoned pita chips completes this culinary adventure.
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I like to teach Gabe that life is bigger than just our backyard I want him to learn to embrace the unfamiliar because it just might turn out to be Tasty let me share a secret recipe discover an ingredient that fires your imagination choose other flavors to match find the best way to cook them my secret recipe cooking without a Recipe Gabe and I were playing a game he just picked Northern Africa Morocco off the globe so I’m going to make supper from there I’ve got a simple package of chicken legs standing by for dinner tonight these are a perfect base to start experimenting from so I’ll look around and see if I
Can find some authentic Moroccan flavors to Jazz them up this is going to be fun and I won’t need a recipe and neither will you we’ll figure it out as we go I’ve never actually been to Morocco but I’ve enjoyed its food many times even though I’ve never had a chance to cook
It myself I do know this though like any good food it’s simple once you get to know it now somewhere along the line I picked up an authentic Moroccan tajine but don’t be fooled by that word because in Morocco a tajen is just a stew and I
Definitely know how to make chicken stew I’ll just stir some Moroccan flavors into it like dried fruit figs dates raisins dried apricots and nuts like cashews and almonds but nothing says Morocco like their famous colorful Spice blands in particular Rosel hanu which is simply cardamom cinnamon Caraway cayenne and
Cumin I had my first taste of Moroccan food in London and on my way home from work one day I spotted this Moroccan storefront restaurant from the top of one of those double decker buses well I went back on my day off and I had this incredible meal I don’t remember all of
The meal but I do remember the cinnamon spice blend I’d never had cinnamon in Savory food before I always thought it was something you just added to apple pie and just a pinch of cayenne and last but not least I’m going to add cinnamon to equal what I already have in other words
The final spice mix is going to end up being half cinnamon and there it is my very own Moroccan spice blend and it smells just like the kasba I think I’ll make a spice rub so I’m just going to throw in oh I don’t know a head or so of
Garlic now this might seem like a lot of garlic but remember we’re making a chicken stew and by the time that chicken is done stewing the garlic will mellow out nicely with the spices and some olive oil I really want this to come together into a nice smooth
Paste I want to cut the chicken into slightly smaller pieces since I’m using legs I’ll just cut them into the drumstick and the thigh you know pastes like this are very commonly found all over the world it’s just a really easy way to very spice flavor I think I’ll throw this into the
Fridge for a while give those flavors a chance to get to know each other but meanwhile I’m hungry right now for some Moroccan flavors we’ll call this uh travel appetizer now Gabe loves his peanut butter and jelly so I had an idea why not Jazz it up with a little Moroccan
Style here’s what I was thinking let’s see I’m going to put some raisins on top of it dried fruit and you know instead of peanut butter why not use another Nut Butter like almond butter and almonds are very moraing and of course Gabe loves his Rye crackers they’re really good for
Him I don’t know about you but I like simple and this couldn’t be Simpler I’m not actually going to put jelly on it this time I think I’ve got that covered with the raisins I’m going to go out on a little bit of a limb here we’re going to see just how much of a culinary tourist my son
Is if he doesn’t like it he can have the plain one there it is two little Moroccan snacks this is a great first stop on the road to Morocco Gabe and I are off to Morocco on a cooking Adventure we spun the globe and he picked Northern Africa to go for dinner I’m trying to teach him that that great big world out there is sometimes full of unfamiliar things but that once you get to know them they’re actually quite
Friendly like this authentic Moroccan tajen in Morocco this is just a stew pot I’m whipping up a good old chicken stew scented with authentic Moroccan spice flavors like cinnamon Caraway cardamom cumin and cayenne straight from the casba I love cooking regional foods you can be an Explorer of flavors for
Instance in Morocco the food is always sweet and savory it’s just that kind of place probably because there’s always fruit and season year round which means there’s always dried preserved fruits kicking around too fruits like say raisins or figs dates and dried apricots now here’s where it gets really
Simple because understand that in Morocco both the stew and the dish the stew is made in are called the same thing tajen which means that theoretically you don’t need one of these to make a tajen all you need is one of these a pot dump everything in for the stew and
Just start simmering it really couldn’t be simpler this is what I call everyday cooking now I’m just covering up the chicken with a little bit of water I do want to add some onion to this and onions of course are a perfect addition here because they too like
Everything else in this pot are sweet and savory I’ve got an idea I think I’m going to try stirring in some nut butter into this too why not and a little bit of salt a little bit of heat and a tight fit lid that’s how you make a simple
Moroccan stew now here’s another simple Moroccan dish that you may already have in your house a very common Moroccan ingredient chickpeas mash them up puree them into a dip you’ve got easy to make hummus hummus is a traditional Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dip easily made from tender chickpeas pureed with
Lots of traditional aromatic flavors to make this simple treat Begin by covering a few handfuls of raw chickpeas with lots of cool water after an overnight soaking they’ll swell and rehydrate then drain them well and simmer in more fresh water until they’re tender and flavorful then for lots of authentic
Hummus flavor add a few heaping spoonful of tahini a traditional sesame seed paste toss in a few cloves of garlic and the juice and zest of a lemon to brighten and intensify the overall flavor for Rich aromatic body finish with a few splashes of your best olive
Oil and a flavor balancing sprinkle of salt and pepper puree until Smooth Now of course you need something to dip into the hummus and it’s traditional to dip pasas into it but you know not just any pasas I’m going to crisp these babies up a bit pea chips so all I’m doing is just cutting these up into pie shaped
Wedges petas used to be exotic but not anymore now they’re so and we find them in everybody’s kitchen now there’s any number of things I can do to these now but I think today I’m going to brush them with a little bit of honey you could of course just
Brush them with oil say olive oil but I don’t know Gabe likes honey I’m in the mood for making them a little bit sweet now here’s one more flavor opportunity you can sprinkle some spices right on top of the honey I’ve got got some anise seed and
Some fennel seed both of which taste like licorice but hey you can use whatever spice you’re in the mood for to crisp these up toss them in the oven any temperature I usually use 350 400 somewhere in there and bake them until they’re crisp you’ll know when
They’re done they usually finish up in oh 15 minutes or so plenty of time to explore the world of Moroccan Couscous holy cow look at all the stickers Gabe and I are culinary tourist today cruising the globe looking for new flavors there look he’s learning that the great big world is full of initially unfamiliar But ultimately friendly flavors hey those are great lessons for the kitchen and
Life we landed in Morocco and now there’s an authentic Tajin simmering away on the stove at first Tajin seemed complicated but as it turns out it’s just a chicken stew with dried fruit and aromatic spices stirred in Morocco’s famous for a lot of flavors the Tajin but also the local
Pasta couscous and just like Morocco’s Italian neighbors to the east this pasta is made from Durham semolina grain but it’s processed a little bit differently in Italy the Durham grain is ground very finely so that it can be kneaded into a strong pasta but in Northern Africa it’s treated a little
More coarsely in fact it’s only cracked but then it’s steamed and dried before you buy it so what does that mean well it’s actually easier to work with unlike pasta which needs a long simmering bath to get going couscous it only needs a quick soak oh that’s a cup or so right there
And then all you have to do is just cover it with hot simmering water that’s all it takes of course I’m going to put a little salt in there too at this point the best thing to do is cover this with some plastic wrap and let it rest and
Relax in its nice little sauna there for a few minutes it won’t take very long in Morocco this would be made with a cous couser hey if you like experimenting with authentic ingredients maybe you’d like to try experimenting with authentic tools too you know it really doesn’t matter
Where you’re cooking or how you pronounce dinner every cook needs needs tools slicing dicing grinding steaming heating we’re all concerned about the same thing flavor in Morocco Cooks developed a uniquely shaped tajine it cleverly captures moisture exiting from a simmering stew and directs it right back
Where it belongs in the stew a noble goal wherever you happen to be cooking in China the walk rain Supreme it’s arguably the most eloquent cooking vessel in the world its simple efficiency speaks volumes it’s designed for Rapid cooking so flavor and moisture have no time to leave the building now
What do you do if you’re food processor is broken and you fall through a Time Warp into a 17th century pestl lovers convention well you take pestl to mortar and grind away many cooks love tools like these because they historically connect you to the task at hand food is the journey and the
Destination today we’re pampered by super efficient cookware there’s really not much you can’t do with a good thick pot in a tight fitting lit but that doesn’t mean we can’t be inspired by authentic tools from another time and place sometimes a little glass bowl and a fork
Is just what you need and this Fork really is the best tool for the job because what I’m doing right now is fluffing the couscous I’m sort of releasing it a bit air rating it stirring it up now since we’re in Morocco today I’ve got a few more Moroccan ingredients up my
Sleeve we can’t forget olive oil very common in Morocco olives let’s see I got some lemons in here somewhere mint okay now this is really simple it’s almost like I’m making a salad in a sense because I’m going to add a big splash of olive oil and something sour something
Acidic go for some juice and some olives you know I’ve got quite a selection of olives here and they’ve all got their pits in them so as I take them out I’m sort of tearing the olives up a bit you don’t need a fancy knife cut to get olives in the
Ccus now Moroccan food is known for its spices but it also has a few fresh herbs mixed in like mint this is actually a very common Moroccan ingredient instead of chopping it I think I’ll just toss the leaves in whole just like this there we go actually I think I’ll add just a
Touch of pepper to this first that should do it then hey just mix it up like any salad check this out I spotted this idea in one of the food magazines that stuffs my mailbox on a regular basis you know the ones I mean couscous stuffed Tomatoes I thought that
Was a pretty cool idea yeah I’ve been meaning to try It all this tomato flavor is too good to throw down the drain here’s where it Belongs that looks cool I really like Those Gabe inspired me to head off to Morocco today when I arrived I stumbled across one of the simplest chicken stews I’ve ever found an authentic Moroccan tajine I can’t wait to taste it but you know as I look at this I know it’s brightly flavored but it could be a little more
Brightly colored I’ve got just the thing for that saffron and turmeric turmeric actually doesn’t have very much flavor but it is one of the dominant spices in curry because it’s got so much color saffron on the other hand is loaded with color and flavor those are actually the handh
Harvested stamms from a crocus flow each one of those is handpicked right out of the middle of the flow and a little bit goes a long way one more color cilantro the world’s most common herb stir that in now watch this color it’s just going to brighten up and a heartbeat all
Right let’s get all this Moroccan food on the table and I finally dust It Off off my tajine think I’ll serve the stew inside it here we go look at how that turmeric just added so much yellow color to this it really brightened up and the saffron holy cow I can really smell
It this is so Cool wow is that ever good it’s sweet and savory but it’s Rich too which is pretty impressive considering I didn’t use chicken broth I filled the pot up with water not bad simple you know when you cook without a recipe a simple spin of the globe can easily turn into dinner
The fear of the unknown is universal but so are Simplicity and flavor when you relax you can do it you can fill your table with the flavors of the the world who’s ready for some Moroccan I am you are you would believe how easy this was to make that looks really really really
Good who chose Morocco Gabe did so what’s in the couscous of mint mint and olive and Olive Oil some of the tomato a little bit of lemon you can pick Morocco as often as you want gab boop boop oh come on oh thank you that’s myocc Daddy
1 Comment
I watched this series on PBS in Los Angeles and it was my favorite show. The laid-back style and all the ingredients coming together to create a great meal…. Chef's kiss.