MMMMMMMMoroccan Tagine and Pomegranate Jewelled Cous Cous Recipes!

Salam Blog Buddies, and welcome back!

Well, as you probably know, I haven't posted for a couple of weeks due to going on a fantastic holiday to Agadir, Morocco.
I'm not going to go on about it too much in this post as I want to get down to showing you my take on two delicious dishes I was inspired to create from my foodie adventures in that wonderful North African resort.
I will say this about it though, its well worth a visit for fellow foodies, and people who generally like Mediterranean holidays.
It's not really a British destination, as me and my good friend Lee Brickley found out when we got there, there's lots of French and German tourists but a surprising ( and somewhat refreshing ) lack of "Brits abroad", in fact it was unusual to see any other holidaymakers from over here, over there!
There was one "English Pub", which we did go into,
but only out of curiosity really.
Most of the locals do speak English though, especially phrases like "I will take you to my brothers shop, he sells the best Argan oil in Agadir", "Quad bike hire?", " You want massage, I take you to my sister, she does best and cheapest massage in Agadir!" and, of course "You English? aaah, you want best grade 00 hashish?".
I must admit that my most used Moroccan-Arabic answer back was "Lla Shokran" ( no thank you.) well, to most of the questions, anyway!

As you would expect of me by now, I tried a lot of genuine local Moroccan food, as well as the odd good pizza, and weird chocolate bars from the local shop, something I always do on holiday.

I also sampled some of the local beers which were good, especially " Casablanca" which they sold by the bottle at our hotel bar for 30 Dirhams (about £1.70).

Moroccan Barbecue.

BBQ brains.

But it was the food I came here for and I wasn't disappointed. huge piles of steaming cous cous served with merguez sausages, lamb and chicken kebabs and slowly braised oxtail in a fragrant, but not too spicy sauce, with braised veg. Even on the seafront at one of the most touristy restaurants I got enough food for two people, and a 500ml "Flag" beer for less than £10.
Meanwhile, further into the town, by the Mosque where the locals eat, a large plate of barbecued meat ( consisting of kebabs, lambs heart, liver sausage, merguez sausage and lambs brain ) cost a measly £2! While a lamb tagine, flavoured with zesty bitter local oranges cost about £2.50.

Lamb Tagine.

Both were absolutely delicious, washed down with sweet Moroccan mint or Berber tea.








I was truly inspired, and was already thinking of that boned out mutton leg I had in the freezer at home, and what I could do with it once I got back.

Anyway, that's enough about the holiday, lets get on with the recipes!

As usual, my Tagine isn't what you'd get over there, it has more ingredients than a traditional Moroccan Tagine but I wanted to invoke in my taste buds everything |I had tried in Agadir in one dish. I did visit a spice shop over there and was promptly, and efficiently, sucked in and totally ripped off, even though i did employ my best haggling techniques. I also left the shop without the exact thing I had gone in for, namely ras el hanout, a grand mix of about 40 spices used all over Morocco, but I have done a lot of reading on it and the mix differs from region to region, town to town, and even shop to shop so I thought id make my own version of it. Ive got to say at this point that what I came up with for this recipe is possibly the tastiest, most complex and yet finely balanced thing I have ever cooked!

My Moroccan Tagine Recipe. (Makes about 8 good portions.)

Equipment:

Pestle and mortar.

mini food processor.

Large plastic tub with lid.

Large mixing bowl.

Large cast iron pot, with lid.

Frying pan.

Metal tongues.

Ingredients:

Spice Mix:

1 tablespoon of chilli powder.

1 1/2 tablespoons of sweet paprika.

1 tablespoon of turmeric.

1 1/2 tablespoons of ginger powder.

1 tablespoon of ground coriander.

2 teaspoons of ground black pepper.

2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

2 teaspoons of nutmeg.

5 cloves.

5 whole cardamon.

1 tablespoon of dried fenugreek. ( from Asian supermarkets.)

2 tablespoons of mixed Berber tea ( Moroccan mint, dried orange leaves, and some other herb I don't know the name of ! I bought this mix in Agadir, but as a substitute you can use dried mint, orange zest and marjoram or oregano and thyme.)

Method:

Put all the pre-ground spices into a large mixing bowl.

Bash up the cardamon and cloves in the pestle and mortar.

Whizz the Berber tea mix, or dried herbs, in your mini food processor till you get a fine dust.

Add the bashed up cloves and cardamon to the food processor with the herb dust and blitz again.

Add the contents of the food processor to the bowl with the dried spices and add the fenugreek.

set the spice mix aside.

Meat:

 

Approx 1.3 kg of boned out mutton leg, or lamb leg, or lamb shoulder, cut into large cubes. if there is a lot of fat on the lamb then trim most of it off.









Put the cubed meat in with the spice mix and give it a good massage all over to coat.

Pop it in a large plastic container stick the lid on and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.

Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 stick of cassia bark ( from Asian supermarkets.)

150g of dried stoned apricots, chopped.

50g of stoned dates, chopped.

50g of sultanas.


2 large brown onions, grated.

75g of whole almonds.

a good splash of veg or olive oil.

A good splash of sesame oil.

2 tins of chopped tomatoes.

3 tablespoons of tomato puree.

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced.

3 tablespoons of rosewater.

2 lamb stock cubes, made up with 2 litres of boiling water.

1 tablespoon of honey. (optional, my tagine turned out sweet enough without it.)

sea salt, to taste.

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees c/ gas mark 2.

Heat the two oils in the cast iron pot to medium on the stove and throw in the grated onions. Saute gently for about 10 minutes without browning.

Remove the marinated meat from the tub and put any remaining spice mix in with the sauteed onions in the iron pot.

Heat the frying pan medium to high and add a
splash of oil.

Place the meat into the frying pan, a few at a time, to brown. Turn over a few times to brown the meat all over.
Once the first lot is done, remove to a clean bowl and repeat until all of the meat is done.



While you are browning the meat add the apricots, sultanas, dates, cassia bark and tomato puree and sliced garlic to the sauteed onions.

















 Pour one of the tins of tomatoes into the frying pan to de-glaze for a couple of minutes, scraping all of the bits of meat and marinade off the bottom with a wooden spoon, then put this in with the onions and fruit mix.

Add the other tin of tomatoes, along with the lamb stock, the rosewater and the almonds to the pot.

Put the browned meat into the pot and give everything a good stir.

Let the pot come up to the boil, turn down to medium and allow to simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. ( I usually put a splatter guard over the pot as the gloopy sauce will splat all over the hob!)

Put the lid on the pot and stick it in the oven for 2 1/2- 3 hrs, or until the meat is tender and just falling apart.

Have a taste. season with salt and pepper if you need to, and add another splash of rosewater, if you like.

Remove from the oven when the meat is tender and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes whilst you make the cous cous.

Pomegranate jewelled Cous Cous Recipe:

Equipment:

Frying Pan.

Medium saucepan with lid.

Large mixing bowl.

Ingredients:

 

200g cous cous.

1 whole pomegranate.

juice of 1 whole lemon.

1 vegetable stock cube.

1 teaspoon of dried parsley.

A good knob of butter.

1 pint/ 500ml boiling water.

salt and pepper.

Method:

before dry frying.

Heat a frying pan to medium-high and add the dry cous cous. ( this isn't essential to the recipe and they certainly wouldn't do it in Morocco but it gives the cous cous a nice nutty flavour.)


Dry-fry the cous cous for a few minutes, tossing gently every so often  until it turns from  pale yellow to a golden colour. Don't let it burn though, as that will make it bitter.

after dry frying.

When it is a nice golden brown, remove from the heat.

Cut the pomegranate in half and break each half open to expose the fruit-seeds and scrape them out gently with a spoon, making sure to get rid of any of the pith.











Break the stock cube into the boiling water in the saucepan and add the cous cous.

Add a bit more water to the cous cous so it just covers it by a couple of centimeters. Add the knob of butter.

Bring the cous cous to the boil, remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and the parsley then put the lid on the saucepan and let it stand, off the heat, for about 10 minutes.








Have a look at the cous cous after the 10 minutes, all of the water should have been absorbed. If it still looks a little wet, replace the lid and let it stand for another couple of minutes.

Tip the cous cous out into a mixing bowl and fluff the grains up with a fork, then add the pomegranate fruit-seeds and mix through. Season with salt and pepper.


Dish up the tagine onto a plate. you can sprinkle with a few fresh chopped herbs if you like. ( basil, coriander leaves, mint leaves or pasley all work really well.)
Add a generous portion
 of cous cous and enjoy!


As I said, once I sat down to try it for myself I couldn't believe how good this tasted even though it did smell fantastic whilst it was cooking. You'd think that with so many different ingredients the flavours would be a bit muddled but, maybe more by luck than judgement, it was beautiful. Fruity, mildly spicy, a delicate taste from the rosewater, fragrant, the odd crunch from the almonds and the pomegranate, nutty cous cous and that pull-apart tender meat, I had seconds almost before I had finished my firsts, and I've sat here tonight ( Wednesday.)and had some of the re-heated meat and sauce crammed onto a large crusty cob with rocket leaves and grated cheese, that was gorgeous too!

Well that's another recipe blog done, I hope you've enjoyed it. There will be a review early next week of a place in stafford called "Bean Encounter" that I'm going to tomorrow night. Ive been told they do a magnificent burger, and watch out also for my next recipe blog. It'll be a dessert next week so if you're partial to a pud please take a look!

Until the next time then,

Happy Cooking!

Mat.