[Sca-cooks] Modern Moroccan & Medieval Andalusian - 1/2

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Modern Moroccan & Medieval Andalusian Feast
PART ONE


All modern Moroccan recipes came from cookbooks written by people who
had lived in Morocco or were actually Moroccan. None of this is
Nouvelle pseudo-Moroccan stuff i see on some foodie web sites. Sure,
some of it is tasty, but it isn't Moroccan.

BASIC TECHNIQUES

OLIVE OIL
It is really really important to get good olive oil. This isn't just
some generic cooking oil, and that light yellow stuff tastes
denatured. Get something with color, fragrance, and flavor. "Extra
Virgin" is just the beginning.

PREPARING TOMATOES
Put whole tomatoes in boiling water a few seconds.
Cool slightly, then peel.
Halve and rinse out seeds.
Cut as required for recipe.

PREPARING CITRUS
Slice through the skin only, not into the meat, about half way around
the fruit, then break in half.
Hold half over a bowl, and with a sharp knife that won't oxidize,
slice through the membrane around one orange section at the center of
the fruit
Peel the membrane away from the meat toward the skin.
Gently slice through the back of section (next to the skin) to free the meat.
Remove seeds.
Then cut the meat in 3 pieces and slice out of membrane into bowl,
allowing any juice to flow into the bowl.
Continue until all of citrus sections have been freed of membrane.

Recipes serve 10 approximately

This messages contains the soup and most of the bawarid course. A
second message will contain the remainder of the bawarid, the main
course, and the dessert.

---------------------------------------------------------

L'Hamrak
Lemon Chicken soup
Modern Moroccan

I adapted this so it would be a bit lighter. Normally it has meat in it.

8 Roma tomatoes
1 large onion
2 Tb. olive oil
8 cups chicken broth
salt, to taste
1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground pepper (i use white)
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 tsp. saffron
1 small can chickpeas
a couple handfuls fideo or other fine vermicelli
2 raw eggs
juice of 1 lemon

I used Annie Chun's Ginger Chicken soup to save time. It's a high
quality product, nothing like canned weirdness or salty cubes.

1. Prepare the tomatoes as above. Then chop in more-or-less 1" cubes.
2. Chop onion, then fry in olive oil, until soft and golden.
3. Meanwhile, heat chicken broth, add tomatoes, spices, and drained chickpeas.
4. When onions are cooked, stir into soup.
5. When broth comes to a boil, add noodles.
6. Beat eggs and stir in lemon juice.
7. When noodles are soft, temper eggs with broth until warm enough to
stir into soup.
8. Add more lemon juice and salt, as desired.

BAWARID
salads and hors d'oeuvres

Flat Breads
Chezzou Mrked - Savory cooked carrots
Chezzou b'Limmoun (and radishes) - Sweet raw carrot, orange, and radish salad
Fennel and Citrus Salad
Zaalouk- Savory Eggplant "Puree"
Shlada Felfla- Roasted Red Bell Pepper Salad
Bissara - Fava Bean Puree
Minted Cucumber Salad
13th c. Andalusian Mirkaz - Lamb Sausages (next message)
Green Olives with Spices and Hot Pepper (next message)
Black Olives with Preserved Lemon and Zaatar (next message)

BREAD
I purchased bread at my local Persian market. I bought Afghan Nan and
Sangak. Both are flat breads, but different from each other. Afghan
Nan is slightly risen, tender, golden, and sprinkled with sesame
seeds. Sangkak is very flat, mostly whole wheat, and very fragrant. I
dislike the stereotype of pita with everything. Try soft Lavosh. If
you don't have a Near Eastern market with something other than pita,
there are some good Near Eastern flat bread recipes on the web. Try
something different. Pita is not eaten universally throughout the
Near East. Each region has its own flat bread, and most aren't tough
with a hollow center like pita. Pita has become a cliche.

OLIVE OIL
It is really really important to get good olive oil. This isn't just
some generic cooking oil, and that light yellow stuff tastes
denatured. Get something with color, fragrance, and flavor. "Extra
Virgin" just isn't enough.

Chezzou Mrked ("ch" as in Scottish "loch" or German "Bach")
Savory cooked carrots
Modern Moroccan

1 lb. carrots (i usually buy organic because they are less bitter
than "normal")
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1/8 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1/8 tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
salt to taste
1 tsp. sweet paprika
powdered cayenne to taste
juice of 1 lemon
flat leaf Italian parsley
olive oil

1. Clean carrots, peel, leave whole - if necessary cut in half so
they fit in your pan.
2. Bring some water to a boil, enough to cover the carrots, and add
garlic - cook until barely tender.
3. Drain and SAVE the GARLIC
4. Cut carrots into serving pieces - coins, large cubes, narrow
sticks... what you prefer - but NOT big chunks
5. Smash garlic - add more if desired.
6. Combine carrots with spices, garlic, lemon juice. Toss well to
distribute seasonings.
7. Let stand for a few hours for flavor to develop - in refrigerator or not...
8. Shortly before serving, remove from refrigerator and allow to come
to room temperature.
9. Toss with freshly chopped parsley and plenty of olive oil.


Chezzou b'Limmoun (and radishes)
Sweet raw carrot, orange, and radish salad
Modern Moroccan

1 lb. carrots
1 large sweet juicy orange
a bunch of radishes that actually taste like radishes - i used long
(about 4") narrow red ones - really, they should have a little bite,
not like those bland tasteless radishes i've been finding lately
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
2 Tb. Lemon Juice
2. Tb. Orange Juice
1 tsp. Orange Flower Water
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar, if desired
generous pinch of salt
olive oil

1. Clean and peel carrots, then shred
2. Over bowl of shredded carrots, prepare orange as above, allowing
any juice to flow into the bowl. Continue until all of orange
sections have been freed of membrane.
3. Clean and slice radishes, and add to carrots. While carrots
dominate, there should be enough radish for color and flavor.
4. Chop cilantro and toss with carrots.
5. Add juices, flower water, cinnamon, and salt, and sugar if
desired, and toss well to distribute evenly.
6. Douse with olive oil, just enough to moisten, and toss.
7. Keep in refrigerator until shortly before serving. Allow to come
to room temperature before serving.


Fennel and Citrus Salad
Modern Moroccan

1 fennel bulb weighing about 1 lb.
1 small ruby grapefruit
2 blood oranges
3 green onions/scallions
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3 Tb. olive oil
1 Kalamata olive (purplish black) per person

1. Wash fennel bulb, remove leafy stalks, then slice into thin
crescents, cutting long crescents in half or thirds.
2. Put fennel in serving bowl.
3. Prepare grapefruit and blood oranges as above, over the bowl of
fennel - removing meat from membranes and cutting sections into
thirds.
4. Chop scallions finely, including as much of the green as is fresh
5. Toss fennel, citrus, and scallions with cumin, olive oil.
6. Allow to stand so flavors permeate fennel, in refrigerator if you prefer.
7. Shortly before serving, remove from fridge, and allow to come to
room temperature.
8. Decorate with olives and serve.


Zaalouk
Savory Eggplant "Puree"
Modern Moroccan

Some diners at the table told me they didn't like eggplant - and they
had seconds of this

1-1/2 lb. small eggplants
several Tb. olive oil
5 Roma tomatoes
olive oil as needed
8 cloves (or more) garlic, peeled and mashed
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
pinch of cayenne, to taste
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper (i use white)
juice of 1/2 lemon or more

I used Indian eggplants - they look like miniature versions of the
more common big eggplants. You could also use Chinese or Japanese or
Pilipino or Thai eggplants. The big "globe" eggplants are seedy,
spongy, and bitter, a reason many people don't like eggplant.

1. Wash eggplants but leave whole.
2. Place eggplants on baking sheet in 350 degree Fahrenheit oven.
Turn periodically so they cook evenly. Bake until done - time will
vary depending on size, sponginess, and moistness of eggplants.
They're done when they begin to collapse - squeeze gently to see if
they're cooked through - even though mine were all about the same
size, some were done sooner than others. Remove individually from
baking sheet as they are cooked through.
3. While eggplants are baking, prepare tomatoes as above. Then cut in dice.
3. When eggplants are all done, cool slightly, then hold over serving
bowl, and peel off skins - you may need a knife to free pulp from
stem.
4. Mash with heavy fork. Doesn't need to be a uniform puree.
5. Heat olive oil in heavy pan and put in tomatoes and cook until no
longer raw.
6. Add eggplant to tomatoes in pan, add garlic, and all seasonings
EXCEPT lemon juice, and cook about 25 minutes, covered. Check from
time to time and stir, adding more oil as necessary.
7. When well cooked, dump eggplants into serving bowl and stir in lemon juice.
8. Let stand, in refrigerator if desired.
9. A short time before serving, remove from refrigerator and let come
to room temperature.
10. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt or other seasoning, as desired.


Shlada Felfla
Roasted Red Bell Pepper Salad
Modern Moroccan

I'm not a fan of bell pepper, but cooked this way they are amazingly
delicious and succulent. This was one of my favorites. Use RED bell
peppers only.

4 RED bell peppers
6 Roma tomatoes
6 Tb. olive oil
8 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash bell peppers, and dry, but leave whole.
2. Place bell peppers on baking sheet and place under hot broiler.
3. After about 5 minutes, turn. Continue broiling, checking every few
minutes to rotate. Cook this way until much of the skin on every side
is blistered and blackened.
4. While peppers are grilling, prepare tomatoes as above, leave in halves.
5. Rinse skin off peppers, and peel off all skin.
6. Slice peppers open and remove all seeds and white pith.
7. Cut peppers into strips following natural segment lines - cut each
into about 8 pieces.
8. Heat oil in heavy pan and cook tomato halves until soft.
9. Add pepper strips and cook, shaking pan, not stirring, until
peppers are limp and well coated with oil.
10. With slotted spoon remove vegetables to serving bowl, leaving oil
and juices in pan.
11. Add garlic cloves to pan and cook until soft.
12. Turn off fire, and stir in cumin, salt. pepper, and lemon juice.
13. Pour over bell peppers and tomatoes and toss gently to coat.


Bissara
Fava Bean Puree
Modern Moroccan

While this is a modern recipes, there's nothing in here that isn't period.
This can be made with cooked dried favas or with fresh favas

1 small can cooked large fava beans
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed with the flat side of a heavy kitchen knife
1 Tb. chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
1 Tb. chopped cilantro
1 Tb. chopped fresh mint leaves

1. Drain canned favas and peel - slit one end with fingernail and
squeeze gently to slide bean out of skin.
If using fresh favas, remove beans from pods and parboil a few
minutes, then drain and cool. Then slip beans out of skins.
2. Put half of beans and half of all ingredients - EXCEPT greens -
into blender and puree. You may need to add a little water - don't
add much.
3. When well pureed, put in serving bowl, and repeat with the other half.
4. When all beans have been pureed, and are in serving bowl, taste
and adjust seasonings.
5. To serve, sprinkle with finely chopped fresh greens.


Minted Cucumber Salad
Both Medieval and Modern

1 skinny "hothouse" "English" cucumber
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped or shredded fresh mint
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
3 Tb. white wine vinegar

The kind of cucumber specified, called feqqous in Morocco, has gentle
lengthwise grooves and isn't waxed and shiny - they're usually
individually wrapped in plastic. This is the kind typically used in
Morocco. Of course, if you can't find these, use one young cucumber,
peeled and seeded.

1. Wash and thinly slice cucumber.
2. Put cucumber in serving bowl, toss with mint, salt, and sugar.
3. Sprinkle with 1 Tb. vinegar and toss. Add more as needed. Should
be moist, but not swimming.
4. Let stand.
5. Serve at room temperature.