I recently moved to a new neighbourhood and already I have discovered two small shops where I plan to go every Saturday from now on.
One shop is a bakery. I saw a small crowd inside, which made me curious. It smelled lovely in there and it was very warm from the ovens burning. On the counter there were different cakes and breads, it was difficult to choose. Best of all: the ingredients are all ecological.
And the other day I was pleasantly surprised to find a Moroccan supermarket, with all types of vegetables including rare ones, like Jerusalem artichokes (NL: aardperen). It also had a butcher's counter, where I bought some lamb. And I made this:



Middle Eastern lamb stew (serves 4)

1 kg lamb (lamb shoulder, or leg of lamb without the bone), cut in large chunks
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons ras-el-hanout (Moroccan spice mix)

* put the lamb meat in a bowl and add oil and spices
* stir so all the meat is covered, and place in the fridge overnight

next day:
1.
equipment: a casserole (NL: stoofpan) with a lid

* preheat the oven to 150 C
* heat some olive oil in the pan, and fry the meat. it's very important to only fry a few chunks (depending on your size of pan, around 6-8 chunks) at a time so they get nice and brown
* put the chunks you have fried in a bowl, and continue to fry all chunks of meat

2.
olive oil
2 large white onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic
water
2 bay leaves (NL: laurierblaadjes)

* put the onion in the pan you used to fry the meat. fry on a low heat for 5 minutes
* add garlic and continue to fry for 1 minute, then add the meat. cover with water and put in 2 bay leaves.
* bring to a boil and place in the oven and leave it there for 2 hours

3.
100 g dried plums, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons of honey

* place the pan on the stove again, and stir in the plums and honey
* continue to cook for half an hour, without the lid
* serve with for example couscous and grilled vegetables

This stew was really even better than I expected, and I would really recommend it.

Moroccan Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Whilst a butternut squash is mixing its flavours with some onion, garlic and coriander to form a beautiful soup, I will tell you about something completely different. The soup's recipe will follow later!

Remember that I made a couscous plate a few days ago? I also made a tomato and cucumber salad that is amazingly good. I think it's the roasted cumin that does the trick, but this salad is really quite special.
The recipe comes from a cookbook that I found in a discount book store in London. I have made several recipes from it and they all turned out deliciously. The book is called Feast Bazaar, by Barry Véra, and is about food from India, Morocco and Syria. A rather strange combination, geographically seen, but it's a great book.



Morrocan Tomato and Cucumber Salad (serves 4)
(adapted recipe from Feast Bazaar by Barry Véga)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 roma (plum) tomatoes (make sure they are ripe and smell good)
1 cucumber
1 red onion
1 green capsicum pepper (NL/S: paprika) (I used a red one instead)
1 handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tablespoons lemon juice
100 ml olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

step 1
* heat a frying pan over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
* dry-roast the seeds for 2 minutes on medium heat, while stirring
* place in a mortar and pestle (NL: vijzel, S: mortel) and grind to powder

step 2
* cut 6 tomatoes in 4 quarters, cut the seeds out and cut the tomatoes in dices
* cut the cucumber in half, scoop the seeds out with a teaspoon and cut the cucumber in dices
* finely dice the red onion and cut the paprika in dices
* put all this in a serving bowl

step 3
* chop a handful of parsley
* put parsley, ground cumin, 4 tablespoons lemon juice and 100 ml olive together in a bowl
* stir thoroughly
* pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix well
* add salt and pepper to taste

You can serve this salad as a side dish to accompany grilled fish or meat, or with couscous. It's also nice to serve as a starter together with some bread, or as part of some various 'mezzes' (small dishes).

Feta cream / hummus

Back to my Moroccan plate. You got the couscous recipe earlier and now I will let you in on the sauces. A thick cream of feta, a nutty and earthy hummus and some harissa form the ideal company to some couscous or serve well as a dip with other dishes.



Harissa is a hot North African sauce made of chillies and garlic. In Morocco it's served with couscous and other food. I found it in the regular supermarket, otherwise a North African store will have it. You can substitute it by sambal, or hot ajwar.



Feta cream (half bowl)

The feta cream is made by mixing 100 g of feta with a few tablespoons of Turkish yogurt. Put it together in a bowl and mix into an almost smooth paste with a fork.

About the feta: there is feta and there is feta. Feta should be made of sheep and/or goat milk, but definitely not of cow milk. Check the ingredients. Real feta might be a bit more expensive, but there is such a big difference between the real feta and the fake, that it's worth paying a little bit extra.
Turkish yogurt is almost like mascarpone: it's very thick and creamy. Can be substituted by ordinary full fat, thick yogurt.

And then the hummus. I tried making hummus with my handheld mixer (NL: staafmixer) but that didn't work. My mixer is not very strong though, so you could try it and maybe it works. I have a little food processor that is more like a small chopping machine that did the trick (wish I had a real machine though..)



Hummus (makes a full bowl)

1 can chickpeas (400 g) (NL:kikkererwten, S: kikärtor)
juice of 1/2 small lemon
3 tablespoons tahin (sesamepaste)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8-10 tablespoons of olive oil
3-4 tablespoons of liquid from the chickpeas

* place all the ingredients in the mixer bowl
* mix it
* stir and mix again
* repeat until it has become a smooth paste, add more olive oil/liquid if necessary
* drizzle a little olive oil on top before serving, or some paprika powder

If you have the time: make the hummus a day in advance. That way the flavours work together to get an even better tasting substance.

The hummus and feta cream also serve very nicely as a snack, with for example some toasted pita breads or sliced red bell peppers and sticks of cucumber.

Oven-steamed couscous

You should have smelt my kitchen just now. Roasted cumin seeds, fresh lemon, sesame paste, honey... This Swedish little house had some Morocco in it tonight!
I made myself a plateful of delicacies. Some steamed couscous with prunes and raisins, a fresh salad of tomato, cucumber and roasted cumin, a dollop of feta cream and homemade hummus and oh so spicy harissa.



I will give you all the recipes, but I will spread it out a bit over the days. That way you might come back again!

Let's start with the steamed couscous.

Oven-steamed couscous (4 portions)

5 dl water
1 cube of vegetable or chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon ground cumin (for this dish I use ready grounded cumin / NL: gemalen komijn)
1 teaspoon harissa (substitute: 1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek)
1 big teaspoon honey
2 big teaspoons butter
4 dl couscous
handful of dried prunes (8-10 pieces), chopped
handful of raisins
1/2 lemon in thin slices

* preheat the oven to 200 C
* bring 5 dl water to the boil with 1 cube of vegetable or chicken bouillon
* stir in 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of harissa, 1 big teaspoon of honey and 2 teaspoons of butter and let that melt
* in the meantime: put 4 dl of couscous in an ovenproof dish (something you would make lasagna in)
* chop up a handful of prunes and add to the couscous, together with a handful of raisins
* pour the bouillon mixture over the couscous and place the lemon on top
* cover with alumiumfoil and place in the oven for 15 minutes

Variations: use apricots and/or dates; add some almonds or a chopped shallot et cetera. This couscous is also very nice with some grilled fish or lamb. You can also use bulgur instead of couscous, but check if it's fine or course. The course bulgur might need a bit more time and some more bouillon.