Harira
- 1 pound cubed lamb meat
- 1 teaspoon ras al hanout or turmeric
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 7 cups water
- 3/4 cup lentils
- 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 lemon, juiced
Method:
- Place the lamb, all spices, butter, celery, onion, and cilantro into a tagine or wide soup pot over a low heat. Stir frequently for 5 minutes. Pour tomatoes (reserve juice) into the mixture and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Pour tomato juice, seven cups water, and the lentils into the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. Let soup simmer, covered, for two hours.
- About 10 minutes before serving turn the heat to medium-high, place chickpeas into the soup, let cook about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon and eggs, let eggs cook one minute.
Enjoy with bread!
Sahara Sunset Soup
I chose the name for this soup because it’s kind of the color of the sahara desert. Or what I imagine it might look like around sunset. The Bedouins may eat this with chicken or lamb, but this version is totally vegetarian.
Ingredients:
- 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1-2 cans of white beans
- 1/2 can of corn
- 2 tomatos, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1-2 carrots, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1 pinch hot chili powder (or more depending on your taste)
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. Res Al Hanout Jaune powder (yellow north african spice mix)
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method:
- Heat the oil in a large soup pan or tagine. When butter melts, add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and turn heat to low, cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once onions are soft, add the spices to the vegetables. Sauté them for a minute or two stirring continuously. Then, add 10 cups of water, cover and bring to a boil.
- When boiling; add the tomato, beans and corn. Stir and cook on medium heat for about ten minutes. Then, add the potatoes and salt and cook for ten minutes or until the potatoes are just soft.
Bismillah!
Tofu Radna
This is my own take on a thai dish I sampled while living in northern Thailand for five months. Chok dee (Good Luck or enjoy!)
- Ingredients:
- 8 oz. pack of tofu, cubed
- 100 g. chantaboon rice stick (Flat rice noodles from Thailand)
- 1 tbsp. peanut oil
- mound of fresh ginger root, peeled
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp. fish oil
- 1/4 of a large lemon, squeezed
- fresh coriander leaves
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. ground paprika
- 1/8 tsp. hot chili powder
- 1 tsp. curry powder
- 1 onion, cubed
- 1 tomato, cubed
- 1/2 packet of coconut cream powder
Method:
- Fry the tofu in a pan stirring occasional for about 10 minutes or until hard and slightly brown. Stir in the chili powder, paprika and cumin during the last 1-2 minutes of frying. Set aside.
- Boil water in a pan and soak the noodles for about 10 minutes in the boiled water until thoroughly soft.
- Meanwhile heat the peanut oil in a pan. Smash the ginger and mince the garlic. Fry them on a medium high heat along with the onion in the oil for a few minutes, stirring, until just before brown. Add the tomatoes and fry for another minute. Add the noodles and fry for a minute, add the fish oil and the squeezed lemon and curry powder, fry another minute.
- Add 1 cup of water and cover, turning the heat down to medium. Once boiling, add the coconut powder and cook uncovered another five minutes or until sauce thickens.
- Add the coriander leaves and serve.
Simple French Yogurt Cake
Now that I am an ordained homemaker, I will be transitioning this blog in that direction, largely focusing on one of my greatest passions: food.
Let us start with perhaps my most used recipe. I learned this one when I was living in Chartres, France. I’ve made this on almost all my birthdays since, including our monthly celebrations of our daughter’s. It is extremely easy and not too sweet so it can be enjoyed with tea or coffee the next morning.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 container of flour
1 container of sugar
1/2 container of melted butter or oil
1 tsp baking soda (or 1/2 a sachet of levure chimique)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 sachet of sucre vanille)
1 container of yogurt (plain or your choice of flavor)
Shredded coconut and/or chopped almonds (optional)
The great thing about this recipe is that the yogurt container becomes your measuring vessel. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then, empty the contents of the container and set it aside. Wash the yogurt container. In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Beat the eggs in a separate cup and combine them with the dry mixture. Then, mix im the butter or oil and finally the yogurt.
Pour batter into a greased baking pan. Top with coconuts or almonds if desired.
Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes depending on how moist you want your cake. Check on it continually to make sure.
Chai Masala Variation:
Heat the butter and oil with the same spices you use to make a cup of spiced chai tea.
For example:
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Heat the spices for 2-4 minutes until the kitchen is brimming with fragrance. Then, add to the rest of the ingredients.
This recipe is NOT set in stone. It welcomes endless variations for the adventurous.
