Week 26 - Blended

I had been using our immersion blender a lot this spring, making sauces of various types, and then the Week 26 theme came up as blended and my mind drew a blank. I couldn't even remember which sauces I had just made with the blender, much less come up with an idea for a new one! After a bit of googling, I stumbled upon chermoula, which was actually a perfect fit since we were in the Algerian section of the AtWCC, and chermoula is, per Wikipedia, "a marinade and relish used in Algerian, Libyan, Moroccan, and Tunisian cooking." We also love green sauce of all types, so it was an easy choice.

Chermoula consists of fresh herbs with citrus and spices, and there are a bunch of variations. From what I can tell (and please correct me if I'm wrong), the recipe I used from Epicurious is the Moroccan variation (it's in the recipe description) but also seems like it could be Algerian. (Wikipedia doesn't give an Algerian description specifically.) For that reason, I'm going to count it for both Morocco and Algeria for the AtWCC. I didn't discover until later that some varieties also include preserved lemon, and since we still have one in the fridge left over from some other recipes, maybe we'll be making more chermoula in the not-so-distant future.

The version I made (with some adaptations/shortcuts on the spices) used the following ingredients:

- ground coriander ($0.10)

- ground cumin ($0.10)

- a few garlic cloves ($0.10)

- 3/4 cup olive oil ($1.20)

- lemon zest from 1 lemon (see next)

- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice ($0.34)

- smoked paprika ($0.05)

- salt ($0.02)

- red pepper flakes ($0.02)

- 1 pack of cilantro ($1.99)

- 1 pack of parsley ($1.99)

- about 15 mint leaves ($0.85)

I haven't done an estimated cost in a while (although since everything is posting all out of order, it may not appear that way), but the chermoula itself was about $6.76. Add on some couscous for about $1, chicken tenderloins ($5.44), zucchini ($2.29), carrots ($0.60), red onion ($0.85), and oil/seasoning for roasting ($0.60), and the total was around $17.54. It made a lot of food (no leftovers though), but not bad for dinner for three, considering the way prices have increased since I was last doing these comparisons.

The sauce was really easy to make. Blend everything other than the herbs, and then blend the herbs in. I was a little concerned in the beginning because it looked more orange than green, but once all the herbs were in, it was the green sauce I was expecting. It tasted really good on its own, but we've been known to eat various green sauces by the spoonful, unaccompanied, before, so this was no different.

Typically used with fish or seafood (according to Wikipedia), chermoula is also used with meat and vegetables, so that was what I did, making it a topping for some grilled chicken (re-used the chicken souvlaki recipe from the Week 24 challenge because of the complementary flavors, just without the sticks, more on that another time), couscous, and roasted vegetables (zucchini, carrots, red onions). We really enjoyed it. It was a little lighter on the spice than the original recipe because I toned it down for B, even though he didn't actually end up eating any of it. Would make this again!

Week 42 - Low and Slow

A theme of "low and slow" is not the easiest thing to do when we're trying to make faster dinners for earlier bedtimes. We could have gone with the slow cooker, but I didn't want to figure out how to do that in the Instant Pot, so just decided to make a recipe for Moroccan-style chicken with lentils that I found on BBC Good Food. Cooking for 1.5 hours at a low temperature seemed low and slow enough for me.

Before going into the oven

The recipe was fairly easy. Just make a spice rub out of crushed garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, and paprika, and then rub some chicken thighs with olive oil and then the spice rub. Brown the chicken, set it aside, then fry a sliced-up onion. Add red lentils, chopped tomatoes, ketchup, chicken stock, a cinnamon stick, and a bunch of whole dried apricots. Cover and stick the casserole dish in a 350 degree oven for 90 minutes. That was it. Sounded so straightforward and easy. Just long.

Unintentional soup after 90 minutes in the oven

We did have one complication though. I tripled the amount of lentils, so figured that I would need triple the amount of chicken stock. But the amount of chicken stock in the original recipe was so far off that we ended up with soup. The broth tasted great, and it wasn't bad having extra to spoon on top of our couscous, but we could have gone with at least two cups less liquid and been just fine.

The chicken was so tender and completely fell apart (in a good way), and the entire dish tasted delicious and nourishing. We really did enjoy eating it, but I didn't add it to our cookbook because putting aside 1.5 hours just for the oven time isn't the easiest thing to do right now. We took a break for the summer, but we've done a fair amount of North African food this year because we're up to Algeria in the AtWCC, so it was nice to get back to the region as the weather is getting cooler. We're definitely glad we tried the recipe, even if we don't know when we'd make it again.

Week 29 - Eid al-Fitr

I cannot believe how long it's taken me to post about the Week 29 challenge for Eid al-Fitr. The holiday, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, was way back in July, which was when I made this recipe for Moroccan style chicken with couscous from BBC Food. I found it on the BBC's main page on Eid recipes a few weeks before I made it (and wrote that down in my notes), but for whatever reason when I went back there in July to find it in the list of Eid recipes so I could link to it here, it was no longer there! Bizarre. Maybe they updated the page closer to the holiday to put in new recipes. Anyway, that's what I made and where it came from.

The ingredients, with a few adaptations, were:

- 1 large onion, chopped ($0.60)

- 5 garlic cloves, minced ($0.08)

- 10 oz water ($0)

- 1 spoonful of chicken bouillon ($0.30)

- salt and freshly ground black pepper ($0.05)

- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts ($2)

- 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (with juices) ($0.75)

- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon ($0.10)

- 1/2 tbsp ground ginger ($0.05)

- large handful of dried apricots, chopped ($1)

- 2 tbsp honey ($0.30)

- 1 bunch of cilantro, leaves chopped ($1)

- 1/2 package of harvest grains blend ($1.50)

The total was about $7.73, which is a great price for dinner for 2. I had been planning to use regular couscous instead of this grain blend, but the store didn't have any couscous when I went shopping and I didn't have time to go elsewhere. I'm not sure how that swap affected the price.

I also modified the instructions a little bit. Here's how I made the stew:

1. Heat a little olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes.

2. Add the water and chicken bouillon and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes to reduce a bit.

3. Add chicken (I sliced the 2 breast pieces into about 5 thinner pieces), tomatoes (with juices), ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and chopped dried apricots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for an hour (stirring once or twice).

4. Make the grains while the stew is simmering. (We followed the instructions on the harvest grains blend package, so it took about 20-25 minutes total. Not sure how long regular couscous would take.)

5. Chop the cilantro while the stew is simmering.

6. After the hour is up, add the honey and cilantro, and cook uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring.

7. While stirring in the honey and cilantro, break up the chicken into smaller pieces. (Ours was at the point where it shredded really easily.)

8. Serve over couscous. Done! (I didn't get yogurt at the store because I had too much other stuff in the cart and it was a zoo at the store today, but I think it was fine without it.)

This was a really good stew. I was wary of the apricots, since I don't usually put fruit in savory dishes (although I've been doing it more and more with these challenges), but they actually added a nice light sweetness to the dish which was great. It's easy to make, and the only things we don't always have on hand are cilantro and apricots, so it's a pretty convenient dish. We would definitely make this again, maybe next time over "real" couscous.

Beirut Sandwich

One of the food trucks in the city that we really love is Comme Ci Comme Ca run by Chef Samir. It's a Moroccan truck that we go to frequently (possibly more frequently than any other food truck in the city), yet somehow we haven't written a post about it. Most of the time these days when we go there we get the Moroccan kofta over basmati rice, which is delicious. Today Chef Samir was advertising on twitter their special of the day, the Beirut sandwich. It sounded really good so I went over to try it.


The Beirut sandwich was a pita filled with ground chicken from the grille, homemade hummus, tomatoes, mixed greens, and red onions. At only $6, it was a good value.

Beirut sandwich in front of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi)
Opening of the pita (left) and bottom of the sandwich (right)
The sandwich was really tasty. The ground chicken, which came in multiple small pieces in the pita, was nicely seasoned and similar in texture to the kofta that we love so much. The onions weren't raw red onions like I was expecting but the sweet caramelized onions that come with the kofta and other platters (which I also love). The only minus to the pita was that the top consisted of the hummus, hot sauce and chicken, and the bottom consisted of the salad, onions, tomatoes and chicken (but not much of the creamy hummus). It was like having 2 sandwiches in one, both of which were good but just different. That said, I would get this again. What I would really love though is if I could get this grilled ground chicken over the basmati rice with the usual onion mix and salad. That would be so delicious.

Pocketful of Kefta

Our next dinner stop was the Morocco kiosk. On our last trip to Epcot together, we had gone to the casual restaurant at the Morocco Pavilion for lunch, and thought the offerings were excellent. M had also gone before with her parents to the sit-down restaurant with the bellydancers and thought the food there was good too. So we had high hopes for the Morocco kiosk.


We weren't sure exactly what a harissa chicken roll would be (maybe like a wrap?) but we were excited to see kefta, which we love.


Here's what we tried:

Kefta pocket (ground seasoned beef in pita bread) ($5):

Kefta sandwich
Sandwich cross-section
M's take: Kefta (also, kofta) consists of ground meat mixed with herbs and spices and sometimes also onions. It's incredibly flavorful. This one wasn't bad. It was like a giant flattened meatball. It wasn't as flavorful as a lot of the kofta we've had before (especially the kofta from Comme Ci Comme Ca that we somehow still haven't written about), but it was decent.

A's take: This was a little hit or miss. The kefta wasn't bad, but it wasn't as flavorful as most other kefta I've had in the past. I thought the dish as a whole was a little dry even with the vegetable mix in there. It was still a tasty dish, though.

Harissa chicken roll ($4.75):

Chicken roll
Roll cross-section
M's take: The harissa chicken roll was like a giant deep-fried egg roll filled with chicken, some vegetables and spices. It was an interesting concept. I wasn't a fan of the deep-fried part of it, but the flavor was good.

A's take: M's description is apt. This looked and tasted like a giant chicken egg roll. Good flavors, not that spicy considering it was harissa, but decent flavor. It was oily and heavy, though, because it was fried.

Baklava ($2.95):


Baklava is a traditional Mediterranean dessert. As described on the mobile site, this baklava consisted of "a fluffy pastry made with layers of phyllo dough, chopped nuts and sweet syrup."

M's take: The baklava was fine. I have had plenty of baklava over the years and this wasn't the best I've had, but it was decent. It did have a nice sweet nutty flavor.

A's take: I've had better, but it's hard to go wrong with baklava. The overall flavors were there, and I do like the honey-like sweet syrup.

Favorite dishes at the Morocco kiosk:
A: Kefta sandwich
M: Harissa chicken roll