A Poem from Morocco - Recipe: Couscous with Moroccan Vegetable and Chickpea Stew

There are stories that end before starting by Abdel-ilah Salhi

Emotion is a mangy dog
Biting me to howl like ninety percent of the mean people in this city
The dog defeats the wolf inside me


Plenty of sentences failed me at dinner
The remains of your man hovered over us despite the dim light
I had to quietly drink my glass
And stare at you profoundly, though without concentration
I had to refrain from running at the rough turning
Which makes me feel small, now expecting a phone ring


Good wine
And a delicious Moroccan couscous
You were close at hand like the evening party
The heart landed like a repugnant guest, so I stammered
But your case was very  mild indeed


In stead of assaulting you like a wolf from the forest
I licked your hand like a dog wishing for love

As they say, variety is the spice of life, and I try to cook food of different origins throughout the week. Together with my fascination for poetry from the Arabic world, I first started experimenting with couscous when I was back in the US and instantly fell in love with its light, fluffy texture. Originally a food from the Middle East and North Africa, it is now sold throughout the world and served not just as the main starch for supper, but as a side salad and turned into desert. After a few disasters with instant-meal couscous that turned into hard blobs because of the humidity in Southeast Asia, I buy the plain, fast-cook variety and do all the seasoning and cooking myself. One of my favourite ways of preparing it, offered below, is by using the broth from a spicy vegetable stew to cook the grains. I find that the broth does a fantastic job of flavouring the couscous without the use of additional oil or salt.

Serves 3-4

For the stew:

Spices:

1 cinnamon stick

4 cloves

1/2 tsp tumeric

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 medium brown onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp minced ginger root
1 small eggplant, cut into wedges and soaked in salted water for half an hour to remove bitter juices
1medium carrot, cut into wedges
1 medium potato, cut into wedges
10 green beans, sliced into thirds
1/4 head of a medium cauliflower, cut into florets
1 small zucchini, cut into wedges
2 plum tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/4 cooked chickpeas
3 cups of light vegetable stock
2 tbsp oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

For the couscous:
1 1/2 cups fast-cook couscous
1 large handful of raisins
2-3 tbsp pine nuts, toasted lightly
Extra virgin olive oil
Chopped coriander to garnish

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Gently fry the cinnamon stick, cloves, onions, garlic and ginger until fragrant, about five minutes or so. Add turmeric, cumin, coriander, and cayenne pepper and fry for an additional 2 minutes. Add vegetable stock and bring to a rolling boil. Add eggplant, carrot and potato, cover and lower heat to a gentle simmer. After about 10 minutes or so or when vegetables are slightly softened, add cauliflower, green beans, zucchini and tomatoes. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add chickpeas. Adjust seasoning.

Measure about 1 1/2 cups of broth from the stew and pour into a separate saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir in couscous, raisins and pine nuts, cover and remove from heat. Leave to stand for 5 minutes. Fluff up the couscous with a fork and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the top. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve warm, with mounds of the vegetable stew on the side.

Coming Home - Recipe: Shepherd's Pie

If you've been wondering why there has been a dearth of meat dishes in the last few weeks, well, that's because my two main "customers", as my father jokingly refers to diners at my imaginary restaurant, have been away. I do like traveling myself - it's always a fascinating experience for me to take in the sights, sounds and smells of  the street life and to learn about the cuisine and the culture of foreign lands. I've noticed that I generally go through three phases when I travel: the first lasts for about 2-3 days where I am like a kid in a toy store and everything is charming and exciting and wonderful. The second phases comes at around day 5, where I realise that my paradise isn't as perfect I imagined - perhaps the people are starting to seem rude, or I get caught in the rain without an umbrella and I'm cold and miserable. The third phase is toward the end of the trip, by which point I have memorised the room service menu and I start to dream about my dog. Having eaten out for more than a week, I was glad to finally be able to potter around in the kitchen yesterday. For me, there's nothing that says "Welcome Home" better than a warm home-cooked meal. 

Shepherd's pie is real comfort food- a rich, hearty meat stew topped with a layer of buttery, fluffy mashed taters. These days I tend to dispense with the minced meat and opt for chunks of beef or lamb. There are two modifications in particular that I do -I've discovered that adding bacon and smoked sausage brings out a lovely, smoky flavour to the stew. The other is adding a glass of red wine to the dish which adds richness to the sauce.

A forkful of pie

Serves 3-4, or 2 manly men (or gals)

For the stew:

2 tbsp butter

500 g sirloin beef, cut into small cubes (Substitute with leg of lamb if desired)

4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped 

2 large smoked sausages (such as bratwurst), sliced 

1 large brown onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large or 2 medium carrots, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

200 g brown or white mushrooms, sliced thinly

A handful of fresh herbs, such as thyme and rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp plain flour

1-2 tsps Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup red wine

1 cup beef or lamb stock

Freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste

In a large, heavy bottomed skillet, melt your knob of butter over medium-high heat. Add bacon and fry until lightly brown and the fat begins to render. Add sausage and fry until lightly brown. Add beef or lamb to the pan, working in batches, and fry until meat changes colour slightly. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery and mix everything around well. Fry for about 5 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add mushrooms and herbs, several cracks of your black pepper grinder and a pinch of sea salt and fry until mushrooms have just released their liquid. Add tomato paste and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add flour and fry for an additional minute or so. Add in Worcestershire sauce, red wine and stock and bring the stew to a simmer. Adjust seasoning. Simmer, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Top up the pan with stock as necessary so that your meat has adequate liquid to simmer in. It will take about an hour for the beef to become fork tender,  or 30 minutes if using lamb. 

Pour stew into a lightly greased baking dish.

For potatoes:

600g russet potatoes

2 tbsp butter,  at room temperature

1/2 cup cream, at room temperature

Sea salt and white pepper to taste

Dash of nutmeg if desired

Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place potatoes in a large pot of water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a low simmer. In the meantime, preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Boil for about 10 minutes. The potatoes are done if they break apart slightly when pricked with a fork. Drain and return potatoes to the pot. Add butter, nutmeg (if using), salt and pepper to taste. Don't over-mash or the potatoes will be soggy rather than light and fluffy. Add cream and mix well. Top dish with the potatoes and run fork over the top to make a pattern. 

To finish:

2 large handfuls of grated cheddar cheese

Top the dish with cheese. Pop the pie into the oven. Wait in gleeful anticipation. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the dish is bubbling and the top is brown. Stand for 10 minutes before serving.