Day 15- Pumpkin Soup with Honey and Cloves

Greetings on the last day of the challenge! It's been a long, but very tiring 15 days. Thanks to everyone who's checked out my culinary adventure and left comments. Now on to the last meal- Pumpkin Soup with Honey and Cloves.

the yummy ingredients

Soups are such an excellent dinner option over here. Traditionally lunch is the biggest meal in Morocco, so dinner doesn't have to be a big deal. Soups are warm, filling and delicious! For this soup, I started it as I usually do- in the morning. That's another thing I love about soups. I can start it as I'm making lunch and not be in a hurry in the evening.

I started by cooking the carrots and onion in butter. The recipe called for celery, but I don't have any over here and I don't really like it anyway. I upped the onion and carrot a bit to make up for the lost volume.

Once the carrots and onions were soft, I added the chicken stock (from cubes....sorry), pumpkin and whole cloves. This mixture simmered for about a half hour until the pumpkin was soft.

After the chunky soup cooled, I pureed it in two batches using my sweet blender (I love that thing). I ruined my first blender by not waiting until the soup cooled. Turns out heat cracks the plastic- oops! In the end I returned the soup to heat and added the honey and cream (creme fraiche!)

The creme fraiche is a bit runnier than the heavy cream they recommend, so I couldn't do a very nice decorative swirl, but it still looks pretty good I think.

The verdict: Great soup! The flavor from the cloves was subtle, but noticeable and the honey added a lovely sweet touch. I generally make my pumpkin/carrot soups with ginger, but this was a nice change of pace! If you like soups, by all means try this one. Mohamed agreed- a solidly yummy soup!

Check out the full recipe here: Pumpkin Soup with Honey and Cloves from Epicurious

So now that the challenge is over, what's next on Teresa's Pieces? That's a great question. I learned a few things from this process- 1) It's fun to be a regular blogger and 2) It's awesome to try new food! So, while it won't be on a daily basis I hope to continue posting recipes from time to time. Maybe I'll even add a few of my own. So stay tuned!

See you all next year ;-)

Day 14- Martha Stewart's Mac and Cheese

The reviewers of this recipe claim that Martha's Mac and Cheese is hands down the best mac and cheese you can make. Well, of course I had to put it to the test!

 Of course, substitutions had to be made. The selection of cheeses here in Morocco leaves a lot to be desired. No cheddar or any kind (ok, ONCE I found a cheddar, but it was not very good and I only saw it the one time). In place of cheddar I used Edam (red ball). It's the most common cheese here and it's not too bad. I also used parmesan in place of the gruyere as Mohamed didn't really like it. (We had it  on day 8).

First you prepare the croutons that will go on top. Tear up some quality white bread- I used a baguette which didn't yield much once I removed the crust. Next time I'd double it because those croutons were good!

Then I melted some butter and tossed it with the bread. This gets set aside until just before baking.

The next step is the cheese sauce which is only slightly more complicated than the croutons. In one pan, you heat the milk. In another melt more butter. After the butter's melted, you add some flour and cook it up for about a minute.

When the butter/flour mixture is ready, you add the hot milk and continuously whisk the mixture until it thickens and starts to bubble.

Once the milk mixture has thickened, the fun begins! That's when you add most of the cheese as well as salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg. I even ground my own nutmeg for the first time. It's true, I've learned a lot over these 14 days ;-). When the cheese sauces is all mixed up, you set it aside and make your macaroni. Instructions say to cook the macaroni until it's *almost* done as it will cook further in the oven.

Assembly begins once the noodles are cooked. Combine the macaroni with the cheese sauce and then dump it all into the casserole dish. Mmmmmm cheesy goodness!

On the top, I added the rest of the two cheeses as well as those croutons that I made earlier. If (let's be real- When) I make this again, I'll double up those croutons because they were excellent.

Twenty minutes in the oven and it's done! My oven is not the greatest- notice 2/3rds of the croutons are darker than the others. It is piping hot when it comes out, so try to restrain yourself and give it 5 minutes to set before digging in. (Good luck, I didn't make it!)

For an appetizer I made steamed artichokes. I had these for the first time a few weeks ago and my friend Sarah's house and they are yummy! Dipped in a garlic butter sauce of course...

The verdict: hot, creamy, cheesy deliciousness! Even with my cheese substitutions this was so comforting and good. I can only imagine if I had cheddar! This was also a HUGE hit with the boys. Mohamed gave it a 10/10. If you remember, prior to today there was only one 8/10 given (day 2) so this was serious. Mohamed also had seconds which he hasn't done in quite some time. Even Mohamed's brother finished his bowl! Abdelmalik is a chronic leaver of food...

So it's true, Martha really does make the best Mac and Cheese. At least that's one mystery solved. Find the complete recipe here- Martha Stewart's Mac and Cheese.

Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge! (Booooo Hissssss) I know, it's sad, but I'm ready for a vacation from my vacation cooking challenge. The last recipe is a soup that I'm very excited about- also from Epicurious- Pumpkin Soup with Honey and Cloves. I can't believe it's day 15 and this is my first soup! Hope it's good. See you all tomorrow.

Day 13- Chicken and Chickpea Stew

Wow, day 13! You've probably noticed that my posts have been a little bit lacking. I'm getting tired! 15 straight days of planning, shopping, cooking and documenting seems completely reasonable before you've started, but wow am I ready for a break!

But that's part of the challenge, I suppose. Plowing through and making it happen one dish at a time. I've now got a whole new appreciation for all of you usual food bloggers out there!

Anyways, to the dinner at hand. Even though I did a chicken and chickpea dish last week, I couldn't help but try this Chicken and Chickpea Stew recipe from SELF Magazine via Epicurious.

Coming from SELF magazine you know it's going to be healthy. Just look at those lovely ingredients! The only thing I didn't have was whole wheat couscous. You can buy it here, but my husband doesn't have it in his shop and I didn't feel like a trip to the grocery store.

The recipe also calls for boneless chicken breasts, but I decided to use some chicken that we had in the freezer. So, I cooked them in some olive oil for a few minutes on each side. Then I removed the chicken and added the onions, garlic and spices (sorry, no photo). These cooked for a while and then I added the chicken back in along with the rest of the ingredients.

Chickpeas, tomatoes and zucchini make this a very colorful dish! This is very close to the 7 vegetable couscous that we eat almost every week here in Morocco. This is just cooked for less time and is missing some of the veggies.

To my husbands dismay, I even cooked the couscous per the instructions in the recipe- instantly! Even though a most of the couscous here is instant, a majority of Moroccan ladies still slave over theirs for at least 3 hours every Friday. 

Put the chicken and sauce on the couscous and you're done! Here I've served it the Moroccan way. In the recipe the couscous is eaten on the side. Whatever floats your boat I suppose.

The verdict: This was solidly good, but not fantastic. It got really excellent reviews on Epicurious, but I'm guessing it's because most of those people haven't had traditional Moroccan couscous ;-) Prepared this way it was easy, quick and healthy. What more can you ask for? 

Tomorrow I'm 98% sure that I'll be making Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese. There's no photo with this recipe, but I'm sure you all know what this stuff looks like. Reviews claim that this is the BEST MACARONI AND CHEESE EVER! We'll see if that's true.

Day 12- Lamb Chops with Poached Quince and Balsamic Pan Sauce

Doesn't this one just sound fabulous? As soon as I saw the name I knew I had to make it. Quince is an odd fruit and something I'd never heard of before coming to Morocco. The first time I had it was in a tajine made by my first host mom. The tajine was simple- onions, beef, quince and an absolutely divine sauce. I couldn't get enough!

That said, quince isn't exactly an easy fruit to deal with. It's basically a bigger, lumpier, harder version of an apple. I tried to make a tajine with it once, but made the mistake of not cooking the quince first in water. It ended up being hard and not very tasty.

the ingredients- I doubled the quince and made extra sauce

For this lamb chop recipe, I started by simmering the sliced quince with some thyme in apple juice and sugar.

When the quince was nearly ready, I started work with the lamb chops. Simple enough, I just sprinkled with salt and pepper and cooked for around 3 minutes per side in some vegetable oil.

my first lamb chops!

When the quince is nice and soft, you separate them from the juice and set aside. I put the quince and the cooked lamb chops in the oven to keep warm while I made the pan sauce.

For the sauce, you boil the apple juice from the quince until it reduces. Then you remove the juice from the heat and add balsamic vinegar, butter, rosemary and oregano.  I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I added a reduced amount of the dried version. Then before serving, I strained out the herbs.

A-MA-ZING

Finally, just put the dish together. We were eating it Moroccan style (on one plate with bread). I wish I'd taken some photos of it arranged nicely on individual plates. It would have looked so much nicer. Oh well, here it is!

The verdict- Holy Amazing. This is hands down my favorite dish so far on the challenge. Absolutely everything was perfect. The meat was tender, the quince was incredibly soft and sweet and the sauce was just insanely good. Mohamed liked it as well, but did comment that it was VERY sweet. It's true, this is a sweet dish. If sweetness isn't quite your thing, I'd recommend reducing the sugar by half or removing it all together. Also, with the original recipe each person would only have a few slices of the quince, so the sweetness would be better balanced by the lamb chops. 

I highly recommend this dish! Find the entire recipe on Epicurious here: Lamb Chops with Poached Quince and Balsamic Pan Sauce.

For tomorrow, it's more chicken and chickpeas. A great combination, I can't wait to try this recipe for Chicken and Chickpea Stew.

photo by Kana Okada for Epicurious

Day 11- Tofu Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower and Potato Curry)

Minus the tofu! Not that I wouldn't include it, but I don't think I've ever seen tofu in Morocco...a country of meat eaters.

I originally had a butternut squash lasagna recipe on tap for today. The recipe still sounds super delicious, but after reading the comments left by reviewers it just seemed like more work than I was ready to handle after the busy holiday weekend filled with cooking.

So, I've decided to go quick, easy and vegetarian for this evening. And this Tofu Aloo Gobi recipe from Epicurious has no reviews! So I had no idea what to expect. 

Since I don't have any tofu, I'm increasing the amount of veggies in the recipe. I also don't have any dry mustard. The dish started as most good ones do, with garlic browning in olive oil. 

Next the potatoes are added with some water. Then the cauliflower and the spices. Finally, tomatoes and peas! The recipe had this entire recipe cooking for a total of 20 minutes. I left mine to cook significantly longer than that as after the 20 minutes were up, the cauliflower was still raw!

At first taste, this was really quite bland. I added some more of the spices hoping to help it out, but there wasn't too much improvement. I also added additional water to help in the cooking process and to create a little bit of sauce. 

The verdict: Unfortunately, this was really bland and completely un-exciting. Maybe the tofu and dry mustard is just too important to leave out, but it didn't have any of the thick, creaminess that usually makes curries so yummy. If you dig veggies, try it out! It wasn't bad, just nothing to write home about.

Tomorrow is day 12 and I hope to be back to my old self! Today's photo documentation was totally lacking and the recipe itself was boring. Boooo. I am really excited for tomorrow though. We'll be having Lamb Chops with Poached Quince and Balsamic Pan Sauce. This looks DELICIOUS and has wonderful reviews. And how exciting to be making my first lamb chops! See you then.

Photo by Brian Leatart for Epicurious

Day 10- Whole Fish Baked in Sea Salt

And Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning is always such a wonderful, relaxing time. Everyone in jammies, sitting together and drinking some delicious hot drink. Thanks to the wonder of Skype I was able to see join in as my family in Michigan did just that. I even got to watch them open their presents! Almost as good as being there. Almost.

Mohamed and I had a nice morning as well. For breakfast I made an Egg and Potato Breakfast Scramble. I found this recipe via my new love- Pinterest. We also enjoyed steaming hot mugs of homemade Chai Latte. All this time in Morocco I've been going without- who knew I could have been making it all along! You just need cardamon pods, cloves, ginger and a black tea bag.

Christmas breakfast- scramble and chai!

After breakfast we leisurely opened our stockings from each other and each found some delightful treats.

When we were feeling about ready for lunch, we started the main recipe of the day. It's another one from Epicurious- Whole fish baked in sea salt. I ate a fish baked in sea salt when I was in Egypt, so I was particularly excited about this.

Our whole fish!

I apparently didn't communicate well with the fishmonger as we discovered in trying to work with the fish that it still had scales and a spine! Luckily, Mohamed is extremely helpful in this department. He got rid of the scales and even figured out how to remove the spine so that we'd have space to stuff the fish.

For the filling, you start by toasting coriander, black pepper and fennel seeds, then crushing them up. You also thinly slice a lemon a few leeks. Stuff all of this into the fish!

spices toasting

Lemons and leeks

Stuff it all in!

Mohamed even closed it with string. He's so good.

Then you prepare a mixture of egg whites, water and salt to coat the fish with. I think this is the part I screwed up (can't get through a dish without doing something wrong!). I used the amount of egg whites and water that they called for, but less salt. So, the mixture was too liquid-y.  Anyway, you coat the fish in the salt on the baking tray.

coated with salt and ready to bake

We cooked it for longer than the recipe called for, but the salt didn't form the crust that it should have. I'm guessing due to too much liquid in the salt mixture. You're supposed to just break the crust and brush it off. We had to sort of scrape it and it still left too much salt on the fish. It tasted great on the inside though!

The verdict: This was yummy, but next time I'll reduce the amount of spices on the inside as it was a bit overpowering. I'll also be sure to get the ratio correct on the salt coating! Overall though, this was really easy and quick to make. And fish is something we don't eat enough of, so this is a pretty low hassle way to add more to our diet. It also made a memorable Christmas lunch.  

If interested, find the recipe here: Whole fish baked in sea salt. Hope all of you have a great holiday.

On deck for tomorrow (five days to go!)- TBD. I had a recipe planned, but now it just seems like too much work. I'll be on the hunt for something great!