It's hard to believe that Dave and I only have two months left in London after nearly two years absolutely filled to the brim with good times. But there's plenty of time to reminisce about London. We've got a four month trip to look forward to and the planning is well and truly under way! Dave has created the mac-daddy of all mac-daddy spreadsheets which he is intently populating with dates, expenses and itineraries. I stick to food-based research and occasionally help find accommodation. It's much more exciting. I did however plan our itinerary for our first stop outside of the UK: Morocco. It's always been high on my travel agenda but Dave took some convincing. Now that I've planned out what we will do and shown him the amazing scenery we'll drive through, he's really excited about it too.
What I'm most looking forward to is of course the food. I love a good tagine and I've heard the harira soup and freshly squeezed orange juice from the markets is out of this world. Hopefully we'll discover some new dishes and foods along the way to expand the home cooking repertoire.
During our trek through the Atlas Mountains we're stopping for a night in the Todra Gorge at an eco-hotel with its own vegetable garden in the middle of what appears to be barren middle of nowhereness. Apparently they are famous for the aubergine dish they serve for dinner. All sounds pretty damn good to me. I decided to have a little practice run the other night and made this aubergine and chickpea tagine. I don't have a tagine (yet) so I used a casserole dish but if you have a tagine then you can make the real deal.
Dave took the photos with our new camera - what you think?!
Recipe
2 aubergines
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 chilli finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch grated fresh ginger
1 can of chickpeas
1 can of chopped tomatoes
500ml of vegetable stock
1/4 of preserved lemon roughly chopped
a handful of dates roughly chopped
a handful of raisins
fresh coriander
olive oil
Turn oven on to 180 degrees
Chop the aubergine and add to a large hot frying pan with plenty of olive oil. Brown all over for 5 mins then remove from the pan and set aside.
To the pan add some more olive oil and the onions. Cook for about 5 mins. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for another minute. Next add the spices and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir. Then add the aubergines, chickpeas, vegetable stock, preserved lemon, dates and raisins and stir together. Cook for a further 5 mins.
Transfer the ingredients into a hot casserole dish (or tagine if you have one) and cover. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 20 to 30 mins until cooked.
Remove the dish for the oven once cooked and set aside to cool slightly. In the meantime prepare your couscous (cover with boiling water for about 3 to 5 minutes then fluff up with a fork, adding olive oil to help separate).
Serve with the couscous and fresh coriander.
Serves 4
What I'm most looking forward to is of course the food. I love a good tagine and I've heard the harira soup and freshly squeezed orange juice from the markets is out of this world. Hopefully we'll discover some new dishes and foods along the way to expand the home cooking repertoire.
During our trek through the Atlas Mountains we're stopping for a night in the Todra Gorge at an eco-hotel with its own vegetable garden in the middle of what appears to be barren middle of nowhereness. Apparently they are famous for the aubergine dish they serve for dinner. All sounds pretty damn good to me. I decided to have a little practice run the other night and made this aubergine and chickpea tagine. I don't have a tagine (yet) so I used a casserole dish but if you have a tagine then you can make the real deal.
Dave took the photos with our new camera - what you think?!
Recipe
2 aubergines
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 chilli finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch grated fresh ginger
1 can of chickpeas
1 can of chopped tomatoes
500ml of vegetable stock
1/4 of preserved lemon roughly chopped
a handful of dates roughly chopped
a handful of raisins
fresh coriander
olive oil
Turn oven on to 180 degrees
Chop the aubergine and add to a large hot frying pan with plenty of olive oil. Brown all over for 5 mins then remove from the pan and set aside.
To the pan add some more olive oil and the onions. Cook for about 5 mins. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for another minute. Next add the spices and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir. Then add the aubergines, chickpeas, vegetable stock, preserved lemon, dates and raisins and stir together. Cook for a further 5 mins.
Transfer the ingredients into a hot casserole dish (or tagine if you have one) and cover. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 20 to 30 mins until cooked.
Remove the dish for the oven once cooked and set aside to cool slightly. In the meantime prepare your couscous (cover with boiling water for about 3 to 5 minutes then fluff up with a fork, adding olive oil to help separate).
Serve with the couscous and fresh coriander.
Serves 4
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