Kefta Mkaouara - Spicy Egg, Meatball and Tomato Tagine

Rick Stein's 'Mediterranean Escapes' cookbook has been out a good while now but in my opinion it's one of the best books I own. 

Even though I've made this time and time again, we still love it.
Of course you don't have to have a Tagine to make this, I didn't use mine as it's a bit on the big side, so I just used a shallow oven proof baking dish.

Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

I saw this recipe a while back in a Rick Stein cookery book. It's so easy to make - takes a few minutes and you're all done.
Perfect with Thai fishcakes.

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You will need:

50ml white wine vinegar
100g caster sugar
1½tbsp water
2 tsp Thai fish sauce
50g cucumber, diced very finely
25g carrot, diced very finely
25g onion, chopped very finely
2 red bird's eye chillies, sliced thinly

How to do it:
Gently heat the vinegar, sugar and water in a small pan until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Stir in the fish sauce, cucumber, carrot, onion and chillies. Pour into four small dipping saucers.

Jambalaya - Based on a Rick Stein Recipe

I've based this on a recipe by Rick Stein that I've altered slightly, as you do. Now, we must have become immune to chillies as when I make it again I will add another chili and I'd already added two teaspoons of chili powder, not one as listed. Best you go for one teaspoon and then decide for yourself. I used Chorizo as I couldn't get the Cabanos smoked sausage that Rick Stein used.

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You will need to serve 2:
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

90g Chorizo sausage - sliced

2 teaspoons of paprika

4 garlic cloves - chopped

1 medium onion - chopped

1 green bell pepper - seeded and chopped

2 celery sticks - sliced

2 red chillies - seeded and finely chopped

2 skinless chicken breast fillets - cut into 1 inch pieces

12 (or however many you fancy) raw king prawns

2 dried bay leaves, crushed

1 sprig of thyme - chopped

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 teaspoon of chilli powder (I used 2)

300g long grain rice (Uncle Bens is best says I)

700ml hot chicken stock (make up 900ml from 2 Knorr Chicken stock cubes but you will only want 700ml)

3/4 of a teaspoon of salt - or to your taste

2 spring onions - sliced

How to do it:
Heat the oil in a large skillet and gently fry the Chorizo until it starts to crisp up. When it's done remove and set aside. The reason for removing it until nearer the end of cooking is because I find that it looses it's lovely colour when the stock is added.

Now add the paprika and stir to colour the oil along with the garlic. Stir for a few seconds and then add the onion, peppers, celery and the red chillies. Cook over a medium heat until the vegetables begin to colour nicely. 

You can now add the chicken, bay leaves, thyme, chili powder and the oregano. Cook for about 5 minutes or so. Now throw in the rice and stir for a couple of minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and add the salt.

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 15 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.

Now put the Chorizo you set aside earlier and cook for a minutes or two before adding the prawns and spring onions. When the prawns turn pink they can be declared done.

Check for seasoning and if you want, you can add a little more chili powder if you want it hotter!

Preserved Lemons - how to make them

Rick Stein said in his book 'Mediterranean Escapes' (the one that made me buy a Tagine) 'Preserved lemons are necessary for Moroccan cooking'. So, a few weeks ago I put some in a kilner jar along with lots of salt, olive oil, vinegar and a few bay leaves. 

And they are now ready to use! But as I'm working this week I will not be doing anything with them until Thursday!

 You might like my recipe for Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons

I seem to have bought a Tagine!

I'm starting this food blog that probably only my mum will ever look at - but hey ho here I go:  I recently bought Rick Stein's cookery book 'Mediterranean Escapes'.

It's filled with the yummiest recipes from the Med which of course includes Morocco. Well as you can imagine, I just had to have a Tagine!

I looked on the net for ages trying to decide the best one to buy. In the end I thought this one was the best. It's made by 'Emile Henry' and had the best customer reviews.

The first recipe I tried was, of course from my newly purchased Rick Stein book.

I made Spicy Egg, Meatball and Tomato Tagine (Kefta Mkaouara) which I will do a post about soon.