Lord Bottletop's Fez

Nabila’s Moroccan Kitchen . Tuesday, April 2, 2013 Lentils: Quotidian Moroccan food When you want something that will take you through the next 5 days of classes, lentils are the way to go, and I’m throwing in some long hot green peppers for added spiciness. The Arabic name for lentils is ‘Adas, but when texting or chatting online, the word appears as something like 3adas. I’m not sure how this system of transcription evolved—wikipedia says it’s an ad hoc development necessitated by the limited options of cell phone keypads, numerals being presumably easier to type than an apostrophe—but I like it, and most of my Moroccan friends and students enjoy when I use it on Facebook or in a text message—to them, seeing a non-Moroccan doing this is like watching a dog playing the piano. There are a number of distinguishing consonants in the Arabic alphabet which are velarized or pharyngealized versions of the same unemphasized consonants that are represented in Eng...

Nabila’s Moroccan Kitchen . Tuesday, February 24, 2015 Harira: Moroccan comfort food Harira is basically a spicy Moroccan tomato soup with a lot of other things. It's often the first course of a Ramadan ftour (breakfast), after a few dates and juice or milk. For a full pot of Harira, we used a whole kilo of tomatoes. Ingredients : 1  large onion, whole   1 kg tomatoes                          1  sm bunch   celery leaves, chopped     1 sm bunch  parsley, chopped               1 large cup chick peas                       1 tbsp          olive oil                   ...

Nabila’s Moroccan Kitchen . Tuesday, February 24 2015 Savory Briouat with turkey Nabilia and I made this dish several times together, and it's scrumptious. It's a labor because of all the folding of the triangles filled with the vermicelli and the other ingredients, but with two people, the time goes by more quickly. Since briouat is a snack, we freeze the unfried briouat, and it keeps for a long time. Just take it out and fry up a few when it's time to entertain (not much oil, just a little goes a long way)...I enjoy serving these to the students who come to the weekly lunches at the American Language Center when I'm the host, and when I have the time to prepare it.  Nabila preparing a few briouat for snacks The finished product before frying Ingredients : ¾ kg                  turkey / chicken, cubed 1                       red on...

Nabila’s Moroccan Kitchen . Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Moroccan Chicken with Trid Nabila got this recipe from her mother, and showed me how to cook it. Chicken with Trid---melts in your mouth Ingredients: 1 kg. trid,  set aside 1.5-2 kg chicken, cut in quarters and washed in lemon juice and water In a bowl, add the following:: 3 onions, finely cut 1 tomato, grated 1 small handful parsely and cilantro, chopped 2 cloves garlic Place the chicken and the sliced vegetables in a pressure cooker, and add t he following: 1 tsp ginger 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp salt Add about 1 small Moroccan/Turkish teaglass of olive oil, and ½ teaglass of water Cook the chicken with the all the other ingredients under pressure (steam setting) for 10 minutes, until it cooks down to a thick paste. Add about 2 coffee mugs of water and cook under pressure (setting 2) for 30 minutes. Serve with trid, and the chicken will me...

Nabila’s Moroccan Kitchen . Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Loubia .. Moroccan White Beans This is our housekeeper Nabila’s method of cooking loubia. She said you can also use a little bit of khlea, preserved beef confit, for flavor. I did it the last time I made it and loved it... just a few fatty pieces of the confit mixed into the loubia made a big difference. Khlea will keep in the fridge for a very long time, at least 3 months, although I can almost guarantee you'll use it up much more quickly. Here are a couple of good khlea recipes:  https://tasteofmaroc.com/moroccan-preserved-meat-khlii-khlea/ https://www.linsfood.com/khlea-khlii-moroccan-preserved-meat/ Loubia or Fasoulya     Ingredients (makes 8-10 bowls of loubia) : 2 cups of white beans, called loubia in Morocco. Elsewhere, they're called navy beans, great northerns (i.e., the beans in Yankee bean soup) or cannellini. You know what they are.  Step 1) Soak  the beans ...