Jake was gone for the first part of January to see family, watch football and interview for the Kalamazoo College job. Once he got back he took me to the Le Creuset outlet store in Gilroy where I picked out some major pieces for my kitchenware collection! This was my holiday present. I picked up a red tajine, a blue grill pan and a huge yellow lidded saute pan (which turns out to be the most used piece in the kitchen now). I was like a kid in a candy store, but instead of candy there were $200 pots. Because it was an outlet store the pots may be one season behind in color or style, have little imperfections (that I don't even notice) and cost way less than 'perfect' and brand new ones. There was one piece I really did adore but held back. The yellow batter bowl will be acquired next! I have vague plans to go back to the outlet mall to do some clothes shopping and I may have to swing by one more time....
Here's the Moroccan tajine and the yellow saute pan:
I loosely used a recipe that came with the tagine. This is what I did:
Sauteed red onion and garlic in the base:
Then added some cubed fake chicken:
Then cubed eggplant, preserved lemons and a whole tablespoon of tumeric:
I found the preserved lemons at a Middle Eastern store in San Jose. They are basically pickled lemon but you use the rind, not the flesh. The come whole so I scooped out the flesh and chopped the rind. They weren't as sour as I expected! I think I'll try making my own next time. They take a month to make, but we have such great lemons here I bet mine would be better than jarred.
The top cone is then placed on the base and left there for about 2 hours. The purpose of the conical shape is that the steam condenses and collects on the lid and then falls back into the stew creating a concentrated flavor. It smelled amazing while cooking.
While the tajine was cooking, I made a salad with spicy Moroccan cooked carrots:
Looks like a big yellow blob, but it was a delicious yellow blob! Along with the salad I made a bulgur and vermicelli pilaf to go with the stew. Garnished with cilantro for color and flavor. Incredibly good!
I've been a cooking maniac lately! I'm trying to use my cookbooks a lot more because I have so many and I enjoy trying new techniques that I may have not thought of on my own. I've probably tried about 20 new recipes this month. My favorites being some smokey collards done in a slow cooker and apricot almond chocolate bark.
Also, Happy Anniversary to my grandparents! A few days late, but I just wanted to know I've been thinking about you during this busy week.
