Let's Go to Morrocco!

OK so I was inspired by my friend Stephanie Steen to start sharing some of my more daring recipe experiences via my blog. Today's judges are yours truly and 5 very opinionated children. Tonight's new try was Moroccan Tangine of Chicken accompanied by Moroccan Couscous....See a theme here? OK so first off let me say that anytime my kids get wind that I will be trying a new recipe panic sets in. I'm not sure exactly why as many of my "new" recipes have become family favorites, (i.e. pasta with pesto, fish tacos, shrimp bake and much more). It must be like when something traumatic happens and we just seem to remember them more clearly. There were a few failures although I've blocked them out....So where were we? The chicken. So what exactly is a Tangine? Just as the cook in many American kitchens has her own potato salad recipe, in Morocco, the tangine is the dish that is defined household by household. In a nutshell it's an easy braised stew This dish called for either skinless, boneless thighs or skinless, boneless breasts. You could also use a combination of both. I prefer thighs when I'm making a slow simmer dish and opted for organic thighs. The dish starts with a spice rub that included Hungarian sweet paprika, ground ginger, turmeric and black pepper. After cooking the chicken in a little olive oil for 3 minutes on each side in a non-stick skillet you remove the chicken and cut it into strips. Add onion, fresh plum tomatoes, salt and garbanzo beans and you simmer this fragrant dish covered. While the chicken was simmering I moved on to the dish that made me the most nervous.

Can You Just Smell This?!

The Moroccan couscous. Now, I've made couscous before but it has come out of a box. This was my first attempt at making it from scratch. This delicious dish came from my favorite website allrecipes.com It included toasting some interesting spices that included ginger, garlic, cayenne, cumin, cardamon, coriander and allspice. Onions, sweet red peppers, raisins, garbanzo beans, zucchini, orange zest and a broth of chicken broth and orange juice made my kitchen smell amazing!! After the concoction boils you mix in the couscous and cover, removing it from the heat until the couscous absorbs the liquid and fluffs up. Here's where I ran into a problem. My couscous never exactly did that. I tried cooking it a little longer, soaking it longer and well, it never really fluffed up.

The Spices and Orange Zest Were Amazing!

I wasn't calling it a failure yet, so I garnished my chicken with freshly chopped cilantro, skipped the fresh mint garnish that was called for in the original couscous recipe and dished out the aromatic food.

OK B- for Presentation

My kids saw the food and the whining started immediately. After I reminded them that this is not a restaurant and whatever I cook is what they eat, they reluctantly started to try it. Jason said the chicken was edible in spite of his two least favorite ingredients in it (tomato and garbanzo beans). He definitely didn't love the couscous, but he cleared his dish and walked away grumbling something about starving to death. OK so 1 fail. Charlotte's vote doesn't really count here because unless it's tacos or macaroni and cheese she pretty much says she hates it. That said, she did eat all of her chicken and some of the couscous. Luke ate everything with gusto except for the zucchini which he picked out. Maddie ate it all and Gwen who doesn't like chicken actually went back for seconds. My opinion was that it was quite excellent. The couscous didn't have that fluffiness that I was looking for but the flavors were amaaaazing! The chicken was great too, but I felt that it needed a little more salt. So votes.... 1-No Way, 2-Maybes and 3-More, More! Will definitely make again!

Leftovers Anyone?!