my grandmother’s manicotti

one-dish wonder

I have been saving this recipe for a while now. It’s a pretty legendary family recipe, so it feels like it merits a worthy occasion. One came upon me almost spontaneously this weekend: the combination of a snowy winter night, the start of the year and a new semester, and a happy confluence of dear friends, old and new, suddenly somehow made it the right time for manicotti. With a few bottles of Chianti, a simple salad and some hot rolls, this makes a perfect, deceptively simple dinner you can throw together as a prelude to a night out.

need i say more?

eritrean spinach to die for

a new new year's tradition?

You know it’s going to be a great year when it kicks off with not one but two fabulous dinner parties featuring home-cooked Eritrean/Ethiopian food. After the first such party I just had to ask the hostess of the first dinner for the spinach recipe (which may have been my favorite dish, probably because spinach is my favorite vegetable, as the one spinach vendor in the Moroccan province of Taroudant will tell you) so that I could make it at the second dinner a week later. At this point I’ve fed this to about a dozen people and I think the consensus is that it’s about the tastiest spinach dish we have ever witnessed.

chickpea tagine revisited

Needless to say, the month of December got away from me a bit.

It did involve some classic moments such as this one:

arrogant bastard

and this:

stone IPA

aaand the best:

new year's tagine + sister act with the best brother in the world

…but now I’m back in DC post a wintry (well, not so wintry – let’s say an almost-too-sunny) Carolina-San Francisco tour and with no meat in the fridge and a vegetarian houseguest on the way I finally have an excuse to revive the blog and an old favorite recipe at the same time with a chickpea tagine.

add a kick to your cranberry

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I’m reposting one of my favorite recipes (enough friends have asked for the recipe in the past week or so that I figure my laziness is justified). In short, if you’re looking for something a little different to play the role of cranberry this Thanksgiving, try this pomegranate-cranberry chutney.

“Chutney” sounds intimidating, but it’s not. I promise. All the ingredients are at your local grocery store. Pectin sounds weird, I know, but it’s just magic powder that makes a jam-like substance of whatever you stir it into, and your grocery store has it. It’s yummy with turkey but you can also serve it with cheese or cream cheese & crackers for this weekend’s more hors d’oeuvre-y moments.

This particular recipe is the perfect one to remind me of the many, many people connected to it (from friends in Morocco to my godmother to the family and friends and family friends I’ve made it for and with) and so it’s the perfect way to give thanks to you all this year. Sending my love to everyone from chilly rainy DC! Thank you all for giving me much too much to be thankful for.

pomegranates: mighty tempting

lemon & olive chicken, redux (chicken no. 8)

You know how the best meals are sometimes the ones you throw together from what you have lying around, and then they’re impossible to recreate?

I made a chicken along those lines a few days ago. But I photographed the whole thing in the hopes of launching it out there into the world. For seriously the best Moroccan chicken that has ever emerged from my little kitchen, read on.

french kiss/italian honey

This is my best and favorite dessert to make. Presentation is easy, leftovers are glorious (there is a reason this post has a breakfast tag), and it manages to combine predictable blends (cream & chocolate) with barely-there hints of more complex elements (think star anise, lemon, honey, espresso). It sounds like it could be a bit much, but the flavors are subtle enough that it isn’t. It just works. And there is so much in this world that is just a bit much that I find immense comfort in complicated things that aren’t.

sweet tart honeycream on the bottom...

a feast to feed an army and lucky chicken no. 7

It doesn’t seem quite right to be talking about chicken during Eid but I often fail to get things quite right and I think I’d better get this recipe down before I forget it.

as usual: lots going on

I picked up this recipe last week in Morocco, but it’s hard to believe I’d never jotted it down before. I’d like to call it something like Jama3iyya Chicken* because it’s a recipe I’ve seen most at large meetings, trainings, or visits in the spaces of Moroccan community associations (jama3iyyat). It’s similar to your Moroccan chicken tagine, but pared down a bit, so if you have to cook for 40 people, and not in a fancy-wedding kind of way but in a working-lunch kind of way, you can do it and still serve your chicken in a tasty zesty sauce.

sweet moroccan carrot salad

A simple and healthy salad, this is the perfect complement to a more traditional savory salad – not only does the texture and sweet taste provide a nice contrast to a veggie salad with vinaigrette, but the colors make a nice foil too – having colors that contrast well is a nice way to spice up the look of your table and carrots are a great way to do it.

eat it up

The recipe is very simple, too, obeying the rule that the best recipes are often those with fewer than five ingredients…

souss valley cornucopia

There is much to share in the way of culinary ventures from my trip last week to Morocco, including a few new recipes. For now, some highlights:

lunch with the ladies; chicken recipe forthcoming

brochettes spiced with cumin and cooked over coals

al-ruman

tunnirt + tamment + zit blady = souss valley breakfast

arugula & thyme salad

the players.

Second in the series from Shahiya’s 101 Lebanese Recipes app (see the first one here): a lovely zesty salad (this one is for Angelique: sorry it has taken me so long to post this!) that fits nicely anywhere in your meal. It’s light enough to be a starter but so refreshing that it actually is a nice little palate-cleanser at the end of a meal, too.

arugula-gugulama

My version is significantly adapted from the original, so if you’re looking for authentic Lebanese salatet rocca w zaatar, head to Shahiya. Otherwise, read on…