A Moroccan moment

A tagine is a Moroccan stew cooked in an earthenware pot of the same name traditionally on an open flame. You can buy tagines in most cook shops. The unusual triangular shape is designed to force condensation to the bottom keeping the food moist, I bought mine from a village in the Atlas Mountains and use it all the time. If you do not have a tagine you can easily make this recipe in a large lidded frying pan or saucepan.
This recipe is very simple and can be prepared in advance and would be great for easy Easter entertaining, the real beauty of this dish is that it hardly needs anything to go with it - perhaps a simple salad or some bread to dip in.
The charmoula is a classic fish marinade of cumin, garlic coriander, paprika and lemon and can be used to marinade most fish. I love this recipe it’s so colourful and I have made it many times, and with spring looming its nice to taste some early sunshine!
Camelia xx

FISH TAGINE WITH POTATOES TOMATOES AND OLIVES

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 white fish steaks or fillets approx 225gm each. Hake is best but hard to source so I have used pollack. Cod or any firm white fish is fine
3 tblspns olive oil
20 small new potatoes such as Charlotte variety
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
15 cherry tomatoes halved
4 green peppers grilled until black, skinned, seeded and sliced into strips
A few black olives
100ml water
Salt and pepper


Charmoula marinade:

2 garlic cloves
2 tspns grnd cumin
1 tspn sea salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Half tblspn red wine vinegar
1 bunch fresh coriander
1 tblspn olive oil

Method:
1. Firstly grill the peppers until black and blistered all over. Place whilst hot in a bowl cover with cling film and leave to get cold. Once cold, the skin will easily peel away. You can do this in advance.
2. Make the charmoula in a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic with the salt until smooth then add cumin, lemon juice, vinegar, paprika, coriander and olive oil. Rub two thirds onto the fish and place in fridge between 20 mins and two hours.
3. Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and cut in half lengthways.
4. Heat 2 tblspns olive oil and fry the garlic until lightly brown, add the halved tomatoes and toss until slightly soft. Stir in the green peppers, the remainder of the charmoula and season.
5. In a 25cm tagine or lidded pan spread the potatoes over the bottom, then scatter three quarters of the pepper tomato mix over the potatoes then place the marinated fish on top. Place a little of the remaining pepper mix on each fish and scatter the olives. Add the water and drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top. Finally check seasoning and put a lid on and steam over a medium heat for 15 to 20 mins until the fish is cooked through.
6. This will happily stand for about 15 mins.
7. Enjoy!

Buenos Dia!

Hello! Welcome to my blogspot, I am really looking forward to hearing your comments and answering any foodie questions you may have, but firstly a big thank you for all the lovely comments and support I receive from Town and Village readers. I feel very lucky to have the chance of sharing my passion for food with all the readers and hope I can encourage people that wont cook to start cooking! Food is the one thing we all share and with the tight budgets of recent times home is definately the best place to be, entertaining family and friends. If you have any questions or any suggestions as to the types of recipes please let me know.
I have recently just returned from Spain after organising a 210 years birthday house party.....my hubbies 50th, mums 80th and father in laws 80th!! It was great fun, I even learnt to dance Flamenco with two friends to surprise ( or maybe shock) everybody. Food was obviously a focus and once again I was thrown into catering for the masses! I must say a thank you to Suzy who came in to cook for a couple of the nights her Moroccan recipes were especially good and am looking forward to sharing some of those recipes with you shortly.
This months recipe is a treat for Mum, a simple tea to spoil her on Mothers day! Make the cakes a day in advance and you too can enjoy the day.
I look forward to receiving your comments.

Camelia xx

Tea fit for Mum

We all have lovely memories of standing in the kitchen helping and watching Mum bake something delicious, the house filled with the aroma of freshly baked cakes just waiting for them to cool to have the first bite. So I thought it would be nice to spoil our mums on Mother’s Day with a few ideas for some great teatime treats. I have included some suggestions to make your sandwiches more interesting and look pretty too, I’m sure she will appreciate all your hard work.

Triple Deckers
Use two slices of brown and one white in the middle, cut off the crusts all together to keep a sharp edge and fill with your choice.

Checkerboard sandwiches
Equal amounts of brown and white of the same thickness, cut off crusts and fill with your choice (these are best with less chunky fillings) cut into equal sized squares then alternate on a plate to make a checkerboard effect.

Rolled Sandwiches
Take some slices of bread and cut off all crusts except one end. Spread each one, cut each slice into three with the crust facing away, place chosen filling on the end nearest to you and roll away towards crust. Pack vertically into a dish and chill for 30 mins.
Some suggestions for fillings
Grated cheese mixed with finely diced celery mixed with mayonnaise and black pepper.
Cottage cheese mixed with chopped spring onions a dash of curry powder and spoon of mango chutney.
Corned beef with dill cucumber and wholegrain mustard mixed with a little mayo.
Ham and caramelized red onion chutney.
Smoked salmon or trout with cream cheese and black pepper.
Cheese roasted pepper and sweet chutney


TANGY LEMON CAKE (A favourite in my house)
125grms butter
175grms caster sugar
Grated rind and juice of two lemons
2 beaten eggs
175grms self raising flour
A little milk
50grms granulated sugar

Method
Heat oven to 180c/ 350f/gas mark 4, grease a 1kg loaf tin.
Cream together butter sugar and lemon rind.
Gradually beat in the eggs.
Mix in the flour and about 4tblsns of milk until you have a dropping consistency.
Place in tin and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until golden and firm on top.
Just before cake is ready prepare the lemon syrup. Heat the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
As soon as the cake is out, pierce the cake with a skewer and pour over the syrup,
leave to cool in tin.

Clotted cream tea cupcakes
You can use any fruit and jam of your choice with these muffin style buns.

Ingredients:
175grms golden caster sugar
150 ml pot natural yoghurt
3 beaten eggs
140grms self raising flour
1tspn baking powder
100grms ground almonds
175grms melted butter
1tspn vanilla extract
Raspberry jam
A small pot of clotted cream
A punnet of fresh raspberries

Method
Heat oven to 190c/170c fan /gas mark 5 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
Mix together the yoghurt, eggs and vanilla extract into a bowl. Put all the dry ingredients in another bowl with a pinch of salt and make a well in the middle.
Pour the yoghurt mix and the melted butter into the dry ingredients working quickly with a metal spoon do not overwork the mix.
Spoon into the cases filling almost to the top and bake for 18 to 20 mins until firm to touch.
Cool in tin for a couple of minutes then place on a rack.
When cold slice the top off the muffins and put a dollop of jam, clotted cream and raspberries and place top back on. Dust with icing sugar.