Vegetable tagine

Preparation

Make a mix of tomatoes, olive oil and garlic. Simmer. You can make this the day before.



Fry aubergine (optional: bell pepper):



Fry courgette (in very small cubes) and onion (cut very finely).



Add prepared tomatoes with olive oil and garlic.



Add cumin powder, black pepper powder, paprika powder, chili flakes and salt.





Add pre-fried aubergine and green (bell) pepper.



Simmer until done.

Lamb tagine with prunes

Fry lamb shoulder in olive oil until brown.

Fry sliced onion and tomato in olive oil in the tagine.

Add the pieces of meat.

Add 2 teaspoons of Ras el hanout spice blend, some saffron and water.

Add a bunch of parsley and stew until the meat is tender.



Add prunes filled with almond (fried) and rolled in toasted sesame seeds.

Pa Jun (Korean pancake)

For two pancakes:

Mix 1 cup of flower (120 gram), 0.75 cup of water (180 ml), one egg (beaten) and some kimchi juice (according to taste) together. Add more water if the batter is too thick.

Add scallions, halved and cut into 2 inch lengths and some kimchi (finely cut). Optional: carrot, sliced red chili peppers, onion, zucchini or mushrooms.



Let the batter sit for about 10 minutes.

Fry the pancake in a skillet for 4 minutes.



Flip over and fry the other side for 2 minutes.



Serve with dipping sauce made from: rice vinegar and soy sauce (1:1) and some drops of sesame oil.



Or for a more elaborate sauce: 1/3 cup rice vinegar and 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon chili pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon scallions (thinly sliced) and 1 teaspoon chopped garlic.

Brussels sprout & marsala

Clean, then boil Brussels sprouts for 5-6 minutes. I used 500 gram. Do not overcook Brussels sprouts! Overcooking releases the sulphur smelling glucosinolate, sinigrin.



In the meantime: fry 100 gram diced pancetta in a little oil for a couple of minutes. Add 20 gram butter & chestnuts. When the butter has melted add 50 ml. Marsala and cook until the butter and Marsala form a thick sauce.



Mix the drained Brussels sprouts and a handful of parsley with the pancetta-Marsala-sauce and serve.

Chicken fattee with rice, crispbread and yogurt

Chicken fattee is a Lebanese layered dish. It's takes at least two hours to prepare. The best approach is to think in layers. The bread and yogurt can be cold, the rest of the layers need to be warm. Eat with your hands.



Layer 1 (crispbread)

Coat Lebanese flatbread with some melted butter and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the bread is crispy. Cut like a pizza in triangles. If you can't find flatbread, slice pita bread in half.

Layer 2 (rice)

Melt butter over a medium heat, add a cinnamon stick (or powder) and onion. Fry for 10 - 15 minutes. Add pre-soaked rice, water (200 ml for 100 gram of rice) and chickpeas. Boil, add salt and simmer until the rice is done.

Layer 3 (chicken and gravy)

Chicken:
The chicken takes the most time to prepare, so start with the chicken. Rub the chicken with olive oil, season with black pepper, salt and ground cloves. Bake in the oven for about 75 minutes. Take out of the oven and cool. Take the meat off the bone and slice into smaller peaces.

Gravy:
Deglaze the roasting tray - pour off most of the oil - with about 150 ml water.

Layer 4 (aubergine)

Cut an aubergine in small pieces, toss with salt and let sit for one hour. Rinse the salt off and pat dry. Fry the aubergine in olive oil until it's soft and light brown.

Layer 5 (tomato sauce)

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry sliced garlic until light brown. Add a cinnamon stick and a can of plum tomatoes, simmer for half an hour, then season with salt and pepper.

Layer 6 (yogurt)

Mix Greek yogurt and crushed garlic with salt.

Layer 7 (seasoning)

Chopped flat-leaf parsley and warm toasted pine nuts.

Assemble the dish.

Layer the crispy bread:


Add a layer of rice:


The chicken pieces:


Spoon some gravy over the chicken:


The aubergine:


Add a layer of tomato sauce:


Dot some yoghurt over the tomato sauce:


Finish with the flat-leaf parsley and pine nuts:

Korean ginseng chicken soup

When you are ill you need to eat chicken soup. In Korea this chicken soup is eaten in summer time to strengthen the body when it's hot.

The recipe is easy. You need a small chicken, one chicken each person, so it needs to be really small.



Stuff the chicken with some soaked rice (sweet rice if you have it), dried Korean dates (also called Chinese dates), fresh garlic, fresh ginseng.

Boil the stuffed chicken in plenty of water and add some of the ginseng, dates, rice and garlic to the pot. Boil for one hour. In the last few minutes add spring onion.



Serve with salt for dipping the chicken pieces.

African Palmnut Concentrate

Or "Sauce Graine" in Francophone Africa. For use in soups and stews.

Palm nut is the fruit of the African oil palm. The African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) is native to west Africa. The fruit is used to make palm wine, palm oil and palmnut concentrate.

Palmnut Concentrate from Côte d'Ivoire:



Palmnut stew recipe

Ox tail:


Chicken:


Crab:


Boil one ox trail, crab, chicken in plenty of water for 20 minutes. Instead of crab you can use prawn.





Add onion, tomato and hot peppers. After 15 minutes remove onion, tomato and hot peppers and mix into a puree and return to pot.




Return mixture to the pot:


Add palm nut cream according to taste. The more the heavier your stew will be. Stir. Simmer.


Add dried okra powder and season, according to the recipe. I used fresh okra.



Simmer until the sauce thickens but not too long! I made the mistake to simmer this stew for a couple of hours. The result was that the ox tail was fine but the chicken and the crab meat had completely dissolved into the sauce. Check the chicken while you stew and thicken the sauce with arrow root.



Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjun9iPAoIM