I Like to Cook
(Apologies for the length of this, but hope you find it interesting.)
If you have a brain that works like mine in going off on a million tangents all at once, you can easily be transported on a magical mystery tour into the past just from one little recipe. I delved into The New Soup Bible and open it to a page with Moroccan Chicken Soup with Charmoula Butter and before you could say 'Sancho Panza' I was on a boat sailing from the port of Algeciras at the southern edge of Spain to Ceuta in North Africa.
But it all started before then..
When I was a little girl, my sister and I often stayed with our maternal grandparents and an aunt, who as well as being a local artist did an important job that she told us required signing the official secrets act.. maybe she was a spy! She painted abstract paintings and blue and green portraits. On Saturday afternoons I sometimes watched old black and white films in their living room. I remember lots of old Bette Davis films and films with safaris in African jungles with beautiful Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner dressed in safari suits, who would disappear into a tiny ten, only to reappear a second later clothed in beautiful evening dresses with perfectly
coiffed hair. It became an obsession with me to go to the continent of Arica one day, it sounded romantic to me.
When some years later I went on holiday to Southern Spain with a group of girlfriends, I discovered just how close we were to North Africa, I couldn't settle until we'd bought tickets and sailed over for the day. I loved it. It wasn't the romantic jungle with warriors killing lions and tigers with spears, or ladies in safari suits and beautiful gowns falling in love with alpha males, but I thought it was amazing and funnily enough my memories are food related. My paternal great grandparents came from Morocco and I only need to see the word 'Moroccan' and I'm off on a metaphorical magic carpet ride.
The chamoula whilst butter-heavy is an amazing addition and would make a great stuffing for chicken or turkey. I think it would work really well sandwiched into the cavity made in a chicken when you lift the breast skin up; I'm sure that it would result in a really tasty moist chicken.. mmm.. the possibilities are endless.
I adapted my random recipe to make Spicy Moroccon Squash Soup with Charmoula Butter by substituting the chicken with butternut squash....and it was amazing.
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
50g/2oz/ 1/4cup butter ( I used olive oil and not so much)
450g/11b of butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
7.5ml /1 1/2 tsp plain (all purpose) flour
15ml/1tbs harissa
1 litre/1 3/4 pints 4 cups vegetable stock
400gm/14oz can chopped tomatoes
400g/14oz can chick peas drained and rinsed
salt and ground black pepper
lemon wedges to serve
For the charmoula
50g/2oz slightly salted butter at room temperature (or soya or olive oil substitute)
30ml/2tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
pinch of saffron strands
finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon
5ml/1tsp paprika
cup of dried breadcrumbs (I used fresh ones and this worked great)
Method:
Melt the butter or heat the oil in a large heavy based pan and then sauté the onion and cook over a gentle heat for a four or five minutes until beginning to soften but not colour too much.
Add the garlic and continue to cook for a minute or so, being careful not to burn as it will taste bitter.
Stir in the flour and cook for a three or four minutes, stirring continuously until it begins to brown.
Stir in the harissa and cook for a minute. Gradually add the stock and cook for two to three minutes until it's slightly thickened. Stir in the tomatoes.
Add the squash and chick peas. Cover and cook on a low heat for about twenty minutes until the squash is tender. Season well with salt and pepper.
To make the chamoula:
Put the butter or substitute into a bowl and beat in the coriander, garlic, cumin, chilli, saffron strands, lemon rind and paprika. When the mixture is well combined, stir in the the coarse breadcrumbs.
Ladle the soup into six warmed bowls. Spoon a little of the charmoula into the centre of each and leave for a few seconds to allow the butter to melt into the soup before serving with lemon wedges.
This soup is absolutely delicious. It's a very substantial autumn or winter recipe. If allowed to reduce a little more it would make a great accompaniment to couscous, quinoa or rice. The variations are endless.
It would work with any root vegetable and would be nice with spinach or chard added. Prawns or fish would work well too and of course the chicken that the original recipe required
If you have a brain that works like mine in going off on a million tangents all at once, you can easily be transported on a magical mystery tour into the past just from one little recipe. I delved into The New Soup Bible and open it to a page with Moroccan Chicken Soup with Charmoula Butter and before you could say 'Sancho Panza' I was on a boat sailing from the port of Algeciras at the southern edge of Spain to Ceuta in North Africa.
But it all started before then..
When I was a little girl, my sister and I often stayed with our maternal grandparents and an aunt, who as well as being a local artist did an important job that she told us required signing the official secrets act.. maybe she was a spy! She painted abstract paintings and blue and green portraits. On Saturday afternoons I sometimes watched old black and white films in their living room. I remember lots of old Bette Davis films and films with safaris in African jungles with beautiful Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner dressed in safari suits, who would disappear into a tiny ten, only to reappear a second later clothed in beautiful evening dresses with perfectly
coiffed hair. It became an obsession with me to go to the continent of Arica one day, it sounded romantic to me.
When some years later I went on holiday to Southern Spain with a group of girlfriends, I discovered just how close we were to North Africa, I couldn't settle until we'd bought tickets and sailed over for the day. I loved it. It wasn't the romantic jungle with warriors killing lions and tigers with spears, or ladies in safari suits and beautiful gowns falling in love with alpha males, but I thought it was amazing and funnily enough my memories are food related. My paternal great grandparents came from Morocco and I only need to see the word 'Moroccan' and I'm off on a metaphorical magic carpet ride.
The chamoula whilst butter-heavy is an amazing addition and would make a great stuffing for chicken or turkey. I think it would work really well sandwiched into the cavity made in a chicken when you lift the breast skin up; I'm sure that it would result in a really tasty moist chicken.. mmm.. the possibilities are endless.
I adapted my random recipe to make Spicy Moroccon Squash Soup with Charmoula Butter by substituting the chicken with butternut squash....and it was amazing.
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
50g/2oz/ 1/4cup butter ( I used olive oil and not so much)
450g/11b of butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
7.5ml /1 1/2 tsp plain (all purpose) flour
15ml/1tbs harissa
1 litre/1 3/4 pints 4 cups vegetable stock
400gm/14oz can chopped tomatoes
400g/14oz can chick peas drained and rinsed
salt and ground black pepper
lemon wedges to serve
For the charmoula
50g/2oz slightly salted butter at room temperature (or soya or olive oil substitute)
30ml/2tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
pinch of saffron strands
finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon
5ml/1tsp paprika
cup of dried breadcrumbs (I used fresh ones and this worked great)
Method:
Melt the butter or heat the oil in a large heavy based pan and then sauté the onion and cook over a gentle heat for a four or five minutes until beginning to soften but not colour too much.
Add the garlic and continue to cook for a minute or so, being careful not to burn as it will taste bitter.
Stir in the flour and cook for a three or four minutes, stirring continuously until it begins to brown.
Stir in the harissa and cook for a minute. Gradually add the stock and cook for two to three minutes until it's slightly thickened. Stir in the tomatoes.
Add the squash and chick peas. Cover and cook on a low heat for about twenty minutes until the squash is tender. Season well with salt and pepper.
To make the chamoula:
Put the butter or substitute into a bowl and beat in the coriander, garlic, cumin, chilli, saffron strands, lemon rind and paprika. When the mixture is well combined, stir in the the coarse breadcrumbs.
Ladle the soup into six warmed bowls. Spoon a little of the charmoula into the centre of each and leave for a few seconds to allow the butter to melt into the soup before serving with lemon wedges.
This soup is absolutely delicious. It's a very substantial autumn or winter recipe. If allowed to reduce a little more it would make a great accompaniment to couscous, quinoa or rice. The variations are endless.
It would work with any root vegetable and would be nice with spinach or chard added. Prawns or fish would work well too and of course the chicken that the original recipe required
