Moroccan Braised Chicken with Apricots and Citrus Couscous

MOROCCAN braised chicken with APRICOTS // ORANGE ZEST couscous 

Each week I revisit my list of travel-inspired dishes I want to recreate to post on the blog with some witty/inspired story behind them.  It includes Basque salted cod pintxos, Turkish simit, Peruvian lomo saltado, and French pork rillettes smeared across a tartine and topped with little gherkins, to name a few.  The beautiful images of food are paired with even prettier pictures I dig off of my external hard drive, exporting all the readers to a different place and time (like 2009, or something) where life is always simple and food is always good.

And then I just make another Moroccan dish instead.

While I actually have been to Morocco (truly one of my favorite places and I break a little inside thinking I might never see it again), I never had a dish like this when I was there.  But, instead of this being a dish tied to rosy memories of exotic locations, it's tied to one of those memories which triggers a visceral nose-scrunching embarrassment - the surprise party for my 30th birthday that I handled poorly, to say the least.  While the birthday girl was not very gracious, the food was delicious and I'm glad I walked away with this recipe to make 6+ months later.

I guess Moroccan is a frequent go-to cuisine for me because it combines the hearty warmth of dishes like a Mexican posole or Thai noodle with the flavor profile of the Middle East.  In general, anything that combines braising and warming spices is a win for me.  In many ways this dish is perfect for fall in that it combines braised, tender meat with citrus and spices you might find in Western seasonal meals.  It's also a quicker, less spice-intensive version of a North African tagine, and probably would be fantastic with the addition of Moroccan preserved lemons.  If you've just been looking to take your side dish game up a notch, the orange zest couscous is a good one to add to your repertoire.  

Raw Zucchini Salad with Tzatziki

RAW ZUCCHINI SALAD w/ ZIPPY TZATZIKI DRESSING

Has it really been less than a month since my last post?  I feel like I've been away for much longer than that, but maybe the transition to summer life just makes my previous life of blogging and teaching seem much further back.  

To be honest, not only have I not been blogging, but I haven't really been doing all that much cooking.  Instead, time has been made for some new hobbies (gardening), and the revival of some old, missed hobbies (French, reading).  Conducive for all of them, Garrett and I have really souped up the back porch, and the first days of summer have been spent sitting among the budding flowers and birds reading, listening to French language podcasts, and scientifically monitoring the growth of dill, basil, tomatoes, and peppers.  The scenery has even made getting work work done very non-stressful.

Speaking of the garden, thus far my research has proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that fresh-from-the garden herbs are a million times better than even the fresh stuff at the store.  The smell, flavor, and texture...all superior.  Here's a recipe you can use with fresh dill.  It's a great, refreshing salad for meals on the porch, and will only keep you in the kitchen for about 10 minutes.

Mini Muffins Four Ways

The end of the school year is rapidly approaching, and amidst the stress of getting students ready for final exams and already starting to plan for next year, there seems to always be something to celebrate.  On Wednesday two of my classes took their AP European History exam, which I hope they will mark as an academic milestone one day (if they don't already).  For the vast majority, at sixteen years old this was their first college-level academic experience.  Now, I'd welcome any one of them to join my graduate level history courses.  While a few came to my class in August pretty much ready to rock that exam, most just came willing to take on a challenge and work for it.  I'm super proud of all them. 

Let me go on record to say that they are now allowed to forget all the facts they learned about European History (even though I know they won't), but they couldn't undo the experience of vigorous learning and adapting to a challenging course load even i they tried.  I tell them on day one that the course is about character building and pushing yourself beyond the academic comfort zone they've experienced their whole lives as high achievers.  We don't really grow unless we stumble, sometimes fail, and test our character by pursing the commitment to the end...that's what I hope they've learned, as well.

Needless to say, they deserved some encouraging muffins for breakfast on Wednesday.  Obviously, these muffins had to be European History themed.  Here's the menu (you'll have to figure out the historical references on your own)*:

• Martin Luther's "reformed" Raisin Brain Cereal Muffins
• Louis XIV's shady, rich, and coercive Dark Chocolate Espresso Muffins
• Mazzini's romantic Zucchini Muffins
• Bismarck's zesty & sweet realpolitk Blueberry Lemon Muffins

GET IT?!

So, muffins.  I've made them before, but never in such large quantities.  Turns out there's some really simple rules: mix all your dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another (including any "wet" flavorings), then mix together to get a thick batter.  Voila! 

Roasted Rosemary Tomatoes & Zucchini Pasta

What a fabulous weekend I had out in D.C. for Bree's wedding shower.  Well, actually, it was to Maryland for a stay with the Rodgers - Bree's adopted D.C. family, relatives of her maid-of-honor, Lizzie, and hosts of the shower.  Before I get much more into the lovely company, let me just give Maryland a big "wowza!"  My travels within the U.S. are relatively poor, but Maryland's natural beauty was a rare moment of encouragement to see more of my own country.  Check out the gorgeous Potomac River that runs through Great Falls Park, separating Maryland and Virginia.

Now that I've misled you to believe that I spent a weekend outdoors checking out the Chesapeake, let me outline exactly how many completely-worth-it calories inspired this week's blog post.  The shower was a totally homemade affair from the drinks all the way down to the table decorations.  Ten small dishes were served, followed by a completely homemade decorated cake with edible flowers and white chocolate dipped Oreos that easily could have sold for $4 each in some fancy confectionery.  These dishes were my favs: roasted rosemary tomato bruschetta (inspiration for this post), baked goat cheese stuffed crimini mushrooms with rosemary breadcrumbs, crab cakes, and zucchini tots.

Judy Rodgers and her best friend, Connie, (with some help from the rest of the gang) pulled off an incredible feat: cooking and preparing for this party without completely losing it or turning into she-devils (like me, whenever I host).  In fact, it was totally the opposite.  Apparently, planning and preparing an elaborate meal of small dishes can actually be an occasion for friends and family to laugh at their blunders and collaborate lovingly!  This was a foreign concept to me, as holidays and hosting growing up were pretty anxiety-ridden affairs.  I woke up each morning to laughter and delicious smells wafting from the kitchen.  Perhaps the only thing better than the food this weekend was the great company - I haven't laughed (or eaten) that much in a long time.

So here is Judy's delicious recipe for a bruschetta topping that I knew would be great tossed with zucchini pasta.  But, trust me, it was awesome on top of toasted bread.  The oven will fill your house with the scent of rosemary, and that will last much longer than the food itself.

vegetable wheatberry salad

Well today was Easter and the last day of spring break.  It was nice to spend a sunny morning with family and good food before real life starts again tomorrow - in full gear.  The next few weeks are the final push to AP testing, the rush to finish (erm, start and finish) my term paper for grad school,  and the last weekends I'll spend in Chicago before dotting around the planet for various travels.  That means lots of late nights at school for review sessions, hours past bedtime reading and writing, and even more cups of coffee. 

Stop freaking.   I cooked up a storm in the past week and have enough recipes and photography to hold you over until life calms down for a second in mid-May.  Not only was there holiday cooking for Passover, Holi, and Easter in the last week, but it was also Garrett's birthday so expect a breakfast post coming up (who doesn't get pancakes made for them on their birthday?). 

So before I work myself into an ANXIETY ATTACK, let me dwell on what a nice brunch my mom hosted today.  She is a consumate host who pulls out all the stops for these events.  We (my siblings, and I) always bring a dish or two (or three) but regardless of what we bring, my mom always cooks enough for an army.  There will be two kinds of eggs, three styles of potatoes, various forms of bacon and sausage, quiche (my favorite food, gets its own category outside of "eggs"), and coffee cakes in addition to regular cakes.  My sister also brought some awesome ombre cupcakes that my nephew just loved.  

Easter Brunch, 2013

Maybe it goes without saying, but in the Easter spirit of rebirth I left brunch today with a strong commitment to further burdening myself over the next ten weeks with a new health kick.  Luckily, some of the leftover veggie and wheatberry salad I made is a fantastic way to start tomorrow on the right foot.

Turkey Vegetable Loaf

TURKEY & VEGETABLE LOAF 

W/ ROASTED DILL POTATOES 

& PEARL ONIONS

So much for seasonal.  At the beginning of the month the Chopped Salad post announced the first  spring craving, and today we had yet another snow in Chicago.  Now I'm actually worried about another snow day since I have a flight to New York booked for the day after final exams.

Thus, we'll retreat back to meatloaf and potatoes for what is hopefully the last stint of cold weather.  Well, its actually a meat & vegetable loaf and the potatoes are those petite fingerling type so there's nothing really heavy about this meal.  Mostly, I had ground turkey that needed to be made and the potatoes were too cute to pass up at the grocery store. 

I may have been predisposed to snatching up miniature versions of potatoes and onions after lots of delectable finger foods served up at the Peninsula Hotel's high tea.  That reminds me, if I ever get around to acquiring some truffle oil I'll need to try and recreate their truffled egg salad.

baked chicken fingers

BAKED PARMESAN 

CHICKEN FINGERS 

W/ VEGGIE CHICKPEA SALAD

So as you know, loyal followers, I road-tripped to Michigan last weekend.  I am no stranger to car rides, seeing that I commute about 60 mi to work every day.  But don't worry, I carpool.  And thanks "the CP" I have developed some odd behind-the-wheel snacking behaviors.  This isn't helped by the fact that the standard CP podcast is the great "Mike and Tom Eat Snacks" (a new and long-overdue episode of which has been recently been posted).  

Before I continue with what is becoming a confessional post, let me just affirm that I am a really healthy eater and we all hit bottom at some point.

That being said, here are some of the snacking stints and phases +Dave Frantonius and I have fallen victim to in the past few years:

1. Homemade breakfast sandwiches (this was year one of the CP, when we were more ambitious),
2. Rockstar energy drinks and beef jerky combo (this was the year that I-94/"The Edens" was being repaved),
3. that one time we stopped at the Chinese buffet on Addison (yeah, the one with the "over 80 items" posted on the sign),
4. Shrimp Chips ('nuf said),
5. Caramel Bugles,
6. and most recently, ¡Sponch!

So back to last weekend's road trip.  Now, I'm sure many of you have at one point or another fallen victim to the roadside establishments that dot the midwestern landscape.  Between Gary, IN and Ann Arbor, MI lies a culinary desert, especially on Sundays when everything is closed.  Thus, I know you won't hold it against me when I confess to having stopped at the golden arches on the way home for some chicken nuggets and soft serve.

I haven't been to a McDonald's in at least six years, and probably under the exact same circumstances.  Caloric information posted on the menu!?  I got a grilled chicken sandwich instead (and watched Garrett eat chicken nuggets).

This version is much healthier, so go make it.

Greek Meatballs

GREEK MEATBALLS & WHEATBERRY ARUGULA SALAD

What a fast week...with a snow day Tuesday, dinner in the burbs with family on Thursday, and a professional development conference in the city on Friday, I barely had any time with my students or, less importantly, the vegetables in my fridge.  To top it off, this weekend Garrett and I are in Detroit for a wedding, so we needed to make quick use of the foodstuffs lying around.

So here's a recipe for a few typical situations:

1. You have hearty vegetables that need to get used up.
2. You or your significant other don't like vegetables all that much.
3. You want to stretch that buck you spent on meat in your diet by adding some healthy filler. 
4. You want to minimize your portion size when eating meat.

All of the above situations applied in my case, except #2.  Any time I make burgers, meatballs, or meatloaf, I throw whatever vegetables I can into a food processor that won't dramatically change the texture or flavor.  In this case, I managed to sneak in two whole zucchini, probably getting another entire serving from the recipe (yes, lunch is made) and making the meal a lot less heavy.  

The wheatberry salad in itself is a delicious and hearty meal if you want to skip the meat part all together. 

Brown Rice Spinach Arancini

BROWN RICE SPINACH ARANCINI W/ ROASTED VEGETABLES & RUSTIC MARINARA

Last weekend I was invited out to a group dinner at an Italian "cafe and deli" called Gio's on the near south side and now I want to move across the street.

I wound up in the Bridgeport neighborhood twice over the weekend and remembered that there are wonderful neighborhoods in Chicago where people just live.  And probably do so beyond their twenties.  They are filled with modest homes that probably house modest and good people, rather than refurbished warehouse lofts in a neighborhood that makes one's identity complete.  Gio's fits in very well with that setting.  I'm pretty sure at one point the restaurant was just a small convenience store that specialized in Italian foodstuffs, but they've cleared away the center aisles for some checkered tablecloths.  The shelves full of canned sardines and pizzelles still flank the sides of the place so you feel like you're eating in a convenience store (in an awesome way).  The glass deli counter is still the back with their specials posted on a whiteboard above it. 

Go to Gio's.  The food was as awesome as the space, waitresses, and other diners who you can tell have been stopping in for years.  Try lots of appetizers like the grilled calamari and octopus, but especially the arancini.

It just so happens that I had lots of leftover brown rice from the Korean Tofu Rice Bowls, so I wanted to try an arancini recipe with some modifications.  Traditionally, arancini uses risotto and lots of parmesan and is deep-fried to give it that satisfying crunchy/creamy combo, so this is a slightly lighter version that was more like a rice patty.  I stuffed mine with spinach, but you could certainly use cooked ground pork, beef, or Italian sausage.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

HEARTY VEGETABLE MINESTRONE SOUP

Vegetable soups, like minestrone, are very hit-or-miss for me.  I lean towards versions that have a super fresh taste, and are more broth-y than tomoato-y.  Unfortunately, minestrone more often conjures up bad memories of Panera-esque soups that have been heated from frozen and sitting on an electric burner for a few days rather than cold Italian nights in Nona's kitchen out in the Appenines.  Trust me, I worked at an Einstein's Bagels in college and I know how this soup thing goes.  (Although they do, in fact, bake fresh bagels every morning at 5am.  Obviously, a college student's dream job.)  That thick, viscous, leaves-an-oily-film-on-your-lips consistency offends me.

I've never made minestrone before, but I figured it was easy.  I'm not always right, but I was right about that!  If you have some beans and hearty vegetables around, along with some tomatoes, stock, and a spice rack, then you can make a simple minestrone.

Turkey Kefta & Baba Ghanoush

TURKEY KEFTA KABOB & BABA GHANOUSH

 
This may be the longest lag between posts on the blog, so a few updates are in order:

1. I have now been rejected from foodgawker seven, count them, seven times.  
2. Friday night I returned to Kuma's Corner after two-years of avoiding three-hour waits.  See the Lentil Turkey Burger post for my raving review of Kuma's, the "best burger in Chicago."  Well, I'm sorry to report that despite a much shorter one-hour wait, Kuma's has lost its luster.  They no longer serve the calamari - for reasons I couldn't get out of the waitress because she literally walked away seeing the pain in my eyes - and the burger was much more bland than I remember.  I'm not really surprised, that's how it goes in Chicago on the restaurant scene.  
3. Since the Kuma's disappointment was made worse by the fact that I missed out on my weekly trip to Sultan's Market, tonight I made a healthier version of kefta and baba ghanoush.  Conveniently, I had ground turkey and eggplant left from last week's shopping cylce so it all came together nicely.  I am happy to report that Sultan's is still the best falafel in Chicago.

By no means should making the following middle eastern meal replace actually going to Sultan's if you live anywhere near the Chicagoland area.  It was a real challenge to replicate kefta kabobs with lean meat, because nothing really replaces the flavor of lamb.  I read that dark meat ground turkey can suffice, but I used extra lean ground turkey.  The addition of dairy, breadcrumbs, and egg kept them from drying out too much, but they weren't as rich as the real deal.  Comparisons aside, this was a very good, light dinner after a weekend of gluttonous consumption.  

Zucchini Spaghetti with Meatballs

Last night for dinner I ate a can of black beans and half a MINI loaf of chocolate chip walnut banana bread.

Seeing that the banana bread was literally my dinner, I find no reason not to post that recipe on this blog in the future.  Currently, I'm a little hung up about the fact that it isn't very healthful.

Actually, that's a lie.  I fully intended to post the pictures of this awesome banana bread with the recipe this evening.  The idea was "Two Loaves," and it would have been matched with meatloaf for tonight. Cute in a pun way, but "meat and bananas" doesn't roll of the tongue quite right.

So I went with another idea I was flirting with, and I'm so glad Garrett convinced me to abandon "Two Loaves."  Granted, his logic was hugely flawed - he said he didn't feel in the mood for meatloaf despite the fact that the recipe would have had identical ingredients to this one.  "So you just prefer balls of meat to the loaf?"  

"Yeah."  Fine.

This zucchini spaghetti with meatballs was awesome, and healthy enough to make up for last night's misstep.