Peckish Sister's Reviews
7 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 7Sort by: Title | Date | Rating
Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco
By Paula Wolfert
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1987
Harira I : page 58
This soup was so savory and satisfying. I usually am a "the wooden spoon has to stand up thick soup girl", but this thin soup was irresistable. I was surprised to find a chicken back at the store, and the way that package and the two small packages of lamb worked out, I had more lamb and less chicken than directed. I also made my life easier with a two pound can of very good tomatoes. I was not sure what "fine soup noodles" were, so I broke long angel hair pasta into pieces. The lentils added just the right amount of heartiness. You miust try this!
useful (1)
Beef Tagine with Cauliflower : page 265
I made this delightfully savory tagine with beef stew meat. I used one head of cauliflower and did not weigh the cauliflowerets, so I made have been a little short there. I did the final baking step in individual casseroles as everyone ate at different times and that turned out brilliantly. I agree with Wester that without fat or some of the gravy on top the cauliflower can’t brown very well. I will make this again.
useful (2)
I used the ground lamb option for these relatively quick and delicious meatballs in a savory sauce. However the contrast between these hard meatballs and the oh-so tender Ukrainian horseradish stuffed pork-beef meatballs I had cooked a month or so earlier was startling. Like Wester, I did not bother to regrind the already finely ground lamb I used. This was one of the most straight forward main dish recipes of Ms Wolfert that I have cooked.
useful (2)
Orange and grated carrot salad : page 85
This was a refreshing simple salad. I was worried about my carrots being a little old, but they tasted great in the salad. The strong taste of the cinnamon and other ingredients probably helped. This was my first experience with orange water and it did add another dimension without overpowering. I agree with the other reviewers that this salad is not meant to stand on its own, but is best teamed with a rich or spicy dish.
useful (1)
Moroccan Bread : page 51
This simple bread was great with soup. I do not care for anise, but love seeds in bread and was delighted by the fragrance and extra flavor that the aniseeds gave to this bread. I cut the second loaf into slices and it was great toasted. This bread dried out incredibly fast and if you do not eat it immediately, cut into pieces and freeze so you have easy access to it and every piece tastes fresh.
useful (1)
Chicken with Eggs, Lemons and Olives : page 190
I wanted to cook this recipe as is listed as one of her favorites. I halved the recipe and used only one chicken (her chickens are about 3 pounds, mine about 5 lb). This was my first experience cooking with preserved lemon (purchased). (These lemons are really small, so if you make your own from commercial standard-sized lemons, you may want to use ¼ of a lemon for each lemon in the recipe.) After the chicken is cooked and very tender, beaten eggs mixed with chopped preserved lemon and olives are poured over the top and baked. She has you scrub the chicken with a garlic salt paste which is a bit of a laborious procedure. The taste of the olive-preserved lemon cooked eggs served with the chicken may well be an acquired taste. I thought this was an interesting dish and I am glad that I tried it, but feel no need to make it again.
useful (1)
Omar's Couscous : page 142
I was most interesting in learning the proper way of preparing couscous. So instead of investing in a tagine, I bought a largish pot with a top steamer for vegetables. This recipe is a lot of cooking of different components. Don’t try this without assistance! I cooked for hours and felt that the vegetables were cooked more than we would have liked, although the lamb was divine. The onion-raisin mixture was not too popular and there was lots of it leftover. I had as much or more steam leakage with the foil collar as without (the second time I tried steaming couscous). Don’t stick your finger in the couscous to see if it is really cooking – it was every time I checked and my finger did not appreciate it. I really did not feel that this was worth the effort, but I am going to try some of the other couscous recipes.
useful (2)