So it was off to the book depository to find some suitable reading and in the mean time it was off to see my what my mate google could come up with. After a while I found a recipe that I thought I would be able to get almost all the ingredients for at one supermarket (those living in Japan will probably be nodding there head, knowing exactly what I mean). It was a chicken, sweet potato and eggplant tagine and easy enough to do, I admit though, when it came to measuring out the spices I was in shock the amount that was supposed to go in. As a family, we are not big on spicy food so I was rather worried and chickened out so I halved what was called for. The result, to my surprise wasn't spicy at all and I could have probably tipped the lot in, I will know for next time.
I didn't bookmark where I found this, it was on a message board so apologies for not being able to link back. Do you cook with a tagine, do you have any favourite recipes to share?
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 brown onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2cm piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used chili pepper)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken)
600g sweet potato, cut into 4cm pieces
450g eggplant, cut into 4cm pieces
125g green beans, trimmed, halved (missed this out, didn't have any)
700g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 3cm pieces (didn't use this much chicken either)
1 1/2 cups couscous (we had rice)
1/3 cup coriander leaves, roughly-chopped (missing, non at the store)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 brown onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2cm piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used chili pepper)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken)
600g sweet potato, cut into 4cm pieces
450g eggplant, cut into 4cm pieces
125g green beans, trimmed, halved (missed this out, didn't have any)
700g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 3cm pieces (didn't use this much chicken either)
1 1/2 cups couscous (we had rice)
1/3 cup coriander leaves, roughly-chopped (missing, non at the store)
Method
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until golden. Add garlic, ginger, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper and cinnamon. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Add stock, stirring and scraping base of pan. Add sweet potato, eggplant and beans. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Stir through vegetable mixture.
Spoon chicken and vegetable tagine over couscous(rice). Sprinkle with coriander. Serve.
I take it you cooked it in the tagine - did it turm out any different to how it would have if it were cooked in a pan/casserole? I'm curious, although the tagines I've seen here look rather small and I'm not sure where I would store a large one!
ReplyDeleteMine is big enough to serve 4 easily you could possibly serve 6 if you had side dishes too. I'm not sure how different it would be to using a casserole dish since it was a new recipe - I'm not 100% sure about this but isn't it the steam that cooks the food in a tagine whereas in a casserole the food is submerged in liquid?
ReplyDeleteI need to play with it more before deciding how much I like it!
Is a tagging one of those ceramic dome things from Mongolia or where ever they're from? I have nearly bought one quite a few times and realized have no space for it. I am intrigued though.
ReplyDeleteIt looks delicious Jo, never really thought of buying one, but I think it just might have sneaked onto my wish list now :D
ReplyDeleteI love any kind of hot food cooked in a pan type vessel where all you need is a fork!! Comfort food at its best xx
These things are everywhere in Japan now aren't they? I always wonder what you can do with them that you couldn't do with a normal saucepan, so I'm interested to hear how your experimenting goes!
ReplyDeleteGaijin wife - Morocco, well North Africa in general, although they may use them in Mongolia, the only Mongolia dish I know is where you split open a goat, take out the innards and mix with a bit of basil then stuff it back in, sew it up and bake in the oven for the best part of a day - this is the reason Ebi-kun wants to visit Mongolia!
ReplyDeletestolen from ask.com...
A tagine is cone-shaped to allow heat to build up at the top of the cone, which then builds up moisture. The moisture drips back down onto the foods, allowing for a very moist and tender product. Since grains like couscous and others are a stape of tagine cooking, you don't need to add nearly as much water as a recipe would call for since that cone shape is so efficient in returning the moisture back down to the food. Also, any foods that you cook with the grains (typically tagines are "one pot meals" like meats and fruits will add moisture to the meal, helping to cook the grains and again reducing the water or stock you'd normally have to add.
Tangine pots were in every souvenir or handicraft shop in Agadir (Morocco)I was tempted to buy one but was afraid it would sit in my cupboard unused. Kudos to you for giving it a go!
ReplyDelete