Dan Bites

So, last night was Uichiro’s last night here. I figured I had one more shot to impress him with something he’s never eaten before. I had never made a chermoula so it was the perfect opportunity since he’s never tasted Moroccan food. That means, even though it was the worst chermoula he’s ever eaten, it was also the best! Actually, it was pretty good. I do think sea bass or halibut would’ve been a better fish, but it’s hard to argue with the flavors.

I made a carrot soup to accompany the fish, so I got that ready first so that all I had to do was heat it up and garnish it come dinner time. I peeled and chopped 5 large carrots, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, used 1/4 stick of butter, a dash of cumin on each bowl for garnish, 1/4 teaspoon of allspice, juice of 1 lemon, some honey yogurt, and 1 cup of chicken stock that didn’t make the photo.

First, I melted the butter and then caramelized the onion and garlic for about 15 minutes over medium heat. Then I added the carrot and allspice and let the carrots caramlize for another 15 minutes. Then I poured in the chicken stock along with 1 cup of water. I brought it up to a boil, covered it, and let it simmer over med-low heat for about 20 minutes. Then I let it cool down for a while before pureeing it in my blender with a bit of salt. For dinner I just re-heated it, dropped a dollop of honey yogurt into the middle of each bowl, sprinkled a dash of cumin, and then squeezed a little lemon juice. It tasted like pumpkin pie!

For the cod chermoula I used a small bunch of parsley finely chopped, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of cumin, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 garlic cloves mashed to a paste in with my mortar and pestle, and about 1 pound of cod cut up into 8 pieces.

Once the garlic was mashed up I added the rest of the ingredients (except for the fish) along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mixed it all together. I let the chermoula sit for about an hour to let the flavors meld together.

Then I spooned about half of the chermoula on top of the fish, covered it, and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour. I took it out and let it come back to room temp before cooking it.

For the “tagine” I used a small bunch of chopped parsley, 1 orange bell pepper diced, 1 yellow bell pepper diced, 1/2 onion diced, 1 large garlic clove minced, 14oz can of chickpeas rinsed, 2/3 pint of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 bag of frozen artichoke hearts, and the rest of the chermoula.

I heated up my large skillet and poured in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. I sweat down the onion and garlic for about 6 minutes, then added the peppers and let them sweat down for another 6 minutes. I stirred in the chermoula along with about 1/4 cup of water and let that boil down for a few minutes before adding the artichokes, tomatoes, and chickpeas. I let them heat up for about 3 or 4 minutes.

I placed the cod on top, covered the pan, and let it cook for about 6 minutes. You don’t want to cook the cod for too long because it will overcook very quickly and become dense. You want to keep it flaky.

When all was said and done the cod (garnished with parsley) and soup were served alongside some white rice. Everything turned out delicious. Yet another dish of mine that was a big success in the mouth of my father-in-law.