Moroccan Shakshouka

Hey there, y'all! I hope you enjoyed a fabulous and sunny St. Patrick's Day (I know I did, not least of all because I am now DONE with the MPRE aka future-lawyer-mandatory-ethics-exam).

I have some (slightly) exciting news: Torts & Tarts has now passed the 1000-views mark! So thanks to all of you for checking it out, and pinning to it on pinterest, and "liking" it on facebook, and all that good stuff.

When I looked at the "stats" tab just now, in addition to the number of pageviews I was able to see some basic data re: who has been checking out the blog. I learned:

• some not-surprising things (the Bailey's Cupcakes got more hits than the Healthy Egg Salad)
• some slightly surprising things (Torts & Tarts is huge in Ukraine. Like, it is BLOWING UP. It looks like the blog was linked to on a dating site. So uhm, привіт.)
• some VERY surprising things (some people found the site by Googling "torts and tarts porn movie"- whattt?)

Isn't the internet a wonderful place?

Moving on. I hope all of you (friends, family, single Ukranians and porn aficionados alike) enjoy today's recipe: Moroccan Pepper, Tomato, and Egg Stew aka Shakshouka.


I'm no arbiter of Moroccan authenticity, but I spent a chunk of time in Morocco before law school and the flavors of this stew took me right back to the Maghreb. I ate something very similar a couple of times in the South, where it is prepared in a tagine and called a "Berber omelette." Variations of the dish are served all over North Africa and the Middle East. The recipe calls for harissa, which I don't have, so I used a combination of hot sauce and sweet paprika along with ground cumin and turmeric to give the stew its color and flavor.

Moroccan Shakshouka
adapted from Olive Trees & Honey

The major ingedients in this simple stew are peppers, tomatoes, and eggs. You'll need 4 green bell peppers, as well as 1 1/4 lbs. (3 cups) of peeled, seeded, and chopped plum tomatoes. I absolutely massacred my tomatoes and ended up well short of 3 cups- next time I'll buy a few extra tomatoes as insurance.

You know what one of my favorite foods in the world is? Bell peppers. You know what one of my least favorite kitchen tasks is? Deseeding and deribbing bell peppers. C'est la vie.

Heat 3 tbs of olive oil in a large saucepan and add 1 large onion (chopped) and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (minced).


Cook for approximately 5 minutes, until slightly translucent.


Add the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the peppers are "crisp-tender"- until they have started to soften but just barely.


There are no pics with the tomatoes because seriously, I butchered them. It was a fight to the death, and despite having several large, sharp knives in my arsenal I lost. Badly. But take my word for it that after the peppers are crisp-tender you should add the tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp turmeric, a dash of sweet paprika and a healthy pour of hot sauce (or harissa if you have it). Bring it all to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft.

Using a spoon, create 4 indentations in the stew. One at a time, crack 4 eggs into a small bowl and then pour into the indentations. Cover the saucepan and cook until the egg whites have set but the yolks are still runny (the recipe says 5 minutes, but for me it took about 10-15).


I don't like runny yolks so I cooked the eggs almost all of the way through- you can shorten the cooking time if you are more of a sunny-side-up type

Serve immediately. To add some extra color and flavor put a drop of hot sauce on each egg and sprinkle each plate with some extra paprika.

The recipe serves 4-6 people as a side dish, and 2-3 people as a main course (although there might be some fighting over the last egg).

One or two eggs with a heap of veggies is the perfect serving size for a hungry guest!

I have to say, I absolutely loved this dish. Not only did it give my tastebuds a strong dose of nostalgia, it was delicious. The eggs were perfectly cooked- soft and tender as only poached eggs can be, but kicked up a notch with all the spices. The stew is low-carb and low-calorie and yet very hearty and filling. The amount of harissa/paprika/hot sauce can be adjusted to taste.

And its always nice to have yummy leftovers.

Sephardic Lentil Salad

Well, here I am. Back in NYC and back in the land of Olive Trees & Honey, a mysterious land where seemingly any dish can be deemed Jewish as long as any Jew ate it anywhere at any point in time. This "Sephardic" lentil salad is no exception- while many a Sephardi may have enjoyed it, something tells me the salad's appeal (and history) is a bit broader. This simple salad can be served warm or at room temperature and would be a great side dish for any entree with Mediterranean or North African flavors. Try serving it over rice or with some fresh hummus and warm pita.

Sephardic Lentil Salad (adapted from Olive Trees & Honey)

Ingredients:

• 1lb (about 2 1/4 cups) brown or green lentils
• 8 cups water
• 1 bay leaf

For dressing:

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice or red or white wine vinegar (or even a combination: I used half lemon juice, half red wine vinegar and it turned out well)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped

In a large saucepan, bring the lentils, bay leaf, and water to a boil.


Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender but not mushy (about 25 minutes). Drain and remove bay leaf.



Put the warm lentils in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice/vinegar, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, and cumin.

the usual suspects: a lineup of the dressing ingredients

Slowly whisk in the olive oil.


Drizzle over the lentils and stir gently to coat. Just before serving stir in the onion.



You can serve this salad plain, sprinkle it with feta cheese, or even make it into a dip by blending it in a food processor with 1 cup tahini and and an extra 2/3 cup of lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups of parsley.

You can also serve it in a bowl you made at a paint-your-own-pottery studio in college.

Leek, Zucchini and Cheese Casserole

This lovely recipe is introduced in Olive Trees and Honey as follows:

A classic example of the Sephardim's love of vegetables mixed with cheese and eggs, this comforting casserole goes by many names: quajado/cuajada ("coagulated"), sfongato de puerro ("leek sponge"), and almodrote de prassa ("hodgepodge of leeks")...

First of all, since when is the "Sephardim's love of vegetables mixed with cheese and eggs" a cultural characteristic of note? And secondly, what a hilariously unappetizing collection of names. Although "hodgepodge of leeks" is kind of great, if only because it gives me an excuse to use the word hodgepodge. Repeatedly. Hodgepodegehodgepodgehodgepodge.

Err, anyways... the original recipe was a straight up leek and cheese casserole but I thought that would be a tad bit too one-dimensional. I love me some veggies, so I made a modified version by replacing half of the leeks with grated zucchini. I used feta and Gouda as my cheeses but you can also use kefalotyri or parmesan instead of the feta and Muenster or cheddar instead of the Gouda.

This dish represents a lot of firsts for me:

• My first time cooking with leeks
• My first time making anything with Gouda.
• My first time using fresh dill since a scarring incident that started with me making greek zucchini fritters for my family and ended with my mother discovering that she has a violent allergy to dill

So needless to say I was a little nervous about this one. How did things go? Let's take a look!

Remember when using leeks...

...to only use the white and light green parts. Wash them carefully; leeks can hold a lot of dirt. The fresh leeks smelled delicious.

The grated zucchini adds some extra flavor and texture, and helped me tone my right bicep

Sautee the leeks and onions in a saucepan with vegetable oil until slightly softened and then simmer with water, zucchini, and kosher salt until tender
Strain the leeks and then add them to a mix of feta and Gouda cheeses, eggs, salt and pepper, olive oil, and fresh dill

Spoon the mixture into a 9x9 casserole pan and bake in the oven for 55 min until firm and golden brown on top

The verdict? Delicious! The heaviness of the cheese and eggs was nicely countered by the light vegetables. The dill added some complexity to the briny feta. Since I used the feta I probably could have cut down on the salt. Otherwise, the dish was perfect- like a greek frittata. Love. The casserole can be served warm or at room temperature with some rice or a side salad.

Annnd we're BACK!

So, it's been awhile...
I didn't write. I didn't call. I'm sorry.
I promise I still care.

It's just, this blog started as a method of final-exam-studying procrastination. And then finals were over. And then I started work. And then work was over. And then I spent a semester in Barcelona. And now THAT'S over, and I'm back in NYC, yet again in the mood to procrastinate, and hoping to cook as much as possible during the next couple of months before I become a corporate law drone with no free time who comes home to a fridge stocked solely with beer, water, and a lifetime supply of condiment packets hoarded from seamless web deliveries.

BUT things are going to be a bit different this time around. Because.... brace yourself.... I won't be making that many desserts.

I know, I know, its madness. What's Torts & Tarts without the Tarts? It's just torts... and that's no fun. But never fear, when JSus closes one kitchen cabinet she opens another one, and the one I just opened is full of yummy ingredients I can use to make recipes from this book:

And this book:

And this book:

And all the other underutilized cookbooks I've accumulated over the years.

Why? I don't know, I guess I've been belatedly inspired by the Julie & Julia craze of cooking your way through a cookbook. While I'm no longer strictly vegetarian, most of the meals I make are, and there's only so many stir-fries and salads a girl can eat before she goes crazy. Plus this will provide some structure and hopefully keep me cooking and keep me posting! So here goes.