Monday, January 12, 2009

Maroccan Turkey Tangine

A wonderful dish with north African flavors for the crock pot. This is very easy to prepare ahead of time and by adjusting the temperature of the crock pot, it can be timed any way it is needed. If guests are coming and it is a very busy day, this recipe is ideal and fills the house with wonderful aroma of the spices.

Cut 2 onions into wedges and slice 2-4 cloves or garlic really thin, I use a truffle slicer. Cook those in olive oil for a few minutes, let the onions pick up some color. Meanwhile cube about 2# of turkey and toss it in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Add the turkey to the pot with the onions and garlic and sear. Add 1-2 sticks of cinnamon, 2 tsp ground coriander and 2 tsp ground cumin, (best to grind them fresh just before since it gives so much more flavor) and 3-5 carrots sliced. Cook for a few minutes. Add 2.5 cups broth (Better than Boullion Organic Chicken is the best!) and a small can of tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and add 1 cup of chopped dried, but moist apricots. Cook in the crock pot for 2-3 hours, then add 2 small cans of chickpeas and cook for another 1-2 hours. Some freshly chopped parsley and ready it is.

I serve this with whole wheat couscous, which is probably the most effortless dish ever. I also like to have whole wheat pita bread, a yogurt-cucumber-dill sauce, some fresh fruit and veggies, maybe a nice arugula salad and fresh bread. Black olive hummus with pita chips as well as stuffed grape leaves (think rice, feta, golden raisins and pine nuts) make a nice appetizer for this meal. I definitely like wine with this and go with one of my favourite Casablanca quotes:

"Captain Renault: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?

Rick
: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.

Captain Renault
: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.

Rick
: I was misinformed."

3 comments:

Christina said...

I was hoping you would post this recipe. Now I know what we're having for dinner! Thanks, Barb.

Christina said...

We had this for dinner tonight, with a couple of substitutions, since I had to go with what I had on hand--chicken for turkey, and half a can of pumpkin puree plus extra stock for the tomato sauce. It was delcious! Thanks.

majesticmoose said...

I am glad you liked it. I think this is a recipe that easily adapts to different ingredients. Now that you mention cans of pumpkin, I have a lot of those, because the children had requested Pumpkin pasties a few month ago...