Yesterday was the first Friday of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims around the world. And there are some really delicious Mediterranean dishes shared at this time of year.
That said, my dedication writing about food and culinary traditions is what keeps me writing about food and to share recipes and traditions in the hopes of preserving them for future generations as well as to inspire nutritious eating and a healthy way of life overall.
Normally, after a day of fasting from just before sunrise to sunset, families gather at the table to partake in the Iftar, or meal to end the fast. It’s also very often done in communal surroundings such as mosques around the world or outdoors in neighborhood blocks in Muslim countries. People tend to be very intentional about hosting an Iftar or at least sharing their food, holding the belief that there is a reward from God for feeding a fasting person.
our homemade Iftar
Iftar dishes are highly regional and vary throughout the world. Someone in Indonesia will have a completely different Iftar meal than someone in Tunisia, yet all of the food will be Halal (from permissible sources, as dictated in the Holy Qur’an). If you’ve ever been to an Iftar, you’ll probably notice that the food provided is typically from the region of the host; if you’ve never been to an Iftar but are invited by a Muslim to attend one, this is your chance to experience some of the best global cuisine you’ll ever be served outside of a restaurant. Last night, for example, our local mosque served East African cuisine for the community: meatballs in a coconut curry served with Basmati rice and a thick Naan bread. It was tasty, somewhat of a cross between Indian and Thai food in my mind, but nonetheless uniquely East African.
East African Cuisine Iftar served at our local mosque
At home, I typically make Sicilian-style Mediterranean dishes for the main meal or at least something similar. I do tend to make a lot of soups, as they acclimate the body to food after a long day of fasting. For the initial breaking of the fast, everyone around the world will typically consume a date with water, as that is what the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) used to do. For something crunchy and savory (a common treat after having a date and something to drink), I typically make a Moroccan savory pastry with lamb or beef, which is what I’m sharing today. They’re easy to make and you can use a couple variety of wrappers to make them. They’re often called either briouat or briwatin Arab speaking countries (North Africa) and to me, are very similar to the Turkish borek when made with phyllo dough.
Moroccan Style Briouates with Ground Beef, Raisins & Almonds
Yields 12-14briouates
Briouats are Moroccan sweet or savory appetizers of phyllo sheets rolled, stuffed with ground meat and aromatic spices, and typically lightly fried in olive oil. You can also use egg roll wrappers which are quite sturdy and can hold a lot of meat and other ingredients, which makes them particularly filling. Any ground meat like beef, veal, turkey or chicken will substitute well for the lamb in this recipe and make great starters to the Iftar meal or serve as any party starter.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil plus more for frying the briouats
½ cup yellow onion, diced
1 pound ground beef or lamb
1 cup slivered almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon fleshy ground black or white pepper, or to taste
¾ cup raisins
2 tablespoons fresh or dried mint leaves, chopped
¼ cup finely chopped fresh or dried parsley
1/2 of one packet of phyllo dough or one pound egg roll wrappers
1 egg, beaten (only if using the egg roll wrappers)
Fresh lemon or lime wedges (optional)
Directions
Heat oil in a large saut. pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent.
Add the meat and the garlic. Stir and cook until the meat has slightly browned then add the almonds and ground spices, including the salt and pepper.
Add the raisins and stir until they become slightly larger in size. Continue to cook for another ten minutes. Add the chopped fresh herbs and cover the pan.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes, adding a bit of water if necessary.
Remove lid and drizzle meat with olive oil. Set aside to cool.
Using one sheet of egg roll wrapper or 1/4 of a phyllo sheet, place one heaping tablespoon of meat mixture in the center. Bring each side to the center then roll from the bottom upwards. Close by brushing the end with egg wash (egg roll wrappers only- egg wash doesn’t need to be done with phyllo). Repeat this process with all of the wrappers.
Once finished wrapping each one, heat an additional 2-4 tablespoons of oil in a large saut. Pan and fry the briouats. Do not crowd the pan; instead fry only as many as will fit comfortably at one time. Cook for several minutes on each side, or until each side is nicely browned.
Once finished, line a plate with paper towels to capture any excess oil. Serve warm with a dipping sauce and/or fresh lemon or lime wedges.
Enjoy this crunchy appetizer, whether Ramadan or not. Your family, your guests, will love them!
And Ramadan Mubarak to all who observe.
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I have a wonderful recipe to share, and it’s one that I’ve been making this week just because it’s that good. I was preparing to teach a cooking class at the home of a friend and 11 of her friends, which was quite exciting so I wanted to make the class really fun and the food absolutely delicious. Although I’ve taught about Moroccan cooking before, I wanted to change the menu from the typical chicken with olives and preserved lemons dish to something different. I looked through a lot of cookbooks for inspiration and none were as inspiring as Paula Wolfert’s book, The Food of Morocco. It’s a great landscape of gorgeous photography that captures Moroccan people and their diverse cuisine throughout the country. I found a recipe that actually sounded like it was a bit similar in flavor profile to my Sicilian heritage, so I was intrigued to make it myself: Lamb Tagine with Tomatoes & Eggplant. The spices are different but the base ingredients are the same as something one might find in Sicily, which was an interesting thing to discover on its own.
To get started with this recipe, I actually begin with the eggplant first and not the lamb. It needs to be drained of any excess moisture and the way that I do that is to place it in a colander then salt it generously and put something heavy on top to push out that moisture.
For two eggplants, I do this for about one hour then use a paper towel to pat the eggplant dry of any moisture that didn’t come out the bottom and also to remove the salt.
In this dish, I roast the eggplant and tomato in the oven (on a parchment-lined baking sheet with a sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil), as opposed to frying them in a pan with oil. It’s just so much less messy and it frees up the stove top for getting the lamb started.
I love the other ingredients in this dish: cayenne, paprika, cumin, garlic, ginger, saffron water (saffron threads soaked in hot water) and fresh parsley and cilantro.
These ingredients season both the eggplant/tomato that will become a mixture, as well as the lamb, although the lamb will also get seasoned with turmeric and one red onion, grated directly int the lamb that sautés on the stove, first for 30 minutes with just the turmeric (plus salt and olive oil). After the 30 minutes, the turmeric and onion are added, mixed in and then the rest of the spices, too.
Once the lamb is seasoned with the red onion, I get to work on the tomato/eggplant mixture. If you roast each of them on parchment paper, it’ll be easier to clean up the mess as well as simply slide the ingredients into one big bowl to mix up nicely together. Actually, you’ll use a potato masher to ‘mash’ up the roasted veggies then add in the spices (garlic, cayenne paprika, red pepper flakes).
Once that mixture is made, heat a saute pan with olive oil and warm up the tomato/eggplant mixture. Add a pinch of sugar and the freshly chopped herbs and cook for about 10 minutes, or until it’s completely warmed up again and the spices have mixed in well. Remove it from heat and add in the juice of 1/2 lemon to the pan then set aside until the lamb is thoroughly done. It should have the consistency and look of something similar to a korma or thick sauce.
Once both ‘dishes’ are complete, it’s time to plate. You can use a tagine to line it up first with the tomato/eggplant mixture then the lamb then make a pyramid out of the remaining tomato/eggplant– that’s pretty for presentation- -or you can simply mix it all together and plate it nicely. I like to add roasted pine nuts or even almonds on top. Something crunch is always fun and interesting, and in the case it’s a nice addition. Just don’t use too much or it overpowers the rest of the ingredients that we really want to shine- particularly, the lamb.
For friends, family and neighbors who may have never had a lamb dish before, this is one to start with. It’s got familiar flavors yet a bit of exotic, too- and that, you can always adjust to taste.
When I went to Sicily in 1993, it was the first time I really ever experienced fruit as the main ingredient- and sometimes the only ingredient- in a dessert. At first I was waiting around for the real dessert to please show up and perhaps this was just one of many courses at the end of the main lunch time meal? Alas, except for the occasional all-natural gelato that was acquired during a passiagata in the main square, no deep-dark chocolate cake or cheesecake or pound cake or ice cream cake of any sort was going to show up.
That changed the way I ate forever. It also began to change the way I thought about the notion of artificial sweetness, processed foods and how not to hide from real food.
That said, all these years later I’ve come to love to have fresh berries and stone fruits combined with all-natural honey and nuts as part of a more luxurious dessert.
Recently I was watching a travel show where the host visited North Africa – Morocco and Tunisia, in particular. I was so focused on the food that I honestly can’t remember now which host or name of the show it was, but I’ll try to look that up some time because it was a good one.
Anyway, in the show they featured a little humble restaurant that served what looked like the most amazing and beautiful and fresh seafood I’ve seen since I’ve been to Sicily. After the meal, they served this dish of pine nuts, honey and strawberries as a dessert.
It reminded me so much of the food in Sicily and the way I learned to enjoy dessert in a healthier, all-natural way when I was there that I immediately decided to try this combo myself. You don’t really need much of a ‘recipe’ other than having the best quality ingredients and putting them together, to taste. If you like it sweeter, add more honey; if not, add less.
I love this for suhoor, for iftar and/or for dessert any day of the year. If you prepare it and let it stand for about an hour at room temperature or a little longer in the refrigerator, you’ll notice the water come out of the strawberries and make the dish a little less thick, but it’s still quite enjoyable.
Alternate: you can make another version with almonds or walnut:
When I first made this dish, I was apprehensive. I had only ever eaten rack of lamb at restaurants and considered it ‘fancy fare’ for the top chefs to make. Who was I kidding? It’s so easy to make and quite filling, even though it doesn’t look like a lot of meat when compared to burgers, ground meat or even stews.
I decided to continue on the theme of working with dates and create a date puree to act as a thick sauce, much like a BBQ sauce would be added to meat on the grill, although I’ve made this rack of lamb on the stove top. I like it for an intimate Iftar dinner for 2-4, served with rice, couscous or pappardelle pasta.
The spices I used are typically Moroccan (i.e. cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, etc.) just because that’s what I’ve been craving, but you could swap out some of your own that you think would go well with the deep and sweet flavor and creamy thick texture of Medjool dates.
Nature’s Anthem Medjool Dates from Coachella Valley, California
When I’m looking for a quick way to cook and eat healthy, I begin thinking about what I can make in a tagine. They’re easy to make one pot meals in and because they have a conical lid, you can steam the contents either while cooking or when it’s out of the oven and resting. My latest creation was with shrimp and the Saffron Road Harissa Simmer Sauce– a great combination and only minimal ingredients are needed to add to it.
In this case, I added green peppers, garlic, onion, cilantro and parsley.
The main ingredient is large shrimp with the shells on. Boil for 5-7 minutes in water to cook them slightly.
Once cooked (they turn pink), drain the water and let them cool.
Peel the shrimp of all the shells. Place in the tagine with the cut peppers, garlic and onion.
Add a bit of ras-al-hanout, if you have it. It’s not necessary because the Harissa Simmer Sauce has spices in it already.
Just like the other Simmer Sauces that Saffron Road has in their line of sauces, they’re all natural, halal-certified and gluten-free.
Pour it over the shrimp and other ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Stir everything up before cooking then cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Once it comes out of the oven, put a lid on it and let it steam for about 5 minutes.
Serve with a side of pearl couscous or rice, if you have it.
It’s even good with just a nice big piece of rustic bread.
Any type of Moroccan tagine is something I’ll try and usually love, really any Moroccan dish at all, especially ones that you don’t even actually have to cook in a ‘tagine’ pot, per se. In this recipe I used Saffron Road’s Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce to make something I’d always wanted to try- a tagine with beef kofta (meatballs) and eggs. Doesn’t sound like something you hear about everyday, but since I love meatballs and eggs are a staple at both breakfast and dinner in my house, I couldn’t wit to finally give it a try. Here goes…and this is what you need:
Ground beef, bread crumbps, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, sliced green peppers, minced garlic, onion and tomatoes, tomato paste and the all-natural, non-GMO Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce by Saffron Road.
To make the meatballs, mix the ground beef with an egg, parsley, salt, and bread crumbs.
Form it into one big ball, then break into smaller round balls- or you could shape them more oblong; that’s up to you.
I like them this way.
Continue to do this until you have used up all the ground beef. 1/2 pound of ground beef makes about 10 small meatballs.
You’ll start out by first sautéeing the green pepper, tomato, onion and garlic in a pan first. Then you’ll add the meatballs.
Cook the mixture until the meatballs are mostly brown, turning only when they’re ready (they’re easy to move around without sticking). Add the tomato sauce now, too, with a little water.
Add six eggs. I just crack them right into the pan. Let them cook for just a few minutes, long enough for them to ‘set’ or gel to the pan.
Now add the Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce.
Cover and cook until the eggs and meatballs are fully cooked, about 20 minutes.
Add parsley on top for garnish just before serving.
Use a spatula to lift out separate pieces to plate, otherwise, enjoy communally straight from the pan as it looks so much less messy than pulling out individual portions.
The meatballs are so nice and soft like this and the simmer sauce adds that wonderful smokey flavor you can only get with good, smoked spices and other ingredients that speak to its authenticity. It’s such a great recipe to make, especially now that it can be made a little more conveniently with the Saffron Road products like it.
What other ways would you enjoy the Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce by Saffron Road?
