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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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?
There are so many delicious recipes coming out of the North African country of Morocco and when I was there in the mid 90’s, I wasn’t able to try it because I was there for only a few short days during Ramadan and honestly don’t have any memorable food experiences while there. It wasn’t until I returned to the US that I started experimenting with Moroccan ingredients, asking more questions about the cuisine and started to experience it with Moroccan friends and at Moroccan restaurants in places like Washington, D.C., Cleveland, San Francisco and Chicago. Did I ever have Harira in those restaurants? No. This was hardly ever on the menus that I can remember, which is why I’ve only ever tried it from home cooks, and everyone seems to have their own take on it, so I created my own, too.
Maybe I enjoy the cuisine so much because it not only combines what I really love the most- that mixture of Mediterranean with Middle Eastern flavors- but also because the country itself was the very first place I ever heard the call to prayer, or the adhan. I visited Tangiers during a short trip while on holiday during a study abroad in Spain and it changed my life forever. I arrived frightened and scared at all of the tall tales I was told about visiting such a ‘mysterious’ place, but left with my heart open to an entirely new, peaceful and serene way of living.
And, as I just said, it was Ramadan.
While in Morocco as a student on holiday we did have a wonderful tour guide who took us to a restaurant that would serve us a lovely meal. I just remember feeling a little sad that it wasn’t more bustling with people at the time. Now I understand why.
Upon return to the States, I read everything I could about Moroccan cuisine and fell even more in love with the spice trail, the sweet and savory combinations and the love of local foods and beautiful agricultural lands that surround eclectic food-loving cities like Marrakesh, a place that is still on my travel destination wish list.
With this year’s Ramadan being in the summer, I wanted to find a light and healthy soup and was reminded by all the cookbooks I have about Moroccan cooking, that harira is the soup to make in this holy month where we’re fasting from before dawn to sunset time. The only problem is, there are countless varieties of harira recipes. Different regions make it different ways and even families make it differently, tweaking it according to their own preferences and perhaps local food availability. This could be frustrating for someone just wanting a traditional recipe, but I actually found it quite freeing- I, too, would make my own according to what I had on hand, what was preferable in our home, but sticking as close to the traditional taste and cooking method as possible. At the end, what was important to me was that I tasted Morocco in the dish and that it was nourishing after a long day of fasting. I don’t use meat or meat bones in this recipe, but you could; instead I use lamb broth which can be swapped out for vegetable broth and therefore made completely vegetarian.
That said, if this recipe isn’t how you’re used to having harira, I’d love to hear what different things you do in the comments below.
Here are the ingredients I used- and I’m well aware that I’m missing carrots, but I didn’t have them on hand and it came out wonderful just the same:
Tomatoes, chickpeas (cooked), onions, lentils (cooked), celery, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, black pepper, sea salt, leafy greens mix (Swiss chard and some kale), fresh herbs (mint, parsley, cilantro) and orzo (I was out of vermicelli).
I did not put an egg in at the end of the cooking process, but you could definitely do that; it’s really very good that way, too.
Use a large pot or Dutch oven to make the soup, which serves 6-8 depending on soup bowl sizes.
Once it’s gently heated, add the onions.
And the chopped celery stalks, diced small.
Next, add the tomatoes.
Give it a stir and a chance to heat up and cook down a minute or two.
Now add the tomato paste.
and minced garlic.
salt and pepper and all the rest of the spices can go in now, in no particular order.
Just watch that turmeric- it stains! And somehow I always end up wearing white on the days I’m cooking with it, go figure.
Now the lentils- mine are extra cooked here, which is fine because I wanted them to be really soft (i.e. I let them cook a little too long on the stove- probably because I was back here blogging about something else).
Anyway, you can cook your own or just get the canned ones. Just don’t do what I did- they’re still completely edible but just not as pretty as if you cook them just right.
Then blend them right into the mixture of all the other stuff you put in the pot. It all starts to look and smell amazing at this point. I like to give credit to the tomatoes sand tomato paste, but that’s just my food favoritism coming through…
Now add the cooked chickpeas. These were canned, but you can (and should) cook your own, in my opinion.
Now add the herbs. These were fresh from my garden. I love saying that…
Mix it all up and that greenery makes it look lovely once again, and the aroma is captivating- it will make you feel like you’re traveling half way around the world right from your kitchen.
Now the really important stuff. Why? Because, broth is not easy to make nor is it easy to get. Granted, it’s not hard to make. But it’s time-consuming and requires quite a bit of babying the broth over the stove to skim off all the impurities and keep a watchful eye on it every so often so that it comes out just right. Believe me, I know. I have made my own- chicken, vegetable, duck, lamb, beef and seafood. Mostly I made them because they make your meals so rich and delicious and also because many commercial brands have gelatin (obviously from the gelatin created by animal bones), they are mostly not halal. Saffron Road has several halal varieties and I’m incredibly grateful for the lamb broth because it’s rich enough that it darkens up many of my dishes with that added layer of flavor that simply makes your food taste like it came from a fancy restaurant. Really.
I use one whole box for this recipe.
Let it all come to a boil, then reduce the heat to a medium flame and cook for 20 minutes.
The soup is almost done. You can skp the greens, if you don’t have them or don’t want them. I have so many on hand right now, alhamdullilah, that it was just necessary to add and a very delicious addition at that.
Stir it all in.
Now for the orzo. I love orzo and always have it in my pantry because it’s great for so many soup additions. I rarely buy vermicelli, which is the more ‘traditional’ noodle to put in harira. I say use what you’ve got and make it your own. Some recipes call for adding flour to the soup, but I find that the orzo, with all its starch, will thicken up the soup a bit at first and much more later if you let it sit, especially overnight. Let the orzo (or any noodle) cook according to its own package instructions. In this case, it was about 7-10 minutes.
I took the harira off the flame before it got too thick (that’s what it will do overnight unless you add more broth) because I wanted to eat it as a soup for Iftar.
It was so very delicious and so very special. Even though I’m not Moroccan, it felt like I was experiencing a true Ramadan dish, if not for my own family tradition, then for one that a whole country loves to have on their Iftar tables. That was special enough for me to consider making it.
Does your family or someone you know make harira? How is it different or the same as this one?
We’re in the thick of winter. It’s cold, icy, slushy, and the snow is absolutely beautiful from indoors, as long as you don’t have to drive in any of it.
It’s the time of year when you realize that on any given day, the snow storms could blow in and it’ll be a great opportunity to cook up some favorite comfort foods, bake a few new things or even try recipes that make you think of warmer, sunnier climates.
Funny enough, though, I still find that a walk outdoors gives inspiration for some recipes to cook. Those little berries on branches actually make me think of things like persimmons and tomatoes….
So, I get to thinking about warmer climates and dishes being made around the globe- here’s what I’ve come up with for a healthy dinner or even lunch (these make great leftovers). You just need chicken, olives, tomatoes, onions, potato, fresh mint, garlic, grated carrots, dried parsley, salt and pepper. The garlic, too. The key ingredient is the Saffron Road Harissa Simmer Sauce- yes, you can make your own but this is unique and so simple to use so I say, why not?
The fresh mint is kind of optional, but honestly I wouldn’t pass it up. It does make a difference.
Pick up your favorite brand of couscous to have on the side, although if you prefer rice or bread, that’s fine, too.
Basically, it starts off like many dishes with the all-important olive oil and the addition of the first ingredient. I also add a little bit of coarse salt to the pan so that it prevents the potatoes from sticking, which happens a lot.
In this case, however, I have finely chopped the potatoes so they finish cooking in time with the others. Next, I add the salt, chicken and shredded carrots then the onion. I used red onion but you can use yellow or white, as long as they’re diced.
I also add the diced parsley and white pepper at the same time, but somewhere around this time in the cooking process is fine.
Next I add 1/4 cup of water or chicken broth, which is much better.
It’s going to fill out the pan quite a bit. Now turn the heat to simmer and cover.
You’ll want to start the couscous in a few minutes- the quick cooking kind cooks really fast, but if you keep it covered once it’s done, it should stay nice and warm.
Cook for about 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely tender.
Et voila!
I like to serve it on large long plates with the couscous off to the side, although I’ve seen it served on top, too. However you and your guests prefer. The only thing that matters is that it tastes great.
Garnish with fresh mint for color and decor.
Any fresh mint left over? Make Moroccan Mint Tea, of course!
