Chermoula Recipe – or, Moroccan Fish

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I might have to make this again, just to take a better photo!

Last week I asked Andy want he wanted for dinner ,I suggested to go to the nearest sushi restaurant to taste different fish recipes . I had a bit of a look on the internet and a bit of a look through my cookbooks which also suggested the same as it was close enough.

Made in Morocco is a cookbook that, while it gets sporadic work outs, probably is somewhat underutilised. My mum bought it for me almost 10 years ago (and doesn’t that make me feel ancient) just before I headed off on a holiday to the said country. My break was less haute cuisine and more eating harira (a chickpea and noodle soup) around a campfire. But, you know, if you ever fancy a trip where your night time toilet breaks are outside and accompanied by sleet and braying donkeys, I guess I recommend a ‘winter sun’ trekking holiday*.

I originally thought I was going to make a simple fish tagine from the book, but when push came to shove, even that started to look like too much work, so I decided that actually, I’d just make the chermoula and that would do as a simple sauce/dressing for the fish.

Traditionally, chermoula is quite a wet spice mix which is used as a marinade. But really, it has tons of uses. By altering how much oil you use, you can make it firmer and more dip like, you can use it as a sauce or a marinade, and, in my case, I used left overs on pasta as a kind of pesto. You can use this with pretty much any protein and of course its robust flavour means it would be great with barbecued meat.

Very flexible and very tasty. And, of course, quick, easy and perfect for making ahead!

* This makes me sound a lot more hard core and adventurous in my holidays than I actually am. And I would actually genuinely recommend a trekking holiday in Morocco because the scenery is stunning.

Chermoula Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch of coriander
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 red chilli (seeds removed, if you wish)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup of (good quality) olive oil

Instructions

  1. Process everything together, adding the oil slowly until you reach your desired consistency.
  2. If you are making the chermoula as a marinade, make it runnier and use a light olive oil. If you intend to use it as a dip, use a very good quality extra virgin olive oil and make it firmer (dipping consistency!).
https://eatingadelaide.com/chermoula-recipe-moroccan-fish/

Honey Joys

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Still on fall out from the recent toddler party (yes, five 3 year old boys make a lot of noise and chaos) and still on recipe fall out too.

We’ve recently discovered that the toddler is rather partial to what I called cornflake crackles and what, apparently, the internet calls ‘honey joys’. Really? I have never heard them called this. I’m not 100% sure what I called them as a small child (I have a recollection I wasn’t a big fan) but cornflake crackle was what came to mind. I took a vox pop at the party and while a few parents were like me and had no idea what they should be called, at least one was adamant they were ‘honey joys’.

Nomenclature aside – I’ve discovered I quite like these now. They are very easy to make and, with a small amount of supervision (because honey, butter and sugar is going to get hot!) they have potential for children who want to help out. Another bonus is that they require no special kit and they are both quick and quiet to make.

This is ideal for anyone with small children as they can be made after children have gone to bed and, being so quick, they don’t take up your whole evening. They keep perfectly well being made a day ahead.

I initially tried making a half batch (scared off by Kellogg’s saying 24 servings) but found that it only made about 9 (maybe my cupcake tray is just too big) so unless you’re catering for a very small group, bite the bullet and make a full batch.

Honey Joys

Ingredients

  • 90g unsalted butter
  • ⅓ cup caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 4 cups of cornflakes

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 150°C.
  2. Line cupcake tin with liners.
  3. In a pan, melt the butter, honey and sugar together and heat until it starts to froth a little.
  4. Remove from the heat and gently stir through the cornflakes. You need to be cautious because the sugar mixture will be very hot but you also need to work quite quickly because as it cools down it will be harder to work with.
  5. Spoon the cornflakes into the patty cases and cook in the oven for 10 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool before serving.
  7. Will keep for a day or so.
https://eatingadelaide.com/honey-joys/

Meal Planner 7

lemon chilli chicken with couscous salad

I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 months of meal planners! I do really need to start working on these on Friday nights rather than Saturday mornings!

For some of this week it’s going to be quite warm here in Adelaide but I’ve thrown in a sausage casserole for anyone somewhere cooler, or, indeed for locals later in the week. There’s a distinctly Mexican-citrus-South American flavour this week, with lime and chilli steak fajitas, Mexican baked fish and lemon chilli chicken (one that’s great for the BBQ).

Oh, and there’s Jamie Oliver’s spinach and feta filo pie – one of the most popular recipes on this site!

With a nod to the fact that summer starts tomorrow, this week’s sweet treat is coffee ice cream … mmmmmm …

As always, there’s a print friendly menu planner for you to create your shopping list and an online (prettified) version.