SWEETS, PASTRIES AND DRINKS
Oh la la, it’s already December! Have you started planning your meals for the holiday season? For now, I am pretty sure that chermoula oysters and turkey, cranberry & chestnut tagine will be on the menu. I am really struggling to find new canapés or bite-size-thingies ideas. Any tips welcomed!
Oh hey friends! Happy autumn, fall, apple/pumpkin and all things cosy season! Every year, the blogger in me can’t resist but post a supper autumn-y recipe, after seeing hundreds of images of pumpkins and apples, how could I NOT share a recipe for one of these ingredients? It would make me a blogger who doesn’t care about seasons, right?
I came back from Morocco a few days ago and this blog post couldn’t be better timed! Because, I have to tell you, this trip reminded me how beautiful my country is and I don’t think I mention it enough on this blog.
I feel like I should say something along the lines of “happy almost spring” but it feels wrong because it’s freezing and it’s been snowing for the past two days. Oh well! The good part is, I did notice some beautifully blossoming trees in the streets of London these past weeks, so everything is not lost friends. I have even managed to put my hands on some Narcissus, which by the way I don’t think are particularly pretty but I have to admit that they do smell nice (and we do share the same name)!
For as long as I can remember, my mom, my brothers and I used to spend our summer holidays in Morocco. That was the sacred rule until I started doing internships and working, when I had to start counting my days off, and all of sudden, life got all serious and complicated #adultlife.
Recipe development and blogging requires “a bit” of creativity. You want to make sure you come up with recipes your readers will like, but you also want to ensure that the recipes are not too hard to follow; don’t require challenging ingredients, are seasonal and super tasty. I have a file in my computer with about a thousand recipe “thoughts” where I have the most random recipe ideas such as Moroccan gyoza? (the question mark means I don’t think it’s a good idea) and Harissa and lemon chicken traybake! (the exclamation mark means I think it’s a great idea).
Summer is not “officially” over, I know, but apple season has kicked off and we have to make the most out of them! As long as I am not using anything pumpkin as an ingredient, I won’t be blamed for embracing autumn a few weeks in advance, right? This makes me interestingly aware that before I realize it, it will soon be the end of 2017! Hello 31/12/2016’s resolutions, where have you been? We were supposed to be good this year. Oh well!
Hello from Beirut friends! I am having such a blissful time in Lebanon, between good food and blue skies I really can’t complain. Yesterday, my friend Tamima took me to a small village in the mountains called Beit ed-Dine and it was so much fun. We left from Beirut and managed to watch the sunset as we drove up the mountains to get there.
It’s #popsicleweek friends and this year we are not missing it! Last year I didn’t realize I missed it until late July. I don’t really blame myself, I think I was going through this “early motherhood” phase when you sleep 4 hours a day and never wash your hair. Suddenly, remembering this makes me so grateful for time, it really is the best thing, cause it gives you the best perspective. Ok, enough philosophy, let’s go back to popsicles.
Hello world! The past weeks haven’t been the happiest, too many, way too many sad things are happening in London and around the world and sometimes it’s just hard… My favourite way to take my mind off sad things is to cook with music in the background. It’s honestly the best way to meditate and I think any cook will agree. It somehow makes me stop thinking about the rest of the world and enables me to focus on one thing only: cooking.
If everything goes as planned, this recipe should be posted automatically while I am on my way to Morocco in just a few days! I rarely schedule my posts but it’s so convenient to be able to arrange a little post for you so my blog doesn’t go into sleeping mode while I am travelling. Thanks Squarespace and thanks technology!
I have reached new levels of gourmet satisfaction. Seriously. Last week, I made about 3 kg of caramelized onions and ever since, I have been adding them to anything savoury. The majority of them were quickly thrown in a sandwich between melted cheese and occasional pieces of chicken. It might be time to go on a veggie cure… What do you think? I am thinking I should stop soon anyway before I have a caramelized onions overdose, because that, my friends, would be sad.
Happy belated Valentine’s Day! Do you celebrate it? I never did and probably never will but I guess wishing it is fine. So yesterday we didn’t go out to a fancy restaurant but I made chipotle chicken quesadillas and a big batch of guacamole! Laelia went to bed on time, we fell asleep watching friends - pretty much like every night - and it was soooo good!
A few years ago, when travelling for fun was still a thing, I went to Amsterdam and ate one of the best apple cakes (also known as appeltaart) in my entire life. It was so good we went back again on our last day. The cake was perfectly moist, its crumb was beautifully crisp and its apples were gently cooked and lightly spicy! It was just delightful and it made me realise how I should spice my apples more often
Hello world! It has been a little while, I can’t believed I shared my previous post almost 18 months ago. These past 18 months have been *interesting* to say the least…
Happy birthday MyMoroccanFood.com!!
Can you believe this? It has been already one year since I posted my very first recipe. I launched this blog a year ago to share my love and passion for Moroccan food and when I look back at all the recipes I have developed and the support I have received this past year I couldn’t feel happier! So thank YOU for following along <3.
Harcha is a type of pan fried semolina cake and like baghrir or msemen, harcha is famous for being one of the moroccan breakfast essentials. Usually served for breakfast they are also enjoyed in Morocco during tea time with jam or honey and butter syrup.
Whoa. Temperatures are going down in London. But it’s all fine because holiday season is around the corner and we will soon be able to snuggle up in front of the TV with a warm blanket and our stretchy pants! Because that’s what bank holidays are for, don’t you think?
It's been a while! A few things have happened since my last post.
- I discovered that I could survive without my laptop and phone for 2 days. Next challenge: 3 days.
- Other discovery: Westonbirt arboretum in the Cotswolds. This place is magnificent, it will make you fall in love with autumn all over again. I’ve seen the prettiest trees with bright golden and neon red leafs while I was there.
- The US elections! (!!!)
- I had a brownie made out of cricket flour. I think it tasted nice but I couldn’t stop picturing tiny crickets everywhere while I was chewing it. I had about 4 spoons, not bad no? Maybe insect flour is just not my thing.
So??? Are your streets fully covered with beautiful golden leaves yet? I can’t wait!
I made these krachel a few weeks ago and all I’ve been trying to do lately is find the time to bake them again! Krachel are Moroccan aniseed and sesame seed sweet buns. They are prefect in the sense that they are not too sweet to be enjoyed with savoury things but fragrant and rich enough to be enjoyed on their own. I love my krachel warm with butter, salted butter ideally. But I also love them with cheese! Cheese + krachel is really a match made in heaven, believe me.
My basbousa is finally online! Let’s all celebrate by making basbousa?!
I am back to London where the weather is kind of “moody” which made me very nostalgic of my trips to Morocco and Ibiza. Summer is officially over for me! Being home also meant I had to deal with my least favourite back-from-holiday task: sorting out all the pictures. It took a while this time. I needed 3 folders! A regular one, a food one and a baby one!
I know I know, I’ve missed #popsicleweek2016!!! How did this happen? And also, where was I? I think I was still on “full-time” mama duty or something like that. By “full-time” I mean that phase when washing your hair requires days ahead of planning, babies get better after a while, they really do and it is so much fun and LOVE!
Last year I made a delicious minced meat version of the stuffed msemen but now (a year later!!!) I realize that I should have started with the plain version. Just because it makes more sense and it’s less confusing for you guys. So better late than never! Here it is.
Do you know the feeling when you discover that you’ve just made your actual favourite-most delicious-cookie-in the entire world taste a zillion times better? That’s a very special feeling and it doesn’t happen everyday. That’s how I felt the first time I tasted my pistachio and hazelnut briouates. It made me feel like dancing and jumping around. Seriously.
Happy national donut day North America! Until last year, I didn’t know there was such a thing as national donut day. I had to start blogging and become a devoted instagrammer to find out about national donut day’s existence. Then I realised donut comes from dough-nut, and I didn’t how to feel about that. Because when you think about it, many donuts should be called but ring donuts but that’s another story!
If you leave in the States you can get actual free donuts today in many shops and stores. How cool is that? But the best thing about today is that many foodies such as chefs and bloggers will share their favourite/customized donut recipe! And, that is even cooler!
Chebakia, also known as mkharka, griwech or rose des sables is one of Moroccan cuisine’s most delightful pleasures. It is a chewy, yet crunchy sesame, honey and turmeric wonderfully fragrant cookie. It has so many levels, you really have to try it to understand how amazing it tastes!
Chebakia is commonly prepared in Morocco during the month of Ramadan and is usually served next to a velvelty harira to break the fast. I don’t really know why these delicious cookies are not prepared through the whole year in Morocco. I think it is related to the fact that chebakia requires long hours of preparation and Moroccans tend to keep it as a treat for Ramadan. Just a thought!
We like anything as long as it contains matcha. Right? So I thought it was time to introduce matcha to Moroccan baking. And what else than the most versatile cookie, aka “ghriba” to use as a first matcha-tizing/Moroccan baking experiment?
Hi hat cupcakes are on the blog, yay! I discovered them last year while I browsing the web and reading one of my favourite blogs. Molly made these supper cute hi hat strawberry cupcakes and ever since I’ve been thinking; one day I will make a chocolate and amlou version of these beauties and attempt to make them just as cute as hers!
Happy pancake day United Kingdom!! How are you guys celebrating?! I thought the best way would be with a gorgeous baghrir layer cake. Because why have one pancake when you can stake them all up and make every single bite magical?
Who would say no to super gooey and moist chocolate brownies? Especially when they’re filled with healthy ingredients such as beetroots and olive oil?
Here’s a list of things that inspired me to make these super yummy little babies.
I am sure you all know biscotti! Well, who doesn’t!?
In Morocco we also have biscottis, they’re usually made with almonds and raisins but the rule is, really, there are no rules! Right?
It’s the last pumpkin recipe of the year, I promise!
Pumpkin/squash is one of my favourite veggie, along with aubergine and courgette. Well pumpkin and courgette come from the same family so no surprise here… I am not sure about aubergine though (?).
I wasn’t sure how to call this recipe; pumpkin pie or pumpkin spice cupcake? I went for the second one because when you bite this cupcake it really feels like a soft speculoos spread with an aromatic pumpkin jam!
This cake!
I love layer cakes, but it’s been hard to include a layer cake recipe on the blog since layer cakes are not Morocco’s most basic foods…
A few weeks ago I made amlou and ever since I couldn’t stop spreading and/or pouring it on everything ( e.g., my cereals, bread, toasts, etc.).
Do you like roasted almonds and almond butter? Do you like argan oil? Do you like honey?
If you’ve answered yes to all the above, you should take a few minutes and learn how to make your new favourite spread in no time!
For those who didn’t know, English isn’t my first language, but you probably guessed since my English might sounds odd sometime. It’s ok, I am over it... I stopped harassing my husband when he comes back from work to read my blog posts a long time ago. So apologies for my English and the (hopefully) occasional awkwardness.
French is my first language and I always assumed that gallette is a French word, it definitely sounds more French (Latin?) than any other language. However, galette in the francophone world means something a bit different than in the Anglophone one. The galette I used to know is covered and looks more like a crusty cake. One of my favourite ones is the legendary galette des rois, I can’t remember the last time I had one. But lets get back to what galette means in London, because that’s what we are making today.
Do you know ghriba bahla? It’s a type of ghriba (Moroccan kind of macaroons) we make in Morocco. There are plenty of different types of ghriba such as coconut, walnut, almond and even chocolate.
Bahla means silly in Moroccan Arabic (or dumb? this word is kind of hard to translate!) and I don’t know why they call it that way. I guess it’s due to the fact that the cookie ridiculously cracks while baking and gloriously melts in your mouth while eating it, pretty much like a shortbread cookie. Usually ghriba bahla contains only sesame seeds (on top of butter, flour, sugar, etc.) but I added some peanut butter, just because.
It’s still sunny and warm in London, yes, lemonade for everyone!
I love lemonade. It’s refreshing, sweet, comforting, citrusy and tangy.
In Morocco the majority of the houses that have a backyard, all have one thing in common. They all have a lemon tree. Really, and I have been to many homes. My parents love to grow stuff, I mean fruits, vegetables and herbs so I’d expect them to have a lemon tree, but why almost everyone does? Maybe it’s just a coincidence. I should investigate this anyway.
Happy chocolate day!!
Like an extremely large portion of the world population I am a big chocolate lover, so when I found out there was such a thing as “World Chocolate Day” I decided it was time to share with you one of my favourite chocolate deserts, the chocolaty-est of them all: the molten cake.
You know I hadn’t tried scones before I moved to London? I didn’t even know what scones were.
Briouates are small stuffed pastries that are filled with savoury or sweet fillings such as meat, cheese or almond paste.
Almond briouates are very popular in Morocco, they are mainly made of almonds and honey and gently seasoned with orange blossom water and cinnamon.
The pastry we use the envelope them in Morocco is warka, unfortunately there is no warka in London. The best substitute to warka is filo pastry, which I also used to make bastila.
Traditionally the almond paste (the filling) is made of ground fried almonds and then the whole pastry is fried. Yes, double frying. Sounds a bit like too much frying, right?
Isn’t a one year wedding anniversary a good excuse to make cake?
And yes, I know what you’re going to say; tahini is strictly Middle Eastern, not North African. I know.
Yes, we also have macaroons in Morocco! Moroccan macaroons are prepared slightly differently but taste just as nice as the ‘regular’ ones. Actually, they taste even better!
All around the world, Moroccan mint tea is probably the most famous emblem of Morocco. Everyone knows about it and loves it, but making it remains a mystery.
For me gazelle horns mean one thing: Moroccan teatime! If you get the chance to enjoy teatime in a Moroccan home there’s a big chance that you will find a plate of gazelle horns, next to ghribas or almond briouats and of course a big pot of Moroccan mint tea!