A Present For Cathy

[KYHeirloomer]

Collectively there must be something on the order of six thousand, four hundred and eighty three versions of Lemon Chicken in North Africa. Every housewife and professional cook has his/her own version.

I hope you enjoy this one.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

When my fiance' finished this he said "2 thumbs up, and I'd give it 3 if I had 3 thumbs"! Excellent tasting dish, I recommend it to all of our forum friends, you've just got totaste this guys and gals! I did not have the preserved lemons yet, so I substituted a little lemon zest worked fine.

According to the cookbook I have on Moroccan food, the author states "As the recipes are handed down from generation to generation, with very little recorded on paper, no two dishes will ever be the same-it all depends on the eye and the mood of the cook". I figure that must be why there are640,830 different versions of this

I highly recommend this recipe!!!!

Thanks, Cathy

[KYHeirloomer]

I'm so glad you liked it, Cathy.

[KYHeirloomer]

Well, I'm leaving in the morning for a fishing vacation on the Outer Banks. The past few weeks they've been doing well, with bluefish, sea trout, triggerfish, cobia, and the occasional flounder among the catches.

With that in mind, thought I'd leave Cathy (and anyone else into Morrocan) a recipe for a fish tagine:

Tajine de Poisson au Safran, Echolotes et Raisins
(Saffron Fish Tagine with Shallots and Raisins)

1 cinnamon stick, roughly broken
1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced into rounds
2 tbls olive oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp saffron, plus a few extra pinches
1 tsp sweet paprika
2 lb 4 oz robust white fish filet (such as pollock) skinned, boned, and cut into large chunks. I used cod for this.
1 lb 2 oz whole shallots, peeled
4 1/2 oz golden raisins, soaked in water for 20 minutes
1 cup water

Spinkle the cinnamon over the bottom of a tagine dish or a large, wide pan, then lay the onion rounds on top.

In a bowl, mix together the olive oil, ginger, pepper, 1 tsp saffron and paprika. Andd the chunks of fish and marinate for a miniumum of 10 minutes.*

Meanwhile, steam the shallots for about 15 minutes, to partially cook them.

Lay the fish pieces on top of the onion rings, leaving some of the marinade behind, and place the shallots of top to cover. If you like a spicy dish, increas the amount of marinade sauce by adding more oil and spices. Stir the extra pinces of saffron into the marinade and spoon over the fish-shallot mixture. Sprinkle with the soaked raisins and pour the water around the edge of the dish or pan.

Cover the dish or pan and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon and keep warm, then cook the sauce for another 10 minutes, lid removed, to reduce. Serve in a wide dish to show off the ingredients.

*I found you need to at least double the marinade ingredients or there isn't enough to go around with that much fish.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

KYH,

Best wishes on the fishing adventures! And boy am I jealous (all that lovely fish, oh my!!!), but I will get over it (just have to drown my sorrows wine tasting tomorrow)

Thanks for this recipe and when we get home from our camping trip/wine tasting this weekend I will most definetley be giving this a try. We love COD so I will make it with that!

Thank you so much for sharing, Cathy

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Hi I meant to let you know KYH that I got my beautiful tagine, it will be on it's Maiden Voyage into the depths of my oven tomorrow to make this "Saffron Fish Tagine with Shallots and Raisins" recipe you have so generously shared with me. I am so excited and I just know this dish is going to be a hit!

I love weekends!!! I have another batch of green beans ready for picking tomorrow, oh and 1 lonely okra pod, I promised my "Pooh-Bug" we would cut it up and fry it, so I will slice some zuccini to fry and then I will do her okra pod hey what better way to introduce an 8 yr old to okra and only such a small amount available will leave her hungry for more.... then we will graduate to boiled okra somehow maybe in tomatoes & corn wee-doggies!!! Any way thanks for all the help you gave in picking out the tagine!

Cathy

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

By the way KYH I am not going to be doing this Saffron Fish Tagine recipe stove top, rather I wish to do mine in the oven, I am going to guesstimate the approx. temp. and time to leave in oven. If you think you could steer me in the right direction on that I am open to suggestions.

Thanks, Cathy

[KYHeirloomer]

I assume you washed and cured the tagine properly? That's really an important step, as it toughens the clay.

I've not used them in the oven. But at a guess I'd say 225 or no more than 250.

What I'd do is start at 225 and monitor what's happening. The goal is a very slow simmer at most. Making a tagine is a true braising operation, in which the liquid is evaporated, condenses on the lid, and rains back down on the food, thus keeping it moist and flavorful. Check the fish after ten minutes, to see how it's coming along, and go on from there.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

10-4 KYH, and thanks for the reminder to properly cure it, matter-of-fact I had forgotten that very important step!

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

We thoroughly enjoyed this fish tagine! Eddie said we must have fish cooked in the tagine very often! The blend of spices are nice and the onions/raisins just complement one another and the fish beautifully (I could not find shallots so had to sub. w/ vadalia onion instead) we had it served over Jasmine rice. I could taste flavor the tagine imparts it is a very pleasant taste, I used a olive / grapeseed oil mixture to cure the tagine, this is an exciting new gadget to cook with I think we will be using it alot


Thanks so much, Cathy