Ingredient: couscous,

Apricot Lemon Chicken Breast w/ Couscous

The flavors of the meal hint of Moroccan cuisine to me. It wasn’t until Brion & I visited Morocco on a holiday one year, that I realized how many of their spices appealed to me.

Moroccan cuisine is very refined because of its interactions and exchanges with other cultures and nations over the centuries. Its dishes are layered with sweet and spicy, earthy and bright flavors that reflect the vast array of spices available in their local markets.

Often referred to as the national dish of Morocco, couscous is made of tiny balls of wheat semolina, steamed so they’re are soft and fluffy. Subtle cumin and ginger spices add an exotic flavor to it.

Pairing apricot and lemon flavors with the chicken breast and serving it over couscous makes this simple meal quite special.

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 Apricot Lemon Chicken Breast w/ Couscous
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine American, Middle Eastern, Moroccan
Keyword apricot lemon chicken breast w/ couscous
Servings
Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Couscous
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American, Middle Eastern, Moroccan
Keyword apricot lemon chicken breast w/ couscous
Servings
Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Couscous
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Chicken
  1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
  2. Beat egg & water slightly. Stir together baking mix, lemon pepper & garlic powder. Pound chicken breasts gently to achieve uniform thickness. Dip chicken into egg mixture, then coat with baking mix mixture. Place on baking sheet & drizzle with melted butter.
  3. Bake uncovered 20 minutes; turn chicken. Bake about 10 minutes longer until no longer pink inside. While chicken is baking prepare couscous & sauce.
Couscous
  1. In a saucepan, heat 1 tsp oil; add green onion, cumin, ginger & garlic. Cook & stir for about 3 minutes until green onion is softened.
  2. Add honey. Heat & stir for about 30 seconds until green onion is coated. Add broth. Bring to a boil. Add couscous & second amount of oil. Stir. Cover & remove from heat. Allow to stand for 5 minutes without lifting lid. Fluff with a fork & stir in remaining 3 ingredients.
Apricot Lemon Sauce
  1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine sauce ingredients, stirring occasionally, until warm.
To Serve
  1. Place couscous on a serving platter. Top with chicken breasts & drizzle with apricot lemon sauce. Serve.

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

The name ‘patty pan’ comes from the French word patisson, for a cake made in a scalloped mold. This type of squash is as versatile as they come. It is very similar to summer squash, in fact, the two are interchangeable in recipes.

Summer squash originated from the region between Mexico and Guatemala. Like its relatives, it grows fast and abundant. It cooks like a fleshier zucchini or yellow squash and can be baked, grilled or stuffed.

Patty pan’s shape is well suited to stuffing. Simply cut off the stem end to make a ‘hat’, then cut a thin slice off the bottom of the squash, so that it sits evenly in the baking pan. Use a spoon to hollow out the body, saving the insides. These can be cooked and added to your stuffing.

This is a simple yet ‘showy’ meal, great for fall entertaining.


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Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

Votes: 2
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French, German

Servings


Ingredients

Course Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French, German

Servings


Ingredients

Votes: 2
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Preparing Squash
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. With a small knife, cut a circle around the top of squash. As you cut, angle your knife diagonally from the outer edge of the squash towards the center. Remove the top of squash & set aside. Hollow out the insides with a small spoon, being careful not to pierce the squash. Discard membrane & seeds. Set aside remaining squash pulp. Drizzle the inside & bottom of lids with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt & pepper, set on a baking sheet & place in the oven. Bake 15-20 minutes, then set aside to cool.

Couscous
  1. In a small saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Stir in couscous, cover & remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, until all water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork & drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.

Sausage & Veggies
  1. Add a small amount of olive oil to a large skillet & heat on medium-high. Remove the sausage from its casing; add in small pieces to the heated skillet. Cook & crumble sausage until browned. Add garlic & onion to skillet & saute for 4-5 minutes or until onion is slightly translucent. Add herbs & salsa to taste, then add reserved squash pulp & cook for another 2-3 minutes. Salt & pepper to taste. Add couscous to skillet & stir to combine with other ingredients. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over all & stir to incorporate.

Assembly
  1. Stuff each squash with the couscous mixture, sprinkling a bit more Parmesan on tops. Place the stuffed squash back in the oven for 10-15 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Sweet Almond Milk Couscous with Dried Fruit & Nuts

Couscous beyond lamb stew — sounds interesting! I never really paid much attention to couscous until we had traveled in the North African country of Morocco.

Traditional couscous is prepared with semolina. However, the name nowadays is used to refer to similar preparations made of different cereals, such as barley, millet, sorghum, rice or corn.

In Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco & Libya couscous is generally served with vegetables, cooked in a spicy broth or stew. However, in other countries, it is eaten more often as a dessert.

Couscous is made of tiny granules of various sizes. Traditional methods of preparing them are very labor intensive. The semolina is sprinkled with water and rolled by hand to form small pellets, sprinkled with dry flour to keep them separate, and then sieved. Any pellets which are too small to be finished granules of couscous and fall through the sieve will be rolled and sprinkled again with dry semolina. This process continues until all the semolina has been formed into tiny granules of couscous, which are then dried in the sun. In Western grocery stores, couscous has been pre-steamed and dried, becoming a quick food, ready in 5 minutes by adding boiling water to it.

The main ingredients found in Moroccan desserts are dried fruits with an assortment of nuts and sesame seeds. Spices such as cinnamon, cloves and cardamom along with orange blossom and rose water give that distinctive Middle Eastern taste. Rose water, a liquid distilled from rose petals with steam, dates back to ancient Greece and Persia. It was brought to Europe via treats like marzipan and Turkish delight in the Middle Ages, then later to the American colonies, where it was the most popular flavor before vanilla hit the market in the late 1800’s.

The key is to use rose water sparingly — a little goes a long way. This dessert is loosely based on ‘Moroccan Seffa’, essentially sweetened couscous sprinkled with rose water. It’s like a blank canvas, there are so many combinations you can create. One of my favorite versions starts with almond milk. You can make almond milk yourself with ground almonds and water or just purchase some in the natural section of the grocery store.

When couscous is cooked in this manner it gains a lovely, not-too-subtle almond flavor that takes to the other spices nicely. Not everyone likes rosewater but a sprinkling of it is ‘exotic’ and well worth trying.

I’ve added just a few more photos taken during our time spent in Morocco.

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 Sweet Almond Milk Couscous with Dried Fruit & Nuts
Votes: 3
Rating: 3.33
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Course dessert
Cuisine American, European, Middle Eastern, Moroccan
Servings
Ingredients
Course dessert
Cuisine American, European, Middle Eastern, Moroccan
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 3
Rating: 3.33
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. In a saucepan, bring almond milk, sugar & salt to a boil; add couscous, zest & cardamom. Cover & cook for another minute, then turn off heat & let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. With a fork, fluff couscous & sprinkle with rose water. Add nuts & fruit, gently combining. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fruited Pork Tenderloin with Moroccan Spices

It seems, we humans have a unique way of coming away from an experience or adventure, forgetting the things we want to and remembering others.

After visiting Morocco in 2014, I have many very interesting memories from our trip. One thing travel does well, is it teaches us so much more than can be learned any other way. On that trip we were travelling with the  Trafalgar  company so our experience was made exceptional.

Many cultures have influenced Moroccan cooking. For some reason, some of these flavors have resonated with me and I seem to find a way to use them no matter what kind of meat I’m cooking.

This dish celebrates the sweetly spiced seasonings of Morocco which pair so beautifully with fruit and couscous. I hope you will try the recipe and enjoy it as much as we did. 

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 Fruited Pork Tenderloin with Moroccan Spices
A beautiful presentation with exceptional flavor pairings.
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Servings
Ingredients
Couscous
Fruit Stuffing
Tenderloin
Course Main Dish
Servings
Ingredients
Couscous
Fruit Stuffing
Tenderloin
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Couscous
  1. Heat oil in small saucepan. Add chopped green onion, cumin & ginger; saute until onion is tender. Stir in honey & add broth; bring to a boil. Remove from heat & add couscous, margarine, salt & pepper. Let stand 5 minutes then fluff with fork adding a little more margarine if necessary.
Fruit Stuffing
  1. Chop dates & apricots. Shred apple. In a small bowl combine all filling ingredients adding 1/2 cup prepared couscous.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 F. Trim pork tenderloin & remove 'silver skin', then butterfly. Place a piece of plastic wrap over meat & flatten to even thickness. Sprinkle meat generously with salt & pepper. Line the inside of the tenderloin with fresh spinach leaves. Spread filling mixture evenly on top of spinach leaves. Roll up in 'jelly roll' fashion; place on lightly oiled foil paper on top of oven broiler pan. Rub Fig Balsamic dressing on outside of tenderloin.
  3. Place stuffed tenderloin in oven & bake for 20-25 minutes or until they have reached an internal temperature of 155 F. (68 C), then remove from oven. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. During this time the internal temperature will rise to 160 F (71 C).

Turkey/Apple Sausage with Herbed Couscous

There’s something special about pairing turkey or chicken with apples and herbs. It seems to me the whole idea probably stems from ingredients used in stuffing a turkey for Christmas dinner. I’ve tried a few different recipe combinations for these sausage. This one seems to be the one we always enjoy the most.

Speaking of turkey, I’d like to tell you about a very old memory since I brought the subject up. As you know, if you have been following my blog, I was raised on a farm in southern Alberta, Canada. It was dry land farming so it was imperative my folks not only grew grain but also raised animals. Along with cattle, pigs and chickens, my mother raised a few turkeys. On one occasion, my sister and I were making our way across the farm yard on our tricycle. Loretta was the driver with me standing on the back when all of a sudden I was accosted by a huge turkey. With his large wings, he knocked me to the ground and started pecking me for some reason. My mother saw the commotion from the kitchen window and came running to my rescue. Needless to say, from that time on, I have always been leary of animals bearing beeks and feathers. Nevertheless, I do like the taste of turkey.

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 Turkey/Apple Sausage with Herbed Couscous
Homemade sausage is such a nice change from 'store-bought'.
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Servings
Ingredients
Turkey - Apple Sausage
Herbed Couscous
Dijon - Apricot Mustard
Course Main Dish
Servings
Ingredients
Turkey - Apple Sausage
Herbed Couscous
Dijon - Apricot Mustard
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Turkey - Apple Sausage
  1. Heat oil in skillet; add onion & saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add apples & saute until until apples are very tender, 3-5 minutes longer. Transfer to a large bowl & cool completely. Add turkey, cracker crumbs, egg & spices; mix well. Divide the sausage into 6 equal portions & roll into approximately 8-inch lengths. When ready to cook, they can either be baked in the oven at 450 F. or lay on a sheet of greased foil & cook on the barbecue.
Herbed Couscous
  1. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tsp oil; add next 4 ingredients. Cook & stir for about 3 minutes until onion is soft. Add honey; heat & stir for 30 seconds to coat onion. Add broth; bring to a boil. Add couscous & 1 tsp oil. Stir, cover & remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes without lifting lid. Fluff. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Dijon - Apricot Mustard
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together Dijon mustard & apricot preserves. Serve with turkey-apple sausages.
Recipe Notes
  • I like to make extra sausage and freeze them for other meals. They come in so handy when your time is short.
  • If you prefer a plain couscous instead of spicy, omit cumin & ginger replacing it with dried basil or a spice of your choice.
  • This meal is nice to serve with a mixed green salad of your choosing.

Stuffed Burgers

RESHAPING THE BASIC BURGER

It’s only mid May and the enticing smell of the neighborhood barbecues drifts through the air. Spring has felt more like summer due to the high temperatures we are having.

Burgers have long been a summer barbecue staple so why not put a new spin on it. My first thought goes to using the same spice combination for a variety of ground meats such as beef, chicken/turkey, or pork. Next make a filling that would taste great in whatever meat you feel like serving or better still use a variety.

Over the last couple of weeks I did some recipe development  on seven different ideas to simplify  making  ‘Stuffed Burgers’.   In my next few blogs I would like to share these recipes with you.  Here is the list:   > Moroccan            >  Apple-Zucchini Bacon            > Savory-Herb                               > Seafood/Avocado &  Spinach/Cheese Portobello Mushroom Burgers                                                  > Mushroom-Cheese Stuffed Ground Salmon    > Garden Grain Burgers    

The focus of my blog is very often on the ‘Taste of a Memory’  so I decided to start my stuffed burger series with a memory from Morocco.

In 2014, my husband Brion and I enjoyed a holiday travelling Spain, Morocco, and Portugal. I had never really paid to much attention to the interesting flavor of the Moroccan spices before that trip. Since then I have made numerous dishes that included them as we have come to really enjoy that flavor.

Key Moroccan spices include aniseed, black pepper, cayenne, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, paprika, parsley, saffron and turmeric.      

Morocco is like a tree whose roots lie in Africa but whose leaves breath in European air. This is a metaphor that has been used to describe a country that is profoundly traditional and strongly drawn to the modern. It is this double-sided, seemingly contradictory disposition that gives Morocco its cultural richness. The country is slightly larger in area than California. Unlike most other African countries, it produces all the food it needs to feed its people. Located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the country is rich in fish and seafood. Beef is not plentiful, so meals are usually built around lamb or poultry. Another Moroccan staple is couscous, made from fine grains of a wheat product called semolina. It is served many different ways with vegetables, meat or seafood.

In today’s  Moroccan Burgers, I used beef and turkey patties, stuffing them with a spicy fruit filling. Strange as it seems, Brion and I found mustard   to be a great condiment to use on them.  In keeping with the Moroccan theme, couscous makes a nice side dish however you choose to prepare it. Your comments are most welcome.                                       

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 Stuffed Burgers
I used the same spice combination in the basic meat patty recipe for whatever meat I chose to use ( beef, chicken/turkey, pork), to keep it simple. These meat patties were then used to prepare the SAVORY-HERB, APPLE-ZUCCHINI BACON, & MOROCCAN burgers.
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Servings
Ingredients
Basic Meat Patties
Moroccan Spicy Fruit Filling
Easy Couscous Side Dish
Servings
Ingredients
Basic Meat Patties
Moroccan Spicy Fruit Filling
Easy Couscous Side Dish
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Basic Meat Patties
  1. Place ground meat in a large bowl & combine with spices. Mix well. Shape into 8 - 1/4" thick patties. Place equal amounts of prepared filling in center of each of 4 patties. Top with remaining 4 patties & press gently to seal, enclosing filling completely.
  2. Place burgers in a greased foil disposable pan. Preheat barbecue grill to a medium heat, place pan on grates & close lid. Turn burgers once during cooking time, (do not overcook as the meat is only 1/4" thick on each side).
  3. Serve on a Ciabatta bun (or hamburger bun of your choice).
Moroccan Spicy Fruit Filling
  1. Combine dates, apricots, raisins, apple & orange juice in a small bowl. Season with spices. Mix well; set aside to let marinate for a few hours. Divide between 4 burger patties & complete as above.
Couscous Side Dish
  1. Heat 1/2 tsp olive oil in small saucepan. Add next 4 ingredients. Cook & stir until green onion is softened. Add honey. Heat & stir until onion is coated.
  2. Add broth. Bring to a boil. Add couscous & 1 tsp olive oil. Stir. Cover. Remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes without lifting the lid. Fluff with fork; stirring in remaining ingredients adding a bit of butter if it seems to solid. Makes about 2 3/4 cups.
Recipe Notes
  • I found it really made this whole burger idea easy if I made 908 grams (2lbs) of each of the 3 types of ground meat into patties. Portion the meat with a scoop into 56 grams (2 oz.) balls, flatten & place in a plastic container, layered singly between a non-stick waxed paper to freeze.
  • When it comes time to use, take out the number of patties you require for the meal. Prepare the filling of choice, stuff & cook. What could be easier than that for a quick & easy great tasting meal!