Sovereign State #3: Algeria Recipe
Ingredients
- Couscous Algérien (couscous with stewed vegetables and chickpeas)
- Tagine de Poulet aux Abricots (Braised chicken with apricots and pine nuts)
- Merguez (spicy lamb sausage)
- Loubia (Algerian green beans with almonds)
- Harissa (spicy pepper condiment)
- Khobz Mbesses (semolina cake with orange blossom water and lemon)
View Full Recipe at The Hunger
Adding to Planner
.%20So%20it%20was%20a%20friend's%20birthday%20and%20I%20decided%20to%20cook%20her%20an%20Algerian%20feast%20instead%20of%20buying%20her%20something%20she%20might%20not%20like.%20I%20like%20experiences%20over%20presents%20most%20of%20the%20time%20anyway.%20I%20went%20down%20to%20Pike%20Place%20Market%20and%20got%20my%20brand%20new%20beautiful%20tagine%20from%20Sur%20La%20Table%20(as%20much%20as%20I%20wanted%20to%20get%20the%20really%20expensive%20La%20Crueset%20one%20I%20opted%20to%20go%20for%20the%20more%20authentic,%20and%20much%20cheaper%20ceramic%20version)%20and%20then%20I%20purchased%20some%20merguez%20sausage%20from%20my%20friend%20at%20Uli's%20Sausage.%20I%20had%20already%20gathered%20all%20of%20the%20other%20ingredients%20the%20day%20before%20at%20the%20Capitol%20Hill%20farmers%20market%20so%20everything%20was%20super%20fresh%20and%20locally%20grown.%20The%20feast%20ended%20up%20taking%20me%20about%204%20or%20so%20hours%20to%20cook.%20Not%20too%20bad%20for%20the%20amount%20of%20food%20I%20made.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI%20prepared%20the%20harissa%20the%20night%20before%20to%20let%20the%20flavors%20meld.%20It's%20super%20easy%20and%20once%20again%20the%20condiment%20is%20the%20star%20of%20the%20show.%20I%20will%20be%20putting%20homemade%20harissa%20on%20everything%20from%20now%20on.%20All%20you%20do%20is%20take%20a%20few%20dried%20guajillo%20chiles%20and%20a%20few%20chiles%20de%20ristra%20(New%20Mexican%20chilies)%20and%20soak%20them%20for%20over%20an%20hour%20in%20warm%20water.%20Remove%20the%20seeds%20and%20stems%20and%20throw%20them%20in%20the%20blender%20with%20a%20tsp%20each%20of%20caraway%20&%20coriander%20seeds%20(grinded),%20two%20cloves%20of%20crushed%20garlic,%20and%20olive%20oil.%20The%20end,%20delicious.%20I%20always%20forget%20how%20easy%20it%20is%20to%20cook%20couscous.%20It's%20nice%20to%20mix%20it%20up%20once%20in%20a%20while.%20I%20suppose%20there%20are%20a%20few%20moments%20in%20life%20when%20want%20to%20eat%20rice.%20Boil%20water,%20add%20couscous,%20remove%20from%20heat,%20wait%205%20minutes,%20fluff%20with%20fork%20(water%201.5%20to%20couscous%201).%20The%20vegetable%20stew%20in%20the%20couscous%20Alg%C3%A9rien%20was%20very%20flavorful%20and%20vegan%20I%20might%20add.%20The%20vegetables%20were%20a%20little%20overcooked%20to%20my%20likings%20and%20I%20actually%20even%20halved%20the%20cooking%20time%20but%20the%20flavors%20were%20super%20deep%20and%20satisfying%20so%20that%20made%20me%20overcome%20my%20fear%20of%20soft%20squash%20(papaphobia%20I%20think.%20.%20.%20No%20that's%20a%20fear%20of%20the%20Pope%20[seriously,%20look%20it%20up]).%20I%20decided%20to%20cook%20the%20green%20beans%20a%20little%20less%20to%20have%20some%20crunch%20in%20the%20meal.%20They%20were%20nice%20and%20spicy%20with%20a%20hint%20of%20garlic.%20The%20almonds%20gave%20them%20even%20more%20texture.%20Anyways,%20I%20was%20very%20curious%20at%20how%20the%20chicken%20with%20apricots%20was%20going%20to%20turn%20out.%20I'm%20not%20a%20huge%20fan%20of%20overly%20sweet%20savory%20dishes%20and%20the%20recipe%20called%20for%20quite%20a%20bit%20of%20apricot%20preserves%20in%20addition%20to%20the%20sliced%20dried%20apricots%20in%20the%20dish.%20But%20the%20sweetness%20was%20actually%20perfectly%20balanced%20by%20the%20spices%20and%20the%20heat%20from%20a%20little%20bit%20of%20chilies.%20I%20couldn't%20believe%20how%20juicy%20the%20chicken%20turned%20out.%20The%20leg%20meat%20almost%20fell%20off%20the%20bones%20when%20you%20touched%20it.%20It%20was%20obscenely%20delicious.%20I%20think%20I%20ate%20like%204%20pieces%20of%20chicken%20and%20had%20no%20regrets.%20I%20actually%20decided%20to%20save%20the%20merguez%20for%20the%20following%20day%20to%20cook%20with%20leftovers.%20There%20was%20just%20too%20much%20food.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAnd%20then%20there%20was%20dessert.%20Let%20it%20be%20known%20that%20I%20am%20not%20a%20dessert%20kind%20of%20girl.%20While%20most%20people%20are%20eating%20sweets%20after%20diner%20I%20would%20rather%20be%20snacking%20on%20a%20hot%20dog.%20When%20I%20was%20in%20culinary%20school%20the%20cooks%20would%20have%20to%20rotate%20into%20the%20pastry%20department%20(and%20vice%20versa)%20and%20I%20would%20be%20the%20one%20trying%20to%20figure%20out%20ways%20to%20bake%20pork%20into%20the%20bread%20or%20cheese%20in%20the%20cookies.%20So%20since%20it%20was%20my%20friends%20birthday%20and%20my%20lovely%20K%20is%20always%20asking%20me%20to%20make%20desserts%20I%20decided%20to%20make%20a%20cake.%20The%20thing%20is,%20I%20was%20cooking%20Algerian%20and%20it%20had%20to%20be%20an%20Algerian%20cake.%20I%20had%20to%20find%20something%20that%20my%20unsweetened%20tooth%20would%20get%20enjoyment%20out%20of.%20I%20came%20a%20cross%20a%20recipe%20for%20Khobz%20Mbesses,%20a%20semolina%20cake%20with%20orange%20blossom%20water%20and%20lemons.%20That%20sounded%20awesome%20so%20I%20went%20with%20it.%20The%20cake%20was%20very%20interesting%20(in%20a%20good%20way,%20not%20in%20a%20%22I%20don't%20want%20to%20hurt%20your%20feelings%20but%20I%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