This Moroccan soup, thickened with potato rather than flour, has a wonderfully fresh taste!

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients
about 2 large potatoes
2 half pint water or vegetable stock
1 cup fruity dry white wine (optional)
9 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, cleaned
to cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons light vegetable oil
salt and pepper
1 large bunch (about 3/4 cup) flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
one lemon, cut into wedges
2/3 cup Crème Fraîche (optional)

How to Make
peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Put them in a pan with the water in the wine, if using, and simmer until potatoes are soft, then mash them with a potato matcher
chop the mushrooms in a food processor. In a frying pan, sauté the mushrooms and garlic in oil for 5 min., stirring constantly. Pour into the pan with the potatoes.
Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 2 to 3 min. Just before serving, add the parsley and heat through. Serve accompanied with lemon wedges and, if you like, Crème Fraîche.

Preserved lemons are a staple in Moroccan cooking. I first made them with a
student who was interested in exploring authentic Moroccan food. Now I cannot do without them. They have a wonderful lemon flavor, with more punch than the
milder flavors of lemon juice or zest. I use them in any dish to which I want to add a little “zing”—dishes like stewed lentils, Poéle of Chicken, onion
relish, or gremolata.

You can add spices like peppercorns, cloves. cinnamon stick, and bay leaf for
an even more authentic Moroccan flavor. The rinds are very salty, so if you add
them to a dish, add less salt than you usually do.

These lemons are great in a lamb or chicken tagine (a Moroccan-style stew).
I like to use them in marinades, dressings, and cooked lentils. Blend one lem-
on with some olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and rosemary and you have an ex-
cellent marinade for barbecued chicken. You can rub a whole chicken with this
marinade, let it sit over night, and then roast—delicious! Or try them with a
Lemon Vinaigrette recipe.

Ingredients
12-14 lemons, scrubbed
1 box kosher salt (you will not need
the whole box)
Fresh lemon juice, as needed
3 wide-mouth mason jars (1-quart
size), sterilized

How To Make

Cut a thin, penny-sized slice off both ends of each lemon so that they will sit upright.
Set each lemon on one of the flat ends and make a vertical cut down the center, 3/4 of
the way through the fruit, so that the two halves remain attached at the base. Turn
each lemon upside down and make a second vertical cut at a 90-degree angle to the
first, again 3/4 of the way through fruit. You now have a lemon cut into quarters that
are stili attached.

Fill the cuts in each lemon with as much sait as they will hold. Dont worry if a lemon
or two breaks in half; when you put them in the jars, you’ll probably have to break a
couple apart anyway.

Place the lemons in the mason jars one at a time. Press down on them so they release
some of their juice. Repeat this process until it is full and the lemons are “smashed” up
against each other. Top each jar with 2 tablespoons of salt — less is fine if there’s not
enough room for 2 tablespoons — and extra lemon juice until the lemons are covered.

With a dean, wet rag, wipe the outside of the jar, removing any excess salt, especially
around the mouth where the groove touches the metal lid. Leftover salt could corrode
the lid. Seal the jars with the lids and store them at room temperature for 30 days.

Every 5 days, turn the jars upside down, then set them upright again, to mix the brine
and the sediments. Refrigerate after one month.

The lemons are ready to use after they have been marinated for 30 to 45 days and
the rinds are tender. To use, remove and discard the pulp from the lemons and rinse
the salt from the rinds. The rinds—sliced, blended, or minced—can then be used
as seasoning.

As previously noted, when you use your preserved lemons, be sure to reduce the salt
in your recipes, as these lemons definitely add a salty flavor.

Ingredients

75 g (two and three-quarter ounces) sesame seeds.
Eight large, ripe tomatoes
150 mm (1/4 pint) olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

How to Make.

Preheat the oven to 275° (140°C or gas mark 1).
Heat a dry frying pan and toast the sesame seeds for 2 min. while stirring. Keep aside on a plate. But the tomatoes in an oven proof dish, add the olive oil and bake for about 20 min. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Then quarter the tomatoes and remove and discard the skin and seeds. Cut the tomato flash into small cubes, about 1 cm.
Bring the honey to the boil in a saucepan and lower the heat. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for 2 min. But in a serving dish and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Leave to cool before eating.

1. Soak almonds in warm water for a couple of hours. Drain and puree in food processor. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in skillet and add cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom pods, garlic pulp, ground tumeric and bay leaves. When they begin to crackle, add the onion. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the onion has softened and starting to caramelize. Add chicken and almond puree and cook over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring continuously.

3. Stir in cream, ground cardamom and garam marsala. Add sugar and salt to taste. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with almonds and coriander.

TIPS: Try various nuts for different flavors.

3.

3 cups onion, chopped
2 1/4 lb lamb shoulder, cut in 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
2 cinnamon sticks, 3 inches in length each
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup pitted prunes
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
14 oz chicken broth
1 10-ounce box couscous
1/3 cup slivered, toasted almonds

1.  Layer onions, lamb, sweet potatoes, cinnamon sticks, apricots and prunes in slow cooker (4 1/2 qt or larger).  Top with garlic, ginger, salt and pepper.  Then add broth.

2.  Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours, until the lamb and potatoes are tender.

3.  Remove solids with slotted spoon and place in serving bowl.  Skim fat from liquids and then pour over stew.  Sprinkle toasted almonds atop stew.

4.  Prepare couscous according to package directions.  Serve with stew.

• Directions:
• Add first onion and garlic along with salt, oil, spices to the meat.
• Mix and leave to soak
• Add water, cover the container and cook for 20 minutes on a medium flame.
• Take 2 soup ladles of sauce from the container to a saucepan for cooking prunes
• when almost cooked, add 3 soupspoons of sugar and 1 of cinnamon
• allow to simmer
• Add meat, the second crushed onion
• sprinkle with sugar and finish cooking for about 15 minutes, mixing often
• Blanch fry and drain almonds
• grill the sesame seeds lightly
• Serve meat and prunes in a plate, garnish with almonds and sesame seeds.