Archive for October, 2008

Chermoula

October 31, 2008 at 10:34 am · Filed under The Washington Post, marinade ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

There has been a bunch of cilantro sitting in my refrigerator for a few days. I assumed it would end up being tossed as garbage, but then I remembered a recipe that called for cilantro, jalapeno and other things we had available and decided we’d have chicken wings in chermoula — something we used to make regularly. I’m not sure why we stopped making it, but neither of the kids remembered ever eating this — and they both loved it last night. (my daughter had it over Morningstar chicken nuggets.)

The sauce is very cilantro-y, so if you are not a fan of cilantro, then you’ll probably want to skip this one. According to Wikipedia,

“Chermoula or Charmoula is a marinade used in Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking. It is usually used to flavor fish or seafood, but it can be used on other meats or vegetables.”

I think I found this recipe in the Washington Post not long after we’d moved to the DC area.  I don’t think I changed anything about it.

  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1 bunch cilantro (leaves and stems)
  • 1 jalapeno pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 thick slice ginger
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 lemon, thinly sliced

Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, and add to a food processor (metal blade attached) or blender with all ingredients except olive oil and lemon slices. Blend into a paste and transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the oil.

Marinate the fish, chicken or meat to be grilled in the most of the sauce for an hour (reserve about ¼ cup for later). Grill meat as you normally would, basting with marinade.

Heat reserved marinade with lemon slices and pour over fish, poultry or meat to serve.

Like I said — this is a great chicken wing marinade.

The recipe I have says it makes about 2 cups. That’s not entirely true — more like 1½ cups.

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“Cream Soup” aka Vichyssoise

October 16, 2008 at 12:03 pm · Filed under A World of Good Eating, entrée, soup ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

When I was a teenager a neighbor had a yard sale and I bought a cookbook called A World of Good Eating. While I didn’t use it for many years, there is one recipe that I use regularly.

I’d never had vichyssoise before I made this recipe, but I had heard of it before and the recipe looked easy enough. The recipe also had an inviting disclaimer, “If you haven’t tried Vichyssoise, do have it soon. It makes you feel SO good!

When the kids were small this soup was their favorite — and it still makes them happy when I make it.  We’ve called it many things including Cream Soup and Clare’s Favorite Soup.  The kids now know it is Vichyssoise, but I still call it Cream Soup.

  • 2 medium large onions (about the size of a baseball)
  • 3 stalks of celery (and some of the tender yellow tops)
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 4 medium sized red or white potatoes (about the size of your fist)
  • 4 cups chicken stock (we use vegetable stock because my daughter doesn’t eat meat, but chicken stock is much better
  • 1 pint table cream (or half and half if you want less fat, milk probably also works, but I’ve not tried it)
  • salt and pepper
  • chives or parsley

Slice the onions and celery fine and cook in covered pan in the butter until transparent and tender (don’t brown)

Dice the potatoes (I don’t peel them, but you can if you want) and add to onion/celery mixture, add a little salt if the stock has no salt, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Using a food processor or blender, blend mixture until creamy. Add cream and heat until piping hot, but watch so the soup doesn’t burn.

Garnish with snipped chives or parsley if desired.  A few turns of freshly ground pepper adds to the flavor if you like pepper.

I serve this with a salad, a variety of cheeses and fresh French bread.

While this recipe is served warm, I think you could have it cold. Warm is better though.

Note: You can substitute 2 or 3 leeks for the onions and celery. Make sure you wash the leeks well or you’ll have a sandy soup.

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