Morroco! (and Spell-Check Hates This Entry)

Betty would be going bats#*t crazy!!!

Last month, my mom's trip to Morocco didn't happen because of the volcanic ash cloud. Since I really love my mom, and I really love to cook, I decided to make her a traditional (well, as traditional as I could get) Moroccan Meal. It was such a unique experience to cook a six-course meal, not one item of which I had made before. Because Scott is awesome, he downloaded a Moroccan music playlist and I even went to Fabricland to buy rich, colourful fabrics to decorate the table. I basically destroyed my kitchen, but then we brought everything over to my mom's and served it there. Here is what went down in my little kitchen: (if you happen to be Moroccan and I've made any mistakes in my research as to what constitutes "traditional" I apologize, but I did my best)

1. Traditionally, in Morocco, people eat with their hands. So the hostess puts a towel over her arm and walks around the table with a pitcher and a little basin, pouring rose water over people's hands... my mom had a pitcher and basin that I had gotten for her in Portugal one summer, and I had lemons, not roses, but you get the picture.

2. First course: Bstilla. (Bah-stee-yah) Really? This was a sort of chicken pot-pie made with phyllo pastry. I was so nervous about using the phyllo, mostly because at some point in my life I had seen something on the Food Network that led me to believe it's impossible. It wasn't! You boil chicken, water, butter, onions and parsley. Then you shred the chicken and put it back into the liquid. Then, you go take a shower and have a little cry because you're stressed while your husband cooks the mixture until the liquid is all gone. Then, and this is the WEIRD part, you put five sheets of phyllo (with about a gallon of butter between each one) into a baking dish and sprinkle cinnamon, ground almonds and icing sugar. Then you put the chicken mixture in, cover the whole thing with phyllo (and more butter, Betty would be so happy) and bake. I was so afraid this would be gross. It was absolutely delicious, according to my guests (not all of whom, by the way, were family and were required to like what I made... YES!!!!)

3. Second Course: Kefta or kabobs. Ground beef with a million fresh herbs and spices. Delish!

4. Third Course: Lamb Tagine with caramelized onions. This was basically like a stew, served with flat bread. I had to forgo the lamb meat (um, maybe I should rethink teaching and start raising lambs? Apparently they are worth their weight in gold. Or at least Manolos) I went with lamb sausage instead, which looked, smelled and tasted amazing. Murphy and Lilly did not leave the kitchen once while this was cooking... puppies like lamb. Ew.

5. Fourth Course: Eggplant Salad. I have to do further research as to why you slice eggplant, salt it, let it sit for 1/2 hour and then rinse and dry it... seemed kind of weird. Anyway, you do that and complain about it to Scott, then you cook it with tomatoes and peppers and vinegar and mash it all up. Chill and serve with lemon. Everyone liked this but me. I am not a fan of the eggplant per se.

6. Fifth Course: Vegetable Couscous. Turmeric is pretty and yellow and flavourful, but don't get it on your white shirt if you are stupid and are cooking a Moroccan feast in a white shirt. Again, this was not my fave.

7. Sixth Course: Dessert! Now, my mother has the type of sweet tooth that is rather insatiable. By this I mean, there is nothing sweet enough to please her unless you actually injected her with butter tart filling. So I decided against most Moroccan pastries and went with coconut truffles. The coolest thing about these was that the recipe was on youtube and they were actually quite sweet and delicious. Oh, sweetened condensed milk, I love you.

All in all, this was a very successful first day of holidays for me. And it was a very happy birthday for my mom. It was fun to try some different recipes and while I'm not saying I'm going to hurry up and put icing sugar and cinnamon on the chicken breast I'm cooking tonight, I won't cross it off the list forever.

xox