Moroccan Seasoned Braised Pork with Yams

Yes, I know. This recipe really takes liberties with Moroccan food. I apologize to my North African readers. There are virtually no authentic Moroccan pork recipes because most people in an Islamic country don't eat pork. I am not about to launch into any sort of religious or political diatribe here except to say that the spices in a sweet and savory ras el hanout ( a Moroccan spice mixture) go very well with pork, especially a lean roast pork like a pork sirloin tip, or a small loin roast. And with yams. Preserved lemon goes with both, too. This is totally and utterly toothsome and I suggest you run right out to the store and buy what you need and make it for dinner tonight.

While this may not strike you as a particularly June-ish dish, and I agree, it was just perfect for dinner on Friday when it was coolish and we got more than 4 inches of rain here near Philadelphia. Miserable dreary day and the pork was just right. Perfect actually, and there will be fighting over the leftovers, because like all braises, it improves with age. Luckily I hid it in the back of the fridge. So its mine.

Moroccan Seasoned Braised Pork with Yams

Moroccan Seasoned Braised Pork with Yams

Serves 4 - 5 

Note: If the ras el hanout you can find doesn't have any cinnamon or cloves in it, add about 1/4 teaspoon each of cloves and cinnamon to the spices.  I consider this dish Primal or Paleo. If you don't use yams, substitute about 4 large carrots for the yams. Hold off adding any salt until the pork is nearly done, as preserved lemon adds a great deal of salt to the finished dish.

Approx. 2-1/2 lb. pork sirloin tip or boneless pork loin roast
2 tablespoons of coconut oil or olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and in 6 wedges each
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 large preserved lemon half, rinsed and seeded, pulp and skin minced
2 tablespoons ras el hanout (I like the    brand as it's sweet)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup unsalted chicken stock
3  yams (about a pound) peeled and in 1-1/2" inch slices)
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt if needed

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.  In a medium sized Dutch oven that will just hold the pork roast and the yams, heat the coconut oil over medium high heat, and brown the pork roast on all sides, for about 2-3 minutes a side. Remove the roast to a plate, and add the ras el hanout and the cumin. Stir in the oil for 10 -20 seconds, then add the garlic, preserved lemon, wine and the chicken stock.

2. Carefully put the pork back in the pot, topside down, and arrange the onions and yams around the meat. Grind 8- 10 grinds of fresh black pepper over the top.Cover and place the pot in the oven and cook for 1 hour. At this point, turn the meat, rearrange the vegetables and cook about 45 minutes to an hour longer, until the meat is very tender. Taste the juices for salt and add if needed. Serve directly from the Dutch oven at the table.

Easy Carrots with Preserved Lemon, Garlic and Cinnamon

I don't know about your week, but mine has been total confusion with work sandwiched in between appointments and errands. Running from one thing to the next. We've spent more time in the car, and eaten more unplanned meals out.  I like to go out, but I much prefer to go to places where the food has a good chance of being better than what I fix at home. Quick pick-up meals usually just depress me, and I often end up eating things I wish I hadn't later. One more French fry and I won't be bathing-suit ready until 2014. Thank goodness the weekend has been quiet, and I actually had time to make a real dinner last night.

We had some beautiful strip steaks in the freezer, to thaw and cook, but I wanted something other that the usual steakhouse standards to serve as sides. Plus, I wanted to show you how to use some of the Moroccan style preserved lemons I showed you how to make last month. While these delicious carrot edge a bit towards Moroccan flavors, they have a sweet- savory taste with a little salty and lemony burst from the preserved lemons. Addicting.

Lazy is my middle name, and one of my main tasks this afternoon was a nice nap. Which didn't leave me a whole lot of time for slicing and dicing. And this dish takes absolutely none, if you buy baby cut carrots. I actually prefer the baby-cut over true baby carrots in this because they are generally sweeter. And you can plop the whole thing in one pot, put it on the stove and you are good to go.

Preserved lemons add such a burst of flavor, I don't know why you can't find them
in every supermarket in America.
But then, it's so easy to make your own.

Note: baby cut carrots, as opposed to actual baby carrots, are mature carrots that have been cut into the size and shape of immature, baby carrots. They have a richer carrot flavor, but do take a few minutes longer to cook. And we use a cinnamon stick, rather than powdered cinnamon so the finished dish of carrots doesn't look all muddy. I like to leave it on top as a decoration when serving. Silly, huh?

Dump and run, almost.

Easy Carrots with Preserved Lemon, Garlic and Cinnamon

Ingredients:

1 lb. baby-cut carrots
3-4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 small whole cinnamon stick
2T honey
1T unsalted butter
water
2 quarters of a preserved lemon, rinsed, pulp discarded, rind cut in julienne

Instructions:

1.Place everything through the butter in a medium ( about 3 quart) covered saucepan. Add just enough water to not quite cover the carrots and other ingredients.

2. Bring to a boil uncovered, then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook the carrots until just barely tender, about 15-20 minutes.

3. Remove the lid and add half of the julienne lemon rind, raise the heat and cook until the water disappears. Watch carefully so the carrots don't  burn. remove from the heat, stir in the remaining lemon  rind and serve.

Serves 4.

I promise the Broccoli Puree recipe later in the week.
It was a great steak dinner!

Fee, Fie, Foe, Friday: Recipe Overload

Every morning my email is filled with food newsletters, and recipe emails. Add to that, the blogs I subscribe to on Google Reader, add to that the list of periodicals like the NYT that have fabulous forward oriented food sections,  and add to THAT my enormous collection of cookbooks. Am working my way methodically through "Modernist Cuisine at Home", too. So many things I want to try. Recipe Overload. I just don't have the time or enough people to feed to cook all of this great stuff, but I sure wish I did.

Additionally, I have a lot of small kitchen projects going. There's a very pretty jar of Moroccan style preserved lemons doing their thing on my kitchen counter (and they will be a blog post once I get to taste them and see if they're great), kimchi in the basement fridge, and a batch of hot pepper sauce fermenting in the cellar. 

Moroccan style preserved lemons "brewing" on the kitchen counter

In the cooking and baking queue, I've also got a box of tapioca flour ready to make some crepes, both sweet and savory tomorrow, and I have a Yeasted Vanilla Cake from Aki and Alex over at Ideas in Food rising in my turned off oven since my kitchen is a little too drafty at this time of year for yeast to be really happy. Can't wait to bake this vanilla cake up later today, since it's total rise time is around 22 hours. Rising in the bowl, the yeast batter looks a lot like the pudding Woody Allen fought in his film "Sleeper". I am also hoping to find the time to make the Chocolate Caramel Peanut Bars from Hedy Goldsmith's "Baking Out Loud" since I am planning to go off of sugar for a while and they look like the perfect last bite. But that'll require a quick trip out to get more peanuts because I ate 'em. Ooops.

Oh, and blog posts to write for next week.Hoo, boy am I ever in recipe overload, but, you know, it's a great place to be. Until the gardening starts in a few weeks, then all bets are off. Although I'll still be in Recipe Overload.