A Night in Casablanca: Part II, the FEAST and a Sweet Morning After

An intense week of planning and prepping for J's celebratory Moroccan feast finally came to its end; by the time Saturday morning finally came around, I was calm and focused on the task at hand. My house was clean (save the sink-fulls of dishes I'd still have to do throughout the day) and everything that could have been prepped ahead of time, was cleaned, cut and marinating in the fridge. Falling asleep Friday night, I felt like I was about accomplish something big that I had prepared for well.

Saturday started at 6am when my alarm welcomed me to the beautifully sunny morning. Saturday started again at 7:30am when I finally heeded my third alarm's (the rooster-sounding one) call that I get out of bed now. :D (It's ok, I plan things that way ...)

The first and most important task was to make myself some coffee. Ahhhh, sooo good .... then it was time to start the traditional Moroccan bread! The dough recipe was highly yeasted and composed of whole wheat and all-purpose flours. It also required me to take my first crack at kneading; I was pretty worried that I was adding too much flour during the kneading process (because the dough was very sticky), but after rising for an hour the loaf seemed ready to bake. This is where pictures in cookbooks become essential – I was comforted that my loaf at least looked right. This is also where you need to double check your recipes, because as I placed my loaf-filled cast-iron pan into the oven I thought, “it’s really weird that this recipe is so different than my past loaves, how will the loaf cook in 12-15min in a 220* oven?” A quick glance back at the page and I realized that 220* CELCIUS was indeed the correct temperature. Too bad my oven (and brain) doesn’t function in metric units. {sigh} … the bread survived another 10min on the counter as my oven temperature increased to 475*F. When the time was up, I tapped the bottom of the loaf and it sounded hollow so I knew it was done.

During the hour the dough took to rise, I drove over to the Sunnyvale Farmer’s Market. It was my first time to this location and I was surprised at not only how many vendors there were (in comparison to the HUGE Sunday Market in Mountain View), but the variety there was – including a delicious crepe vendor who made me one of the delicate pancakes with butter, sugar and fresh lemon for breakfast! Amongst my wares, I purchased 3pints of fragrant and ripe, in-season strawberries (you’ll see why later in this entry), 5lbs of sweet seedless oranges for my Orange Blossom Salad, 10 lovely vine-ripe tomatoes for my Tomato and preserved Lemon Salad, a 1/2lb of lychee nut because I’ve never had them in their natural form (mmm).

While the bread was baking, I segmented oranges for the first time. It is a process that makes me sorely wish my knife skills were better – and that I already owned my dream set of Wustof cutlery. The orange segments and juice went into a bowl with a few teaspoons of orange blossom water. The bowl was covered and chilled in the fridge for the rest of the day. The combination of fresh citrus and floral essence created a scent that was exotic and magical.


While the bread was cooling, I par-boiled and peeled the tomatoes. I’ve peeled tomatoes for sauce before, but this technique was a little different because the tomatoes were not supposed to be left in the boiling water long enough to have them cook. A race against time, 30 seconds in the boiling water gave way to a few minutes in an icy bath. The tomatoes did not peel as easily as I would have liked, but were eventually skinned, chopped and tossed in a bowl with a slivered red onion. I went on to rinse, pat-dry and slice my preserved lemon rinds, scooping out the slimy flesh and gently wiping away the loose pitch under a stream of cool water.

The following concern had seeded itself in the back of my brain: what if I just don’t like the preserved lemons?? I was preparing a meal that utilized the special ingredient in 3 dishes, what if it became the sour note of the night? I nervously arranged and tasted a forkful of the tomato, onion and lemon combination. A wave of relief, then exhilaration, immediately overcame me! It was like lemon heaven in my mouth– the perfect amount of saltiness and bright, lemony flavor. It was all that the blogs and articles I read promised and more!




Being more confident with the ingredient’s potential and more familiar with its flavor profile, I added extra to the tomato salad and decided to prepare a flavored oil for the bread with extra virgin olive oil, ghee, minced preserved lemon and black pepper. As the lemon rind is softened in the pickling process, the minced rind was mostly spreadable. The oil was one of the highlights of the night.

I took a break around 12:30pm to enjoy a salami sandwich and a glass of prosecco in the sun outside AG Ferrari Foods. I also picked up some fresh mascarpone for my planned strawberry application (more information to come).

Back at the house, I cleaned up my earlier-made mess and prepared myself to make another. I chopped the ingredients I’d need to add to the lamb once I started the tagine a bit later and I set the table. I decided to use my kitchen work-bench instead of my traditional dining table because I liked the idea of me and J finalizing and sharing the home-cooked meal in the kitchen. I had orange blossom water ready to warm over a tea light and arranged a vase of herbs.

By 5:30pm I was ready to start browning the lamb – a technique I have NOT mastered. My lamb was indeed dry going into the hot, oiled tagine, but a pool of liquid appeared and prevented the caramelization I was hoping to encourage. {sigh} I followed the rest of the recipe, softening the onions and adding the garlic, turmeric, cumin and ginger. I returned the lamb to the pot, added fresh parsley, cilantro, lemon thyme and some water, then covering the mixture to simmer for a few hours. I uncorked the red wine, tossed the tomato salad in lemon-paprika vinaigrette and removed the previously marinated olives from the fridge to reach room temperature. I cut and arranged the bread, covering it in damp paper towels to remain fresh until J’s plane landed.

J arrived on time and hungry at 7:15pm. I was calm, pleased with my preparation and excited to enjoy a meal I knew would be delicious.

The courses progressed as planned. The first bottle of wine was poured and glasses were clinked. The Austrian wine was alike to chardonnay (not the heavily-oaked California variety) in its texture and flavoring, but was especially suited to highlighting the lemon in the dishes of the first two courses. J LOVED the marinated olives, which maintained their firm texture and absorbed the preserved lemons’ brightness while remaining mild. (We had to re-jar some of them to ensure leftovers for her parents to sample the next evening.) The heavily scented oil gave the mostly flavorless meant-to-absorb-flavors bread a perfect purpose.


I completed and served the two salads: finishing the Orange Blossom Salad with slightly toasted, sliced almonds, slivered dates and fresh mint and the Tomato and Preserved Lemon Salad with chopped cilantro and parsley. The pictures do not do the flavors justice. Both were unique, one sweet and the other savory, one chilled, one room-temperature but were tied together by their citrus accents. The wine went beautifully with both and I was happy that the different acidities of the dishes never clashed, but fit smoothly with each other and the wine.

After the salads were shared, I boiled water for the couscous and added the fresh peas and preserved lemon to the tagine. The entree needed to cook just long enough for the peas to soften, but we continued to nosh and comment-on the first two courses until we had finished the first bottle of wine. :D The peas lost some of their vibrant color during this time, but the smell of the braised meat and spices was extremely agreeable. I tossed the couscous with some ghee and spooned the Lamb, Pea and Preserved Lemon Tagine over it.

My verdict? The tagine’s spicing was spot on. The marinated lamb (not called to be marinated overnight in the recipe, but suggested by Katia) had beautifully-layered flavor but did not come out as tender as some of the fall-apart braised meats I’ve enjoyed in the past. J and I discussed how the lamb was indeed tender but fell-short of my expectations, hypothesizing that the issue was timing. Although I cooked the lamb 30min longer than the recipe directed, I have a feeling that the heat distribution and conduction of a clay tagine is different than the Dutch oven used in the cook book. Overall, it was a fabulous dish and the couscous served well, soaking up the delicious juices.

The Rhone wine that I served with the main course was worth $25. Full-mouthed, fruity [but not like an in-your-face Zin] and medium-bodied, the red had the loveliest, lingering flavor of smooth black pepper. It paired very very well. (Ok, you're right ... the picture has me holding a glass of wine that is obviously not red. But I needed a paragraph to pair this picture with, and this will have to do.)

For the final course, I topped the almond-paste stuffed dates I had arranged earlier that week with orange zest and brewed a pot of Moroccan mint tea (tea courtesy of Casablanca Market in Mountain View). J’s addition of [many] spoonfuls of sugar really suited the delicious tea that perfectly ended the fantastic and wildly successful Themed Cuisine II meal. :D


While we went to bed very full and very happy, I was obliged to plan for us a special Sunday-morning breakfast: a homemade tart with fresh strawberries and a lemon-mascarpone cream accompaniment. J suggested (an example of one of the many reasons I love her) that we have champagne with the meal, served with the leftover strawberries. I happened to already have my previously-purchased bottle of AG Ferrari Prosecco in the fridge! The tart was very very good and made the house smell amazing. The shared bottle of Prosecco was great, too :D