This evening’s culinary journey takes from the hot dusty desserts of north Africa, west along a perilous ocean voyage across the Atlantic to the New World.

 

For main’s I am serving Moroccan chicken Tagine accompanied by roasted red peppers filled with a tomato cous cous. In the stew went 6 chicken thighs with rapeseed oil onion garlic sweet potato tomatoes green peppers mushrooms ginger coriander cumin turmeric dried apricots chickpeas and button beans. Add 600ml of chicken or veg stock and simmer on a low heat for several hours until the chicken can fall off the bone.

 

 

 

 

 

With a sharp knife remove the top of the red peppers and set aside. Carefully remove and scoop the seeds and inners. Using a cocktail stick or skewer firmly attach the top back the remnants of the pepper and roast at 180C for about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool and set a side while you wait for the stew to cook. About 5 minutes from service spoon your prepared cous cous into the pepper making sure it stands proud on the plate.

 

My dessert (or should that be desert?) is Aunty Sam’s Good Ol’ Pie. An American odyssey served on a plate with extra thick cream.

I took 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored, and steamed them in the microwave for about 6 minutes. Then I decanted them to my pie dish sweetening as I did. To this I added a generous serving of mixed spice, followed by pumpkin puree raisins and almond shavings. I added more sweetness to the puree as it is a subtle delicate taste and needs that oomph.

 

Add shortcrust pastry and egg wash and bake at 180C for approximately 40 minutes.