Moroccan Monday

A few days ago I picked up a book on Moroccan cuisine at the bookstore. The fact that I actually bought a book on it kind of obligates me to use it. So, I've planned to use it once a week for at least a month. Yesterday was my first time, and overall the meal turned out so so.

I made a carrot salad. For me, it was kind of nasty. Shermy actually ate one carrot. Atticus didn't touch it. Jonathan and I, of course, ate them. I think Cinci's ended up on the floor. I fully understand that making food from a cookbook and eating the food while you are actually in Morocco makes for a huge difference in taste. Who knows if they actually even eat these carrots in Morocco?I made rice with artichoke hearts. I managed to cut through those clawlike leaves down to the hearts just like those Turks I used to observe in the marketplace. Slice, turn, slice, turn, slice, turn, and voila! There you have it. A beautiful, unbrown, artichoke heart. I tried to emulate their example, but I ended up with twenty-three-ogonal shapes that turned brown even before I was able to toss them into the lemon water. The rice, however, was tasty. A bit bland for Jonathan. Cinci ate the artichokes voluntarily. He called them chicken. He kept asking for more. I personally gagged at the looks of the rice. The artichokes ended up looking like grey, slimy, slugs bathing in the rice. Won't make that again. The grand success of the night, by far, was the baked sea bass. Jonathan tried to get a sea bass at the store. "Do you have sea bass?"
"No, but we have a sea dream."
"OK"
So that's what I made. Sea dream with a whole bunch of moroccan spices. Delightful! The kids gobbled up the green olives that surrounded the fish, and I couldn't get the bones out of the fish fast enough to feed them. Atticus loves fish so much that he wanted to eat the head. I know some people do eat the head and the eyes and such but there were so many hard parts and bones in it I didn't know how to instruct him. Perhaps I should do some research. Just because I think it's disgusting doesn't mean he has to think it is. We only had one fish. Next time I'll buy three. Jonathan and I probably got two tablespoonfuls each.

For dessert I made moroccan rice pudding. Not with much faith, might I add. I learned how to make spanish rice pudding in Spain and I haven't found anything that tops it. So I just made this for fun for our Moroccan Monday. I didn't have orange flower water. I bought orange extract instead. So I used a little of that and a little orange zest. The kids liked it and so did I. Not as much as the Spanish kind though. Jonathan didn't eat more than one bite. I guess he wanted to save his calories for something he really liked.

So, next week I'm planning on fish again or maybe a main dish with eggs in it. A side of some sort of potatoes and a chick pea based soup. Yum yum!