Moroccan

A fancy for fish led me to my next recipe. I looked in the 'fish' folder in the 'recipes folder' on my trusty laptop and came up with 'fish tagine' for dinner tonight.
And...... wonder of wonders ......  I have actually written down where this recipe came from, so thanks to Neil Perry - Australian wonder chef ;-)

Firstly one has to make a chermoula, thereby creating all the flavours in the gravy and making a fish stir-fry into a tagine. I roughly chopped some flat leaf parsley, fresh coriander, red onion and garlic. Added some spices to the mix; cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, ras-el-hanout and chilli, then blitzed away with a stab mixer using some lemon juice and olive oil until a thick paste was formed.


You can see from the photo it actually doesn't look so appetising, but believe me when I say it is an amazingly flavourful taste. Really got my tastebuds a-singing!

Next step onto the tagine itself. It's a fish tagine, so nothing wants to be cooking too long or it will get all tough and nasty to eat. The sweet potato I diced quite small and steamed for a few minutes, I roasted the red capsicum halves in the oven for 35 minutes, the cherry tomatoes and dates I chopped in half, and the olives I used whole. Once all the preparation is done it seems a quick cook!


To create the tagine spread the fish - I used Barramundi as there was no snapper today - with a tablespoon of chermoula each (see photo). Brown the fish in a pan for a few minutes before adding the other ingredients, another tablespoon of chermoula and some chicken stock. Simmer away for 5 minutes or so until the fish starts to flake and is therefore cooked. This timing would totally depend on the fish you have.


This is the step of course where one would use one's tagine if one had all one's belongings out of storage. Sadly that is not the case for me currently, so an everyday frypan will just have to suffice ;-)


Apparently the cover of a tagine is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom, then with the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving.


I served the tagine with the obligatory couscous and some steamed asparagus and beans. 

Ya gotta have some greens with every meal - right?