Category Archives: Sauces and Condiments

RED CHERMOULA SAUCE

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Chermoula is a strongly-flavored Moroccan herb sauce.  I’ve only had it once, at one of Monica Pope’s former restaurants, and I was fascinated with the intense, dark red sauce.  I scoured the internet for a recipe, but there are a ton of different chermoula recipes, most of them are for green chermoula, and none were as good as Monica’s.  To my delight, I found her chermoula recipe in Green Beans and Guacamole, a collection of recipes from Houston’s top chefs.

The recipe makes quite a bit, and it keeps in the refrigerator for months.  I’m posting the slightly modified recipe for the chermoula, and the next two posts will be recipes for our favorite ways to use it — as a component of an appetizer, and with fish.  The sauce alone is not terribly photogenic, but I’m including a photo of a smear of it so that you can see the color and texture.

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RED CHERMOULA
Author: 
Recipe type: Sauce
 
Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup freshly-squeezed lime juice
  • 1-2 tablespoons water, as needed to thin to desired consistency
Instructions
  1. Place garlic, cilantro, parsley, paprika, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper in a food processor, and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add olive oil and lime juice, and process until a coarse paste forms. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water, as needed, to thin to a thick sauce consistency. Transfer to a jar and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

 

Great things await this intense sauce

CRANBERRY ORANGE QUICK BREAD

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Cranberries!  Big, bouncy, bright red cranberries!

cranberry harvest found at oceanspray.com

Cranberries are harvested between mid-September and mid-November, when they are at their peak for color and flavor.  Their ruby red color makes them a favorite for holiday decorating, cooking, and baking.  They’re also known as bounceberries, and if you’ve ever dropped one on the floor, you know why.

Cranberry Orange Quick Bread, made with both fresh and dried cranberries, orange juice and zest, and pecans, is a favorite of ours this time of year.  It’s just sweet enough to balance the tartness of the cranberries, and the buttermilk keeps it moist.  The recipe makes 6 mini loaves or 2 regular loaves, which makes it a great recipe for sharing.

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CRANBERRY ORANGE QUICK BREAD
Author: 
Recipe type: Breads and Muffins
 
Ingredients
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
  • 12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
  • ⅔ cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 6 mini loaf pans, or 2 regular loaf pans, or 1 bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, orange juice, zest, and melted butter. Whisk in eggs until thoroughly combined.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Gently fold in cranberries and nuts.
  5. Divide batter among prepared pans, filling each approximately ¾ full.
  6. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top of the bread will be golden, and the bread will have risen and the edges will be just pulling away from the sides of the pan.
  7. Allow to cool, then wrap in plastic and let sit at room temperature several hours (preferably overnight) before slicing and serving.

cranberry bread

Hot out of the oven, and they smell so good!

bread

Delicious giving