Thursday, July 23, 2009

Take a flavor vacation without even leaving your house

A couple months ago I made my mother breakfast for mother's day. Needless to say, it wasn't your average everyday breakfast. It was a Moroccan tagine breakfast with eggs and delicious lamb kefta. If you've never had kefta before, they're a lot like meatballs. Actually, I take that back. They are balls of meat, but they taste nothing like meatballs. They are much smoother and spicier but also sweet at the same time.

If you're looking for an adventure in the kitchen, don't be daunted by the thought of Moroccan food. You can make the kefta the night before and throw everything together in the tagine the next day. You might even be surprised at how few ingredients actually go into the dish.

A small note before I begin the recipe: if you are cooking with a tagine, you must - and I mean MUST - invest in a heat distributor for your heating element. Otherwise you can crack the bottom of your beautiful basin (haha, alliteration. Alton Brown would be proud). You can pick one up at a specialty cookware store or even at Target. I found mine at our local grocery store. Also, If you don't have a tagine, don't worry. You can use a fry pan with about 3 inch sides and a lid or even a casserole dish.

And finally, the babbling ceases. Here's the recipe:

Kefta with Eggs and Roasted Cumin
Adapted from Ghillie Basan's book Tagine, Spicy Stews from Morocco