While everyone was settling into the kitchen, Bill served a champagne that I really liked. Philippe Gonet nv Champagne Brut Reserve Le Mesnil-sur-Oger France, a subtly rich, dry champagne with a nice touch of fruit and a tiny bit of yeasty flavors.
We started the dinner with Annie’s Corona Beans with Tomato Sauce and Feta. Everyone raved about the Corona beans. They are very large pink beans, like Gigante beans, that are soft and creamy. If I hadn’t known we were eating Moroccan food, I would have guessed this was an Italian dish. The tomato sauce had oregano, olive oil, and onions along with the more traditional Moroccan spices: sweet paprika, cumin, coriander, cilantro, parsley.Her dish was served along side George’s first course, Grilled Kefta with Cilantro Dressing and Grapes. The Keftas are made of both ground lamb and beef mixed with Moroccan spices. The grapes are a very nice sweet contrast to the spicy keftas. You’ll notice in the photo that there is a “salad” next to the Keftas that is composed of julienned cucumbers, bell peppers and pickled onions with a cilantro dressing. This salad would taste great along side any kind of spicy meat dish. There is a dollop of Harissa paste into which I dipped my kefta and grape bites . . .yum-m-m-m! Apparently everyone’s Harissa tastes differently because it is a staple in Moroccan homes, and, like Indian curries, every cook has his/her own version. Bill chose a Dehlinger 2004 Pinot Noir from Russian River to go with these two starters and surprisingly, the pinot stood up to the spices and bit of heat in these two dishes.
Mourad’s recipes generally have several “parts” to them so they tend to be time consuming but not difficult. You have to shop a bit to find all the spices or ingredients but once that’s done, it’s a matter of just following his recipe and giving yourself a day or two to prepare them. The spice mixtures can be done ahead of time as can the condiments.
Although these two first courses could be a whole dinner, we had several courses in front of us! Jeffrey prepared Mourad's Carrot Soup with Citrus Salad. It takes a pound of carrots to make a cup of carrot juice and this recipe calls for 8 cups! It was a creamy soup that had a very subtle blend of spices: mint, thyme, curry powder (Aziza’s own recipe) and, interestingly, a vanilla bean. It was served with a simple citrus salad of Grapefruit, Blood Oranges, Meyer Lemons(Mourad preferes Myer Lemons in his recipes) & Mint Leaves and touched with a tiny bit of orange blossom water that makes it very Moroccan! Everyone loved this dish as well. The 2003 Sauvignon Blanc from Sauvignon Republic Cellars, also from Russian River Valley was a little too dry for this sweet soup. Bill was disappointed in this choice but I thought it was fine. It was more a contrast to the sweetness that I liked.
We had a second soup that was very Moroccan. I prepared a Lentil Soup with Date Balls and Celery Salad. It was somewhat of a deconstructed Lentil soup and took several hours to make. The soup used Moroccan spices: cumin, coriander, sweet paprika, ginger, tumeric and saffron. It was made with a lot of cilantro, parsley leaves, onions and celery and tomato paste. He had me cook various components of the soup separately for an hour or longer and unites them at two points in the preparation. The date balls were fascinating to me. After I rolled small strips into a cylinders, I then put olive oil on my hands. The olive oil soaks into the dates and makes them more pliable and they roll into these perfect little balls! They were wonderful little taste surprises to the rich lentil soup. Bill selected a Rochioli 2005 Chardonnay, again from Russian River Valley. It was a rich Chardonnay that enhanced the rich flavors from the lentil soup.
We served the next three courses together. I made the Grilled Poussin with Orange Cumin Glaze. Sharon prepared the Rainbow Chard with Ras El Hanout & Preserved Lemons and the Cous Cous with Fried Garbanzo Beans. YUM-M-M-M, again! I used Cornish Game Hens and would make this dish again. The Orange Cumin sauce is one that can be used on any fowl and is pretty easy to make. We discussed making spice blends from scratch, using his recipes, or purchasing the Ras El Hanout, Harissa or Curries. They don’t last very long, only 3 months or so. I think that making the blends from scratch, if you have most of the spice ingredients, is the best because you can adjust the seasonings to your own taste. The most unusual spices that require some hunting are the peppers: Urfa pepper, Aleppo Pepper and various dried peppers.
Sharon made the Preserved Lemons a month ahead of time. It’s an acquired taste of a salty-lemon and is a very Moroccan flavor used in several of Mourad’s recipes. The cous cous was a challenge in that no one could find regular cous cous. What is found in most stores is the “quick cooking” cous cous. Sharon adapted his recipe and used the quick cooking cous cous and we all thought the dish was delicious. The fried garbanzos used harissa powder and added a nice spark to the cous cous. Bill chose a fabulous wine to accompany this main course and sides. Scharshofberger 2000 Riesling Spatleses, Egon Muller, Saar, Germany. This turned out the one of the best wines of the evening!
We completed the dinner with Tina’s Almond Cake with Cardamon Yogurt. She couldn’t find plums to make the plum sorbet so she sliced some pluots she discovered and served them along side the cake slice. Bill found a Kikkoman Plum Wine to pour with dessert. A very unusual choice since fruit wines are not generally accepted as “real” wines; but it went really well with the dessert and that’s the goal, right? Tina said this dish was very easy to make and it was the perfect end to another fabulous meal!
Well, sort of an end of our meal. I had made a Pineapple Macadamia Nut Tart the day before for some friends who came over to watch our dvd of Secretariat. I had almost all of the tart left and offered a small slice to anyone who wanted to try it. I would make some changes the next time I make it but everyone liked it. It makes a very pretty presentation, as you can see from the photo. If you want the recipe, just click on the name of the dish.
Our next dinner will be using any cookbook from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. The date is May 19. Please mark your calendar! Also, please let me know if any of you wants to host this dinner. 
Our last cookbook dinner after that will be from one of the cookbooks we’ve used in the past. I will be sending out a list of all of our past cookbooks for your votes soon. It will most likely be an Aug-Sept. time frame for the dinner.
I'll start working on our field trip for the year as well. Sharon has extended an invitation to have an event at her home in Penn Valley again this year. She'll let us know more later.
Cook on!
