Saturday 25 April 2009

Harissa fried rice, fried chorizo and cumin roast zuchinni


So sometimes in the immortal words of Ferris Beuller, “Life moves pretty fast…” and we change our food plans…and i was in a bit of a rush tonight so did not feel like playing with my big old beets…nope i did it quick and easy…and it tasted like Tina and Ike said…Slow and Easy…….so save the beets from yesterdays meal and I will do em 3 ways this weekend ( thats why some nights we cook more, to have things ready for other nights…1 hour cooking max per night thats all you need to prep, cook and clean up)

WHAT YOU NEED

Oven at 375

4 Chorizo sausages ( or any type you like…but i like em fatty and spicy)

2 small zuchinni cut into big half circles, trapezoids, whatever you like, just cut them all the same size so they cook in the same amount of time.

1 T Cumin seeds( i would toast whole seed and then toss em in your coffee grinder, mortor and pestle or put in a bag and wack em with a can of tuna!!) Do you know how much you pay for little bottles of old tastless powdered spices…a handful of toasted whole spices served whole or crushed will make a world of difference…buy bulk!!!

1 yellow onion ( or red or leeks, or lots of shallots)sliced thin

2 green peppers ( or red or yellow…you get the idea)sliced thin and same as peppers

2 clove garlic smashed and chopped roughly

2 T harissa paste ( spice up some tomato paste w/ cumin & chili powder in a pinch)

Leftover rice ( or leftover taters for a more bangers and mash feel)

1 lime

handful of green onions chopped ( or cilantro or parsley)

oil

METHOD ( with lots and lots of extra thoughts and hopes of your own culinary meanderings)

On a sheet tray ( cookie tray, pyrex, whatever fits in the oven) drizzle some oil and place the sausages on top…

Toss chopped zuchinni in a bowl with a splash of olive oil, cumin , s, p and then toss them around the sausages and throw the tray in the oven for 20 minutes( Depending on size of sausages and cut of zuchinni time will change…so taste a piece of zuchinni, if you think they are done…take em out).

Get a saute pan that is big enough to place veggies in it without crowding them and get it nice and hot…then place some cold oil in the pan…swirl and add onions and peppers(if you cook them slower at a lower heat you can carmelize them, if you want them more crunchy…then saute ( jump veggies jump) them for just a few minutes), but dont forget to add the garlic ( the longer you wait the stronger the flavour…which can be nice with the chorizos and harissa)…taste em…add a touch of salt…if you want you can take veg out of pan now…or you pour a couple ounces of white wine or beer or water in the pan over high heat to loosen up the sucs( goodness stuck to the pan) with a wooden spoon...take veggies off heat and let rest in a covered bowl…save pan

wait for sauasges to be finished cooking and take out of oven, let rest and then slice or serve whole…( save juices/oil from zuchinni and sausage)

In same pan, turn up to medium high, add some of the accumulated chorizo oil ( or fresh veg oil if you want a less fatty option) add a couple T of harissa to pan and stir with wooden spoon to soften flavour ( some people would add some shallots or onion here…its your time) now add your leftover rice( or add some smashed leftover potaotes and milk/butter and/orveg stock to soften them) and stir fry for a minute to heat up…toss in some fresh herbs, squeeze over some lime ( and grate some lime zest in if you want) and put in a serving dish with sausages and zuchinnini and garnish the top with the onions and peppers

Obviously you can easily increase quantities to have leftovers…you an substitute some paprika and cumin dusted tofu or salmon seared hot in a pan or roasted in your oven…

But the main idea is the flavours should be fresh and the meal should take very little time to prepare and much more time to savour sittin down, sippin some rioja, drinkin a nice pilsner, or doing what we should all be doing…drinking water all the damn day long…

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