Tag: harissa

Venison with Harissa

I got some Belazu rose harissa paste from the co-op, very soft and complex, easy to add to dishes. I also had a stew-pack of venison in the freezer.  I made a version of venison tagine, which can be adapted very easily. I added carrot batons, but butternut squash would be a good addition as well. I served this with bulgar wheat and lentils. Traditional tagines are served with salads and flatbreads. Carrot salad, lentil salad, and mixed salad all go well.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Olive oil
  • 500g diced venison
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tbsp rose harissa paste
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml stock
  • 3 carrots, chopped into large batons
  • 50g dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • Fresh herbs as a garnish (mint, coriander or parsley)

METHOD:

  • Heat some olive oil at a medium/high temperature in a casserole dish, and fry the onions and celery until soft. 
  • Add the garlic and cook for two more minutes
  • Add the meat, and stir until the meat is beginning to brown.  
  • Lower the heat a little, add the spices and harissa and cook for two more minutes
  • Lower the heat a little more, and add the tomato puree and cook for around five minutes
  • Add the tinned tomatoes, carrot batons, and stock, and bring to a gentle boil, whilst stirring. 
  • Cover and put into the oven at 160C for 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Add the apricots and cook for a further ten minutes. 

Garnish with herbs, and serve with side dishes of salads, flat-breads, slivered almonds. If you are cooking for friends, pull out all the stops with the salads. 

Harissa, chicken, potatoes, carrots and beans

I’m struggling to keep up with garden produce, so I adapted this recipe that I found on-line, and experimented with different combinations. I’m sure you could swap around the vegetables to include what is in season, such as celeriac, bulb fennel, etcetera, anything that does well as a roast vegetable. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g jointed chicken
  • 300g potatoes, peeled and in small chunks
  • 300g carrots, peeled and in batons (whole if baby carrots)
  • 1 tbsp harissa (I used rose harissa)
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 200g string beans, top and tail, cut in half (or an alternate vegetable, depending on availability and taste)
  • salt and pepper
  • roughly chopped mint and/or parsley
  • 1 tsp grated lemon zest

METHOD:

  • Heat the oven to 200C
  • Coat the chicken in the harissa, and put this in a roasting dish with the potatoes, carrots, garlic and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and add the white wine. 
  • Roast the chicken mixture for 30 minutes. Add the beans, and cook for another 20 minutes
  • Mix in the lemon zest and garnish with the roughly chopped herbs. 

 

Carrots roasted with pomegranate molasses and harissa

We live on a small island, and although our local shops generally do very well for range and price of stock, some ingredients are hard to come by. I have some rather exotic recipe books, and so I have become better at substituting and messing around with recipes to make them fit. 

Pomegranate molasses adds a fruity sharpness to the dish, and helps the dressing to stick to the carrots. The harissa is hot and fragrant at the same time. 

This time, I had some random carrots, so I turned to Ottolenghi’s book, Simple, and adapted one of his ideas, and I made this. I served it with bread, cheese, and an aubergine dish. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tbsp rose harissa (or ordinary harissa)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (or 50/50 melted butter and oil)
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 400g carrot batons
  • salt
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

METHOD:

  • Heat the oven to 220C
  • In a small bowl, mix the cumin, honey, harissa, oil and molasses with a good pinch of salt. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise. 
  • Add the carrot batons, and stir to coat in the mixture
  • Line a baking sheet with tin foil, and spread out the carrots. Roast them for 15 minutes or so, until they are beginning to brown but still have some ‘bite’ to them.

Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with coriander leaves. 

Grilled chicken breasts with harissa, mint and yoghurt

We had some bits of boned chicken, mostly breasts in the freezer, and some home-made harissa sauce. We found this recipe in Nigel Slater’s Kitchen diaries. And that is what we had for tea, with boiled potatoes and a little salad.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Boned chicken, chicken breasts, chicken wings
  • 2 tsps harissa paste
  • 100ml greek yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp organic olive oil
  • a handful of mint leaves
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Stir the harissa into the yoghurt and then beat in the olive oil with some salt and pepper to taste
  • Roll the chicken in the thick sauce, and then grill it until tender inside, with some slight browning on the outside
  • Done. I think this would work well on the barbeque in the summer, or with lamb chops. We are going to try it with goose breast as well.