Rocking The Casbah

So I'm off to Marrakesh for a Yoga Retreat in May and to get me in the mood for rocking the casbah and suchlike I thought I'd give the Lamb Chop Tagine with Minted Fluffy Cous Cous a try - Page 88.  Unlike traditional tagines which need long slow cooking this was a quicker method although it seemed rather strange to have to cook a panfull of only onions, stock & spices for 30 minutes before even adding the lamb, but I did as I was told.

I pretty much followed the exact recipie and method which does call for quite a lot of different spices but all ones that I had in the storecupboard so nothing too unusual to buy and never use again.  I didn't have any green olives (and don't really like them!) so used black ones and I halved the quantity of prunes as there seemend to be loads of them and I feared the after effects!

Alas my cous cous was anything but fluffy - stodgy and porridge like would be a better description!  Its not usually something I have problems with cooking so don't quite know what went wrong but will stick to my own tried and tested method of preperation in the future.

Boy though it was amazing and especailly enjoyed the prunes, Girl turned up her nose and refused all black bits, and all the bits in the cous cous, and all the chick peas - I guess she perhaps ate a bit of the lamb.  Why do I bother?! 

Unfortunately one of my major bugbears of recipie books has been rearing its ugly head in Giraffe - no pictures for some recipies.  ARGH!  I can't tell you how much it puts me off not being able to see what I'm supposed to be cooking.  So as to whether it turned out looking like it should have I have absolutely no idea - and that really annoys me.  At a rough estimate I'd guess there are only photos for half of the book so black marks from me for that.

Would definately make it again, lovely robust flavours and nice and quick.  However I might be tempted to buy a Tagine Pot on holiday and try making the real deal.  Then again my measily Ryan Air luggage allowance probably won't even cover my yoga mat - let alone souvenirs.

Cous Cous Cakes by any other name

So what to make next?  I'm a bit cheesy in many ways so really liked the idea of these cous cous cakes made with Halloumi Cheese.  They are infact Spinach & Halloumi Cakes (with Spiced Tomato and Currant Chutney) - Page 43  I was way too lazy to make the accompanying chutney :-o  A slight error in composing my shopping list meant I only bought a pack of cheese weighing 225g so didn't have the 400g specified for the recipie - doh!  So I did half quantities and it turned out pretty darn good.

Now... the recipie says it will make 8 cakes.  I made half a quantity and got 10 cakes - go figure!  For any fish cakes/burgers etc I always use my trusty Burger Maker from Lakeland - wouldn't be without it. It really squashes the ingreedients up and keeps them in shape so they aren't falling to pieces in the pan.

Girl refused to eat it - but she refuses most things that aren't sweeties.  The rest of us loved them and I had two leftover ones for brekkie!  Now that is cheesy...