♥︎Spicy Moroccan carrots

For ➍-➏
500 g carrots

marinade:

juice of ½ lemon (2 tbs)

3 large garlic cloves

¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

¼ cup fresh coriander, finely chopped

4 tb olive oil

1 ts honey

1 ts sweet paprika

½ ts hot paprika

½ ts ground cumin

½ ts salt

Peel carrots. Cut into 1.5cm slices. Cover with hot salted water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 15m. Drain and steam.

Crush garlic with salt to a paste. Thoroughly mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl.

Add warm carrots to marinade. Toss gently to coat

Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 h, stirring occasionally.

Winter tabouleh with roasted vegetables

For ➍

1 cauliflower

½ pumpkin

4 handfuls of rocket

200 g cooked chickpeas

200 g wheat semolina

120 g feta* or 20 falafels

4 tbs olive oil

4 ts ground garlic, paprika, cumin

sauce*:

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs honey

1 tbs mustard

1 lemon, juiced

1 clove crushed garlic

finishing:

pomegranate

coriander

Preheat the oven to 200°C

In the meantime, cut the cauliflower and pumpkin into pieces of about 2 cm. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

Divide the cauliflower and pumpkin pieces on a plate and brush them with half of the herbs and olive oil.

Do the same with the chickpeas on a second plate.

[Or spread everything out on a large baking tray].

Bake everything for 40 m.

Cook the wheat semolina with boiling water.

Prepare the sauce. Mix the olive oil, honey, mustard, lemon juice and the crushed garlic clove in a bowl.

Prepare the winter tabouleh by combining the rocket, semolina and roasted vegetables. Drizzle with the sauce, sprinkle with crumbled feta or add the falafels and mix again. If desired, finish with fresh pomegranate and coriander. Serve warm.

The tabouleh salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

*Double the quantity of sauce for more taste.

Burrata with warm peppers & tomato salad

For ➍
3 mixed peppers
4 tbs olive oil
360 g mixed tomatoes
2 tbs green pesto
½ jar (90 g) sun-ripened olives Taggia
1 ciabatta
1 burrata

Halve the peppers, remove the stalk and seeds and cut into strips 1 cm wide. Heat 2 tbs oil in a frying pan or wok and fry the peppers over high heat for 8 m. Stir frequently.
Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes and cook for 1 m with the pepper mix. Remove the pan from the heat.
Mix the pesto with the remaining oil and stir in the olives. Spoon into a bowl and let stand for 5 m.
Meanwhile, tear the bread into pieces. Put the burrata on the pepper-tomato salad and serve with the bread. Drizzle cheese with some oil.

Cajun spice mix

For ➊ jar
2 ts salt
2 ts garlic powder
2½ ts paprika
1 ts ground black pepper
1 ts onion powder
1 ts cayenne pepper
1¼ ts dried oregano
1¼ ts dried thyme
½ ts red pepper flakes (optional)

Stir together salt, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes until evenly blended.
Store in an airtight container.

Mexican hot chocolate with tequila & cayenne

For ➋ servings
70 cl milk
125 g premium dark chocolate, broken into chunks
6 tbs cocoa
2 tbs cane sugar
⅛-¼ ts cayenne (or paprika)
12 cl tequila (or white rum)
10 cl heavy whipping cream
ground cinnamon for garnish

Warm the milk in a medium size heavy saucepan on medium heat, watching carefully.
Add the chocolate, the cocoa and the sugar.
Heat until the chocolate dissolves, whisking to combine all ingredients.
Season with the cayenne pepper. Start with ⅛ teaspoon and season to your taste.
Pour the warm milk into 2 large mugs and add 2 oz of tequila.
Top with whipped cream. Sprinkle whipping cream with cinnamon.

Blackened redfish

For ➍
4 redfish fillets (1.5 -20cm thick)
300 g unsalted melted butter
1 tbs sweet paprika
2½ ts salt
1 ts onion powder
1 ts garlic powder
1 ts ground cayenne pepper
¾ ts ground white pepper
¾ ts ground black pepper
½ ts dried thyme leaves
½ ts dried oregano leaves

Heat a cast iron skillet over very high heat at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, pour 2 tbs of melted butter in each of 4 small dishes; set aside and keep warm. Reserve the remaining butter in its skillet. Heat the serving plates in the oven at 120°C.
Thoroughly combine the spices in a small bowl. Dip each fillet in the reserved melted butter so that both sides are well coated; then sprinkle seasoning mix generously and evenly on both sides of the fillets, patting by hand.
Place in the hot skillet and pour 1 ts melted butter on top of each fillet (be careful as the butter may flame up). Cook, uncovered over the same high heat until the underside looks charred, about 2 m (the time will vary according to the fillet’s thickness and the heat of the skillet). Turn the fish over and again pour 1 ts butter on top; cook until fish is done, about 2 m more. Repeat with remaining fillets. Serve each fillet while piping hot.
To serve, place fillet and a ramekin of butter on each heated serving plate.

Chicken legs with spinach & pears

For ➍
4 large chicken legs
1 cup semolina
olive oil
200 g spinach
2 pears
1 lemon
4 chicken wings
100 g butter
salt & pepper
spice mixture:
1 chicken stock cube or 1 tbs powdered chicken stock
½ ts salt
1 ts curry powder
1 ts paprika or red chili powder
½ ts ground ginger
a pinch of nutmeg
½ ts thyme

Mix all ingredients for seasoning mix. Mix just before use a little olive oil with the herbs to make a paste.

Cut the legs into 2 pieces. Place on an oven rack with a plate underneath, so the fat can drip off. Cover the top of the meat with the spice paste and sprinkle some semolina over for a crunchy effect.

Put the chicken 10 m in an oven at 190°C to form a nice crust. Reduce the oven to 140°C. Cook for 10 m more.

Chop the wings. Heat butter and fry the wings. Season with salt and pepper.

Peel the pears. Cut into thin strips (with a kitchen slicer).Wash the spinach and chop it small. Stew the pear 1 m in a little butter, add the spinach and cook. that rift. Season with salt and pepper. Add the grated rind of lemon to completely refresh.

Serve the chicken on top of spinach.

Serve with the gravy of the wings and with crispy fried, salted potato wafers.