Who likes moving? Most people assume that I love to move given the fact that I am about to move into my EIGHTH home in 6 years, but that couldn't be further from the truth. While I love to be out and about and travel, I truly am a homebody, and I appreciate a good sense of stability and home more than anyone. I'm hoping that move #8 is a lucky one, because it has been a rocky road for sure! Today was quite a day, and my apartment is upside-down. I met a few interesting characters from Craigslist, and I successfully sold the majority of my furniture. Now I just need to get through 5 whirlwind days of travel for work, and I will officially be in the home stretch. My blog will be a bit neglected over the next week or two, but I am almost up to my 100th recipe, so you should have plenty to keep you busy in the meantime.
Tonight's recipe is thanks to a trifecta of inspiration: a chicken tagine dish that my friend Kat made to one of our ladies' night potlucks, all of the amazing spices in the food in Dubai, and my new favorite restaurant in Naples called Bha! Bha! Persian Bistro that I tried with mom and Ron. My entire apartment smelled heavenly while this cooked, and it couldn't be any easier. You will love this dish!
Sweet & Savory Moroccan Chicken: Serves 8, Prep time: 15 min, Cook time: 40 min
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless organic chicken thighs
- 1 sweet onion, sliced
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 8 oz. dried apricots
- 8 oz. dried plums / prunes (get pitted!)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Rinse chicken, pat dry, and arrange in 2 pans
3. Add sliced onion and garlic
4. Drizzle the olive oil on top and mix to combine
5. Add all spices
6. Top with apricots and plums
7. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through with no pink
I'm back! It has been a while, but I am back in the U.S. and ready to share all of my culinary adventures from Dubai. I was over in Dubai for the past three weeks and had an unbelievable time. I had some great adventures on the weekends and spent some quality time at my company's Dubai office during the week. Grocery shopping in Dubai is a bit different from Boston, but I did pretty well. I even went to the Dubai farmer's market which was an experience. It was just a fraction of the size of the markets here but was still great to support the local food movement in the Middle East. I had the opportunity to try some amazing restaurants, but my favorite (by a mile) was Pierchic. The restaurant is at the end of a 250-yard pier in the middle of the ocean. It is part of the Madinat Jumeirah resort, and was hands down the most gorgeous place I have ever been in my life. We had a four-course meal with the freshest seafood imaginable as we overlooked the Burj Al Arab and the entire Madinat Jumeirah. I was 99% sure that I was on an episode of The Bachelor while I was there because it just seemed too good to be true. I am quite certain that the meal, the ambience, and the company will never be beat, and it was absolutely a major highlight of the trip.
Separate from all of the restaurants, I cooked some really exciting meals using new spices and flavors I had never experienced with. I will share my recipes over the next few days and catch you up on my paleo adventures from the other side of the world. The first recipe to share is a crockpot moroccan lamb tagine. This cooked all day while I was at the office, and it was amazing to come home to. I experimented with the spices, fresh rosemary from the garden, and prunes. Many people are scared of prunes because they remind them of 90-year-olds, but prunes are simply sweet and delicious dried plums - don't be afraid!
Crockpot Moroccan Lamb Tagine: Serves 6, Prep time: 20 min, Cook time: 8-10 hours
Ingredients:
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 5 carrots, peeled & chopped
- 2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- 8 1-inch pieces of ginger
- 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
- Dried apricots (100g)
- Prunes (250g)
- 2 pound lamb shoulder
- 2 Tbsp. lamb spice mix (rosemary, rose petals, cumin, paprika, onion, garlic, mint, etc.)
- 1-2 cups water
Instructions:
1. Put onions and carrots at the bottom of the crockpot
2. Cover with water (just enough to barely cover)
3. Spice both sides of the lamb, and lay it on top of the onions/carrots
4. Slice a few slits in the lamb and stuff with chopped garlic and rosemary
5. Add prunes, apricots, and ginger
6. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours
7. Shred the lamb, remove the ginger, and serve!
