hot harira soup for my cold body & soul

i realise that there are colder places on this earth at the moment (i'm truly sorry for you, calgarians), but i am not liking the ghastly cold vancouver weather right now. AT ALL. i leave my house bundled up with all the warmest clothes i have, i look ridiculous, and i STILL freeze my butt off. well, my toes, mostly.

sooo... i've been staying inside a lot. and i made a huge pot of hot, comforting soup yesterday to warm my cold, bitter soul. moroccan harira soup. it seems that this soup is traditionally made with lamb, but i used chicken instead. i mostly followed this recipe, at epicurian.com but originally from gourmet magazine issue march 1994.


i tweaked a few things to make it even better:

ingredients:

• chicken (i used 1 thigh, because i am poor. you can use however much chicken you can afford)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups water (i probably added a couple more cups onto that)
• 4 blanched tomatoes, de-peeled & chopped up (or a can or 2 of diced or pureed tomatoes)
• 1/4 or 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
• 1/4 tsp coriander (optional)
• 1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped fine
• 14-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed
• 1/2 cup raw long-grain rice
• 1 & 1/2 cup lentils
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional. i didn't have any)
• salt & pepper to taste

directions:

• in a large pot, bring chicken, broth, water, 1/2 a cinnamon stick & 2 cloves of garlic to a boil. simmer for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. remove chicken & let cool. remove cinnamon stick & discard.
• while pot is simmering, saute chopped onions, garlic & spices (mustard & coriander) in a separate pan on low to moderate heat. about 5-10 minutes.
• add to large pot onion mixture, tomatoes, rice, lentils, & chickpeas
• close lid & simmer for 30 minutes, covered.
• remove bones & skin from chicken & shred/chop up chicken.
• stir chicken into soup; add salt & pepper to taste. simmer for another 10 minutes or so.
• add half of the chopped parsley (& cilantro if using).
• serve soup hot and garnish with the rest of the parsley.
• enjoy with toasted bread or fresh, warm biscuits (recipe to follow)
  

i made my mom's biscuit recipe. super quick & easy!


ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbls baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter/shortening
• 3/4 cup milk/milk substitute

directions:

• heat oven to 450F (225C)
• whisk flour, salt & baking powder in a bowl.
• blend in butter with hands or pastry cutter until mixture looks like fine crumbs
• stir in milk, only until flour is all moistened. do not beat!
• transfer dough to floured surface & knead about 10 times.
• roll or pat dough until about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.
• cut out shapes & put on baking sheet.
• bake 10-12 minutes.
• serve with honey-butter. (1 part honey to 1 part soft butter)

now that i'm done typing out the recipe, i remember that i've already posted the recipe here, back in 2008. oops!

biscuits

i made biscuits for 'the open house' today, (we meet weekly for potluck & discussion) and apparently they were pretty good. the recipe is my mom's, and her food is always amazing, but i substituted a couple things so i wasn't sure how they'd turn out. i made them with a combination of chickpea, rice & kamut flour (& guar gum to compensate for the lack of gluten...) instead of wheat flour, and with rice milk instead of regular milk. however, feel free to use whatever kind of flour or milk you want.

"plain baking powder biscuits"

• 2 cups flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 cup shortening (or butter)
• 3/4 cup milk

Heat the oven to 450 F (225 C).
Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder.
Blend in the shortening until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. You can either use a pastry cutter, or beat it, or use your hands. Stir in the milk only until the flour is all moistened, but DO NOT beat. You can either use a spoon or your hands. I like using my hands.
Knead the dough about 10 times on a floured surface. Roll or pat until about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes & put on a baking sheet - either greased or with parchment paper.
Bake 10-12 minutes.

Best eaten when warm & with honey-butter. (honey-butter is just honey & butter whipped together. probably a 1/2 to 1/2 ratio, but its up to taste)

* T = tablespoon
* t = teaspoon