Eggplant fritters, Ensalada a la almoraina, Ensalada piparrada, Chicken Tagine with Eggplant, Olives and Raisins

Today's dinner was a birthday party for a family friend. Unique challenge is that she doesn't eat beef or pork! I've been feeling like making a return to Mediterranean/North African cuisine so I collected a few recipes out of a Spanish cookbook (Food and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas) and looked up some Moroccan recipes online.

Eggplant fritters
Ensalada a la almoraina
Chicken tagine with eggplant, olives and raisins
Couscous with sliced almonds
Ensalada piparrada

 Eggplant fritters

1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced across thinly
Flour for dredging
1 egg beaten, milk added
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
Honey and dates for dressing

First arrange the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry. Mix the flour and salt and pepper together. Dip the sliced eggplant in the egg and milk mixture, then lightly dredge in seasoned flour. Fry in hot oil until crispy brown. Remove from oil and place over paper towels to drain. Dress with honey and dates.

Ensalada a la almoraina

1 head of escarole
3 roma tomatoes, cleaned and diced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted (dry pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes)
Oil cured black olives
Soft-boiled eggs, 1 per person

Blend the tomatoes, garlic and half of the olive oil in a food processor until smooth. Add the rest of the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper to mixture and blend again. Arrange the leaves of escarole on each dish and speckle with olives. Spoon dressing over the leaves and sprinkle toasted cumin seeds. Top with the soft-boiled egg and serve.

Chicken tagine

3 pounds chicken quarters, skin removed
2 large eggplants, cut in to 1" cubes
2 red onions, sliced thinly
1.5 cup Spanish olives with pimento
1 cup raisins
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
2 tbsp Spanish paprika
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp cloves
1/2 tbsp black pepper
1/2 tbsp salt
bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped finely
bunch of fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley. chopped finely
Butter for frying

Place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt, let sit for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry with paper towel. Preheat oven to 300 (I like making stews in the oven rather than stove top). Take half of the spice mix and rub over chicken quarters. Heat butter in a dutch oven. Brown all sides of the chicken over medium-high heat then remove and set aside. Add onions and fry for 5-10 minutes. Add minced garlic and continue to fry for additional 5 minutes. Add eggplant, olives and raisins and continue to cook. Add water and bring to boil. Add remaining spices, cilantro and parsley, stir well, then add chicken. Cover and place in oven, cook for 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered or until the liquid has taken a thicker consistency.

Couscous
2 cups broken wheat (I prefer the texture of broken wheat to couscous)
4 cups water
dash of salt
1/2 cup of sliced almonds
2 tbsp butter

Add the water, wheat and salt to pot and bring to boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat and cover. After all the liquid has been absorbed and wheat is al dente, add butter and almonds and mix well. Let stand partially covered for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Ensalada piparrada
1 English cucumber, diced
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 large green bell pepper, cut to 1/2" pieces
1 red onion, diced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together well and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Sheiko #29 Recap

So here is the end of Sheiko routine #29, just finished week 4 on Friday evening. The reason I wanted to try Sheiko training is because I wanted to perfect my technique on the three competition lifts and I have to say that the routine is providing a means to achieve this goal. I also needed to periodize my training so that I don't hurt myself going for maxes every week because I'm bad at keeping a leash on myself O:-

The program has definitely been a challenge both physically and mentally. The repetitive nature of the workouts and amount of work done on squats and deadlifts is enough to drive many people away, and with some of the lifts clocking in at over 2 hours my mental fortitude has been tested. Also having to squat while exhausted has been an interesting and torturous task. However, I feel more confident with my lifts and am looking forward to starting the second phase of training  tomorrow.

The next step is Sheiko #37, which is very similar to #29 except there is a 10% increase in volume across the board. If you complete 29 you will do 981 lifts combining bench, squat and deadlift. In 37 that number goes up to 1110. In addition I'm going to add in 2x3x90% in week 2, and 2x2x95% in week 4. If I can get more than 3 reps in week 2 or more than 2 reps in week 4, I'm going to increase my maxes. Trying to outperform the reps allows me to test if I have made any improvements without actually having to max out. Also, elbow problems in my right arm are frustrating the hell out of me. I'm dropping my max down 25 pounds and switching over to reverse grip for the next phase to see if this will help as the pain is only when my hands are turned over (pronated).

So here's wishing for the best - 12 weeks out from the next meet!

Pot-eu-feu - Sunday Dinner 2/17/13

Today was a cold and dreary February day, a perfect setting for a classic French one-pot meal! Pot-eu-feu is a traditional boiled dinner made with various cuts of meat and vegetables. Put together a basic charcuterie (mixed olives, white wine salami, cornichons with grainy mustard, and French bread with seasoned marrow) for appetizer and a roasted beet and arugula salad to complete the meal.

Pot-eu-feu

3 pounds beef chuck roast
1.5 pounds beef brisket
3 pounds oxtail
1 pound beef neck bones
1 chicken quartered
10 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
10 red potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 large white turnips, peeled and quartered
8 stalks celery, cut in chunks
3 large yellow onions, 1 cut in half with skin still on, 2 peeled and quartered
3 leeks, trimmed and split
1 green cabbage, rinsed and quartered
10 quarts water
12 whole cloves
1 head garlic, cut across
4 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
6 bay leaves

First place the meats in a large stockpot. Bones and oxtail on the bottom, followed by the chuck roast and brisket, then with chicken quarters. Cover with cool water and bring to boil over high heat.  As the water comes to boil, scummy foam will collect at the surface. Use a fine wire strainer to skim the foam off and discard. Lower the heat and continue to boil gently for about 20 minutes. Stud the two onion halves with the cloves and add to pot once water has been skimmed clear.

Cover pot except for about an inch opening, and allow to cook until meats are tender - about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. In the meantime prepare the vegetables.

Once the meats are done remove from the pot and place in a baking dish covered with aluminum foil, or something else to keep warm. I put it in the oven on 160 degrees to keep warm while the veggies were cooking. Next add all of the vegetables to the stockpot and bring back to boil. Reduce heat to cook gently for about 40 minutes.

Once the preparations were finished I served the broth with vegetables as a first course, followed by the meats with grainy mustard and cornichons as a second.