T and T Dinner (Tart and Tagine)

Bea came over for dinner. We made a recipe for Fig Tart With Caramelized Onions, Rosemary and Stilton from the New York Times. I really liked it, very rich! It reminded Cathy and I of a Pizza we use to get at Café Quattro in San Francisco.

We then made a Beef Tagine with Sweet Potatoes from The Food of Morocco. Susan had recommended the cookbook to us. I loved this recipe. It was a combination of tastes of both Moroccan Spices and the sweetness of the Potatoes. The meat was extremely succulent. We used the Tagine maker that Courtney had given us, it gets very hot and steams the meat. Plus it is beautiful!

We served Couscous with it.





New York Times
________________________________________
September 30, 2009
Recipe
Fig Tart With Caramelized Onions, Rosemary and Stilton
Time: 1 1/2 hours
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions (1 1/2 pounds), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 sprig rosemary, more for garnish
Pinch sugar
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Flour for dusting
3/4 pound prepared puff pastry
1 pint fresh figs ( 3/4 pound), stemmed and cut in half lengthwise
1 1/2 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled (about 6 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Good-quality honey for drizzling, optional.
1. In a large skillet over low heat, melt butter with oil. Add onions, rosemary and sugar. Cook, tossing occasionally, until onions are limp and golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, scraping any browned bits from bottom of pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg until smooth. Stir in the onions. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 9 by 12-inch rectangle. Transfer to baking sheet.
3. Use a fork to spread onion mixture evenly over pastry (let excess egg mixture drip back into bowl), leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange figs, cut-side up, in even rows on onion mixture. Scatter cheese and pine nuts over figs. Use a pastry brush to dab edges of tart with egg mixture. Gently fold over edges of tart to form a lip and brush with more egg mixture.
4. Bake until pastry is puffed and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve, sprinkled with rosemary needles and drizzled with honey, if desired, warm or at room temperature.
Yield: 8 servings.

THE FOOD of Morocco
TAGINE LAHM BIL BATATA HELWA

BEEF TAGINE WITH SWEET POTATOES

USE THE ORANGE-FLESHED SWEET POTATO AS IT IS MEALY AND. SWEET, AND KEEPS ITS SHAPE COOKED. THE TAGINE IS FINISHED AND BROWNED IN. THE OVEN; IN TRADITIONAL MOROCCAN COOKING, IT WOULD BE COVERED WITH A METAL LID WITH GLOWING CHARCOAL PLACED ON TOP.

1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) blade or chuck steak
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
2 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
2 tomatoes
500 g (1. lb 2 oz) orange sweet potatoes,

TRIM the steak of any fat and cut into 1 inch pieces. Heat half the oil in a saucepan and bi the. beef in batches over high heat, adding a more oil as needed. Set aside in a dish.

REDUCE the heat to low, add .the onion and the remaining oil to the pan and gently cook 10 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the cayenne pepper, cumin, turmeric, ginger and paprika, cook for a few seconds, then add 1 teaspoon salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Return the beef to the pan, along wi parsley, coriander and 250 ml (9 fl oz / 1 cup) Cover and simmer over low heat for 11/2 hour until the meat is almost tender.

PEEL the tomatoes. To do this, score a cross in the base of each one using a knife. Put the tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for 20 seconds, then plunge into a bowl of cold water to cool. Remove from the water and peel the skin away from the cross the skin should slip off easily. Slice the tomatoes. Peel the sweet potatoes cut them into ¾ in chunks and leave in cold water until required, as this will prevent them discoloring. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

TRANSFER the meat and its sauce to the ovenproof serving dish (the base of tagine would be ideal). Drain the sweet potatoes and spread them on top of the beef. Top with the sliced tomatoes. Cover with foil (or the lid of the tagine) and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 425 F and raise the tomatoes and sweet potatoes are flecked with brown and are served tender. Serve from the dish.