Solar Cooked Algerian Chakchouka With Eggs
This is our solar cooked recipe for Chakchouka. Please watch the video on YouTube to see how we prepared it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WFBQVfRoLM&feature=channel_page
My Loubia / Lubia / Loobia – Classic Algerian Beans!
The best way to describe these beans is a spicier version of English baked beans! Haricot beans are cooked in a tomato sauce flavoured with lots of garlic, cumin & paprika. This recipe is for the way I cook it most – the slow cook way – but you can make it easily in a pressure cooker; just reduce the water to a total of 2 litres, add a chicken stock cube & take care with the seasoning. It should only take 45-50 mins in the pressure cooker. If you have any Algerian hot green peppers, this is really nice with 1-2 thrown in half way through! N.B: Time to make doesn’t include overnight soaking of the beans.
Djedj Mechoui (Algerian Poulet Roti/Roast Chicken)
This recipe comes from Farid Zari, who adapted his traditional way of spit roasting chicken to roasting it in his Los Angeles oven. He advises that the spices are a matter of personal taste–use what you like. He says the method does approximate the really crispy skin that he remembers from Algeria, but stresses that the quality of the chicken makes a huge difference, saying that at home in Algeria all the chickens were organic, free range and very fresh, and suggests that a soak in a salt water bath overnight would improve a run-of-the-mill supermarket chicken. Interestingly this cooking method follows the basic French method for roasting a bird — and, after all, there is some cross-cultural history there.
Borek Algerian
Borek is usually served in Algeria along side a soup (Chorba) during Ramadan. Borek has a crisp pastry on the outside and is oozing with cheese and meat inside, absolutely delicious.
Polvorones de Chocolate (Mexican Chocolate Cookies)
I found this recipe in a Mexican cooking magazine called “Panaderia Mexicana Tradicional”. The recipe was originally written in Spanish and the measurements were in grams. I translated the recipe into English and converted the measurements to accomodate the American kitchen. Living in Texas, we have a lot of Mexican bakeries! I love going into the panaderia by the farmer’s market. I love Mexican pastries because they are not too sweet. This cookie is one of my favorites!
