{"id":3103,"date":"2010-09-08T10:00:38","date_gmt":"2010-09-08T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.com\/?p=3103"},"modified":"2011-11-25T15:46:55","modified_gmt":"2011-11-25T20:46:55","slug":"international-foods-week-a-tasty-tagine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/2010\/international-foods-week-a-tasty-tagine\/","title":{"rendered":"International Foods Week: A Tasty Tagine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"tagine\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I was excited when I was asked to give one of our latest products, the ceramic tagine<\/a>, a trial run. \u00a0As someone who enjoys cooking, I\u2019ve always been intrigued by the tagine, but didn’t know too much about it. All I know is that it had a conical top (not sure why) and that it is a really beautiful piece.<\/p>\n

Before deciding what to make, I did a little online research about the tagine.\u00a0 The tagine is the name of the vessel and the name of the food dish you prepare – think \u201cI made a casserole in the casserole.\u201d Turns out, the cone is designed to encourage any steam to come back down into the food to keep it moist – perfect for braising. I was also looking for recipes for vegetarian tagines and saw a similar pattern – lots of veggies, layered in the bottom of the tagine, add spices, oil, liquid – then cook. \u00a0Not too complicated.<\/p>\n

I decided since it is the best time of year to buy local produce at the market that I would just go and get whatever veggies look the best. \u00a0I ended up with tomatoes, okra, eggplant, potatoes, onions, red peppers and zucchini.<\/p>\n

\"tagine\"<\/a><\/div>\n

When I was ready to begin cooking, I took a quick look at the instructions again. Darn it! Turns out I was supposed to \u201cprepare\u201d my tagine before I could \u00a0use it. \u00a0This involves soaking the entire thing in cold water for 24-48 hours, letting it dry for a few hours, the rubbing the inside with olive oil and baking in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours. \u00a0The first step was definitely the trickiest since I didn\u2019t have anything big enough to soak the tagine. Except for my bathtub!<\/p>\n

\"tagine\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Once the tagine was prepped, it was easy going. \u00a0I prepped all my veggies, and basically followed directions from there: layer onions and potatoes, pile the other ingredients in a \u201cpyramid\u201d, drizzle with stock and olive oil, sprinkle with spices. \u00a0The recipe card called for 1 cup of olive oil, which seemed really excessive, so I only used about 1\/3 cup. \u00a0I also added spices that I thought would taste good – cumin, garam masala (a curry powder available at ethnic grocery stores), garlic salt, and smoked paprika. The directions then said to bring the liquid to a simmer over low heat, then cover for 30 minutes. \u00a0Add olives and raisins, then cover and cook for 10 more minutes.<\/p>\n

\"tagine\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\"tagine\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I decided to serve my tagine with Israeli couscous, which is cooked just like small pasta. \u00a0Any rice, pasta or grain would have been delicious with the stew. \u00a0I also topped it with greek yogurt, fresh mint and lemon zest. \u00a0It was really hearty and delicious.<\/p>\n

\"tagine\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I really enjoyed using this piece of cookware. \u00a0As someone who has a fairly large collection of pots, pans, casseroles and dutch ovens, I think the tagine<\/a> is not something I absolutely need, but I am sure I will use it again. \u00a0I love the way it looks and it is a beautiful way to serve food as well. \u00a0Since this piece is very versatile, I would appreciate it if I was someone who was building my cookware collection (it would make a great wedding, or housewarming gift).<\/p>\n

Bon apetit, everyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HR manager Mindy brings a taste of North Africa to her kitchen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[110,192,61,194],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}