Tiramisu & Tagine Iftar

I think I got a bit carried away today. I tried 3 new recipes for one meal! For iftar no less, means I couldn’t taste anything before serving them at the dinner table. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.. the pun totally intended!

#1: Tiramisu

First I tried F’s tiramisu recipe.. cos as a chocolate and coffee lover, it seems like the perfect indulgence for iftar! I must say I was also inspired by Nan’s tiramisu mis-adventures. Heh. Umar *tried* to help me with the whisking… I was too tired to haul out the electric mixer so I entertained Umar with the wonderful sounds and sight of beating the eggs with my hands. He stopped playing just to stare at me making all the noise.. hehe. He of course, insisted on participating.

It looked pretty, but I think I went abit too far with the coffee.. so my tiramisu was more soggy and caffeine-laded than it should be. I missed what F wrote about “briefly” dipping the ladyfingers in the coffee mixture. Oh well, maybe next try. Its easy enough to do for Eid parties insyaAllah!

#2: Moroccan Mutton Tagine

This was only the second time I cooked using the tagine that we brought home all the way for Morocco. And like the last time, it took a special guest to motivate me to attempt another tagine recipe. Its not that you are not worth it Abang, its just that something that takes 3 hours to cook should feed more than our household of 3! After the successful chicken and olives tagine when we had M over, this time I attempted mutton tagine. Here’s how it looked like at the start of the 3hrs.

The preparations are really quite easy, and the assembling is my favourite part of all. I layered sliced carrots, marinated cubed mutton, chopped tomatoes, potato wedges, lemon pulp and olives in that order, season generously with ras el hanout (a spice mix I bought in Morocco, and apparently an aphrosidiac!), a sprinkle of coriander leaves, and then pour stock, with a few threads of saffron, over the whole dish . Leave it to simmer for 3 hours, and the smell will just bring your neighbours knocking at your door. Sounds simple ay? It is. Serve with crustry bread.

I didn’t have the chance to take a pic of the finished product.. it was served as soon as it left the hob!

#3 Moutabel – Spicy Aubergine Dip

Another item I didn’t take any photos of. This was a delight to make cos it was so easy to make. Pics and recipe another time insha’Allah. I found the tahini at Jason’s.. and used our regular terung. It turned out very well.. hubby and MIL loved it. Yeay no more buying this ready-made at Cold Storage at $7 a pop.

Last but not least… my pretty salad. This wasn’t a virgin attempt, but don’t think I’ve blogged about it so if you’re thinking of a delicious healthy side dish, here’s a simple one to impress. I learnt how to dress up a salad from F, with homemade dressing and lovely toppings. This was store-packed salad dressed with my own balsamic vignarette, topped with turkey bacon, dried cranberries and grated pecorino romano cheese. Thanks F for widening my repertoire of sides!