Rabbit

A recipe from the past...

My Tchoutchouka

Boufarik, early 20th century.

This is one of my earliest food memory from my youth in Boufarik, Algeria. The family recipe has been lost I fear so I recreated it from various internet sites.

We can imagine that it is eating tchoutchouka that made me feel so happy in front of the our house rue Borely La Sapie...

And that's the house 40 years later in a photo taken by one of my Algerian colleague who happened to know the place and lived nearby in Algeria before moving to France.

So, here's the recipe.

Serves four

4 oignons (big or 6 medium)
4 red bell peppers
4 tomatoes (big or 6 medium)
4 garlic cloves

(you'll notice I tried to make the proportions easy to remember 😉)

1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of Harissa (or any hot pepper paste, Mexican or otherwise)
1 tablespoon of sugar

olive oil
salt

optional:
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of red vinegar

The first step can be passed if you dont mind the skins. Otherwise, you make a little incision in the tomatoes and plunge them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drains and let them cool in a closed container (Tupperware?)
For the bell peppers, you roast then on a tray in the oven for 10 minutes until the skin is blistered! Afterward, you let them cool in a closed container like the tomatoes. The steam they produce when cooling will make the skin easier to remove.

Peel the tomatoes and the peppers.

Cut the tomatoes in cubes and the peppers in not too small strips.

Peel the garlic and cut in small cubes.

Pour some olive oil in a pot (as little as is needed so the signs don't burn) and fry the oignons first on high heat so they would brown then medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove and reserve.

Add a little more olive oil plus the cumin and fry the peppers for 15 minutes.

Remove and reserve.

Add the tomatoes, the garlic, the rest of the spices, the sugar, stir and bring to a boil.

Add the oignons, the peppers, bring to a boil again reduce heat and let it simmer for an hour without the lid, stirring the preparation occasionally. Add salt to you taste, add the vinegar now if you feel like it. It will add a little tartiness if you find the tchoutchouka overly sweet. Same for Tabasco, jalapeño, chipotle, make it as hot or mild as you like.

The tchoutchouka is traditionally eaten with eggs cooked in its middle. A pan works perfectly. I did it in a little fancy way for the sake of the photo. Enjoy!

Palmiers ~ Recipe ~

Recipe for the world famous "Palmiers" by Jean-Paul!

1 puff pastry sheet.
100g salted butter
150g caster sugar
1 spoonful cinnamon


Remove  the pastry from the fridge at the last moment. Better, put in the freezer for 5 minutes before working with it.
Flatten it if it's sold rolled but keep it on the paper it comes in or spread it on baking paper, spread very soft butter all over the pastry (soften in the microwave but not to the point of melting it).
Sprinkle caster sugar with a spoon all over the pastry (and the butter). You can use maple sugar it you like and I guess honey might work.

Use a rolling pin so the sugar will stick better to the pastry.

Add or don't add cinnamon powder over the sugar depending on taste or for variety.
Fold once each side to the middle (1). Repeat (2). Fold the two rolls of pastry on themselves (3)

Fold the baking paper and put back in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Cut in 0.7 cm (0.8 cm will do ;-) slices (4). Spread the slices on baking paper on an oven safe tray. Leave enough space between slices as they will expand while cooking.

Add a little sugar on each slice if you like your "Palmiers" sweeter.

Pre-heat your oven 200°C/392°F. Put the tray in the oven and check after 20 minutes. It will take between 20 and 30 minutes for your "Palmiers" to be cooked and caramelized.

That's it. Let them cool. Enjoy!

It was delicious with a Nutella like hazelnut paste. As with the cherry sauce (cherry jam, frozen cherries, one lemon juice, one lemon zest, one teaspoon Maïzena, slow cooked for 5/10 minutes)