A Mountain of Acorn Squash and a Tagine

Last night, I came home to a few packages that I'd been expecting in the mail! I was delighted to see that my tagine had finally arrived. A tagine is an earthenware dish that is used to cook many Moroccan and Tunisian dishes, but originated in the cuisine of Cyprus. It consists of a bowl-like dish, as well as a conical cover, that allows for an interesting way to slow-cook stews, braised at low temperatures. I found a great deal on this one, at One Kings Lane, plus I had a voucher allowing me to spend $70 at the cost of $35. So, I got a really good deal! I can't wait to use it on some dishes from a Moroccan cookbook that I purchased when Borders was going out of business.

Look at the pretty, red color! It matches my Emile Henry dutch oven too! :)

Now, my other delivery was very heavy, and at first I couldn't imagine what it was. I remembered that a few days ago, I had used another discount voucher to purchase some fresh produce from MyFreshMaine, an online farmer's market of sorts. The shipping was a bit pricy, so I didn't order as many things as I had originally wanted. I placed an order for 3 4-lb acorn squash. Well, either the squash are smaller, or they misread my order, because I received about 9 of them! I just kept finding more of them among the styrofoam peanuts. This means that we're going to be a bit squashed out, but hey - I have a few recipes I'd like to try!

The best part about these two shipments is that they go very well together! Moroccan dishes use a lot of vegetables in the stews, and squash, cooked slowly, adds lovely texture to a stew! A few of these acorn squash will definitely be used to experiment in the tagine, while I'm thinking I'd like to try stuffing the rest of them. Maybe some quinoa, and veggies, and some cheese. I could even freeze a few halves for quick weeknight meals in the not-to-distant future.

What are your favorite acorn squash recipes? If you don't have a favorite, do you have a recipe you've been meaning to try, but haven't got around to yet? Send it in and we can try it together!

My Bad!

So...um...Moroccan night didn't go so well. I could blame it on the beef I used, or I could blame it on the very vague recipe instructions, or I could blame it on the chef...but it wasn't good. I mean, the taste was good, but the beef was so tough that it was pretty much un-chewable. I sheepishly trekked back to the kitchen to heat up some leftovers because dinner was not workin' out so well this evening.

Sometimes this happens. Don't feel bad about it, but learn from it. In this case, I think the issue was some gristly, tough meat, mixed with the wrong type of cooking method, and the possibility of a terrible recipe. I know when I try it again, I will learn from my mistakes and make a much better dish. Unfortunately, this time around it just wasn't what it should be.

It's too bad because Moroccan cuisine is a very interesting one that I'd like to learn more about. I love the idea of dried fruits adding sweetness to an otherwise spicy sauce, with rustic meats slow-cooked to perfection of a low flame. Sounds delicious, right? Well, it looked good anyway...