-Guest post-
She is a very knowledgeable person who constantly looks for ways to promote Moroccan culture and traditions and she does it so beautifully.
When I asked her to write a guest post for the blog, she was so kind to accept and come up with a wonderful recipe from the magical word of Moroccan Sephardic Cuisine. Happy reading and cooking!
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Stuffed dried apricots or mechmach mâmmar is a very old Jewish Moroccan recipe.
Moroccans jews are known for having a rich repertoire of stuffed fruit dishes, such as stuffed fresh medlar (mzah), dried apricots, dried prunes and so on.
Moroccan Jewish cooking is mild and uses spices which are different from the usual ones used in the common Moroccan cuisine. The main spices used are cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, bay leaves and white pepper.
This recipe was adapted from the book : "La cuisine Juive Marocaine", by Lévy-Mellul Rivka.
Ingredients
Serves 4 as a main dish or 8 served as an appetizer
Prep: 10 min - Cooking: 25 -30 min
- 500 g dried apricots, well washed
For the stuffing (meatballs)
Preparation
In a pan, melt the butter and fry the onion until translucent.
In a bowl, mix the fried onion with the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs. Make small balls (hazelnut size) with the minced meat mixture.
If the apricots you are using are large, make larger meatballs.
Open the apricots with a sharp knife, along one side so they partially resemble to open clam shells.
In a pan, reheat the clarified butter. Add the stuffed apricots and the rest of the ingredients. Cover with enough water. Cover the pan and cook until the apricots are soft.
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 yellow or white onion, medium, chopped finely
- 200 g minced meat
- 1 full tbsp. of parsley, finely chopped
- Salt to taste
- ¼ tsp of each : ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, white pepper, mace
- ½ level tsp of black pepper 4 tbsp. water (it makes the minced meat softer)
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp. clarified butter (smen, or ghee) (You could also melt the butter in the pan until to a brown-hazelnut colour, without burning).
- 1 pinch of each : ginger, white pepper, mace, nutmeg, saffron threads
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 ½ cups water (enough water to cover the apricots).
Preparation
In a pan, melt the butter and fry the onion until translucent.
In a bowl, mix the fried onion with the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs. Make small balls (hazelnut size) with the minced meat mixture.
If the apricots you are using are large, make larger meatballs.
Open the apricots with a sharp knife, along one side so they partially resemble to open clam shells.
In a pan, reheat the clarified butter. Add the stuffed apricots and the rest of the ingredients. Cover with enough water. Cover the pan and cook until the apricots are soft.