Goal #97: Prepare a Moroccan breakfast

It has been a year since we explored Morocco on our honeymoon, and we had a craving for homemade "country bread" and "soft white cheese." Here is a picture of the breakfast we were fed every morning at our wonderful little Riad in Fes. I took the picture on the one day we received a brioche-type bread instead of the more traditional flat, round loaves. The small bowls contain: dates, olives, apricot jam, fig jam, honey, butter, sugar, and soft white cheese. We were given a pot of coffee and a jug of warm milk. The small mugs contain gorgeous freshly squeezed orange juice -- impossible to replicate here, because the oranges in Morocco were local and fresh and out-of-this-world good. The local olives were also incredible and incomparable to anything I've found over here.
I did, however, go the distance and bake some round loaves of Moroccan bread from scratch.

That's right. I bake my own bread...

And here is the finished product:

That's our homemade labneh (aka "soft white cheese") in the middle.

Our apartment's balcony doesn't have quite the same view as looking out over the Fes medina, but there was one token satellite dish for atmosphere. Favourite topping: soft white cheese and fig jam together. Or straight honey. Delicious!

Making Cheese

Further reading revealed that after making your own yogurt, it's a simple step to make your own cheese; a soft, fresh, middle-eastern variety called lebnah. With great excitement, I decided that this must be the soft, white cheese that we had eaten in Morocco on our honeymoon last year. Whenever locals described it, they called it "soft, white cheese." When I asked them specifically what kind of cheese it was, they said, "soft, white cheese." With additional prodding, they revealed it was made from cow's milk.

Soft, white cheese for sale in the medina.

It was really very simple to make. I dumped a jar of our homemade yogurt into a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Once a good amount of liquid had drained, I tied up the cheesecloth and rigged it up in the fridge.

Twenty-four hours later, more liquid had drained, and we were left with a savoury ball of what was undeniably soft, white cheese. (I read somewhere that I was supposed to add some salt. I forgot, and it was still yummy.)

Labneh! Aka, soft, white cheese.

Making Yogurt

Inspired by No Impact Man, I decided to try making my own yogurt.
Here's what I did.

Litre of milk into a pot.






Make it hot, but do it slowly. I used a meat thermometer to check, but you could probably just wait until small bubbles are pushing at the surface, and a bit of a skin is forming. I had a bit of a scalding issue on the bottom of the pan, but everything still went according to plan.

Let it cool down to between 100-115 degrees F. This part is boring. I used a people thermometer for this part, but was worried I had broken it since I kept impatiently sticking it in when the milk was still too hot and made it flash an error symbol. In the end, the milk cooled.






Then you mix in some bacterial cultures. I used some freeze-dried from the health food store, but you can also simply use some yogurt. So for my next batch, I'll use a few spoonfuls from this batch.
Put it in sterilized glass jars.






Incubate. I just put mine on the kitchen counter and wrapped it in a fleece sweater. (Made from recycled pop bottles, natch.) Let it sit overnight.








In the morning, I rose bright and early to discover that my yogurt worked! It tastes fresh and delicious, and is fabulous with some local honey stirred in.

One of the most interesting parts of this project was searching for the jars. I hit up a grocery store, to be told that they only stock them seasonally. I guess autumn is when people start preserving? Luckily, I asked just the right lady, who suggested I try the hardware store, since that's where she gets her jars. Then she inquired as to what I'd be making at this time of year. I told her I was doing my own yogurt. She was very supportive and enthusiastic about the idea, said she'd always wanted to do that, and wished me luck. Later at the hardware store, as I was purchasing my box of jars (apparently, you have to get a dozen at a time. If anyone wants a jar or two, let me know) the lady in line behind me said, "Oh, it's that time of year again!" (well, no, actually) and then she asked what I was making. When I told her yogurt, she, too, was thrilled at the thought. Then the cashier piped up about how she makes her own yogurt all the time, and how delicious it is. I feel as though I've uncovered a whole new segment of society. The Yogurtmakers. Welcome.

Recipe: Spa Soup

I created this soup for the first time last weekend because I had some cabbage to use up. It's very simple, all the ingredients are good for you, and it tastes "clean" --hence the name.


In a large pot, sautee 2 small onions, sliced, in 2 tsp olive oil until soft (do not brown).
Add 2 cloves garlic, minced, and cook for a few seconds.
Pour in 500ml low-sodium chicken broth (homemade from organic chicken parts would be best, but hey, not everyone is as obssessive as I am) and 250 ml water.
Throw in 3 cups shredded cabbage and one carrot, grated (or use a bagged, pre-made coleslaw mix -- easy!) and 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger.
Stir in 2 tbsp white miso paste and 2 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Cabbage should be soft but not mushy.

Makes 4 large bowls.

Secret Pork Chop

For reasons that remain largely unexplained to me, I am not allowed to make pork chops for dinner for my husband. Lucky for me, he goes on business trips every once in a while and then I get to pull out a single, secretly stashed pork chop from the freezer. I have developed this easy recipe that brings me so much enjoyment I’d like to share it.

In a frying pan that has a lid, heat up 2 tsps olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add ½ small onion, finely chopped. Cook until soft and translucent.
Add 1 clove of garlic, minced, and cook a few more seconds.
Push the onion to the sides of the pan, and put in a single-loin center-cut boneless pork chop, about ¾ inch thick (aka half of a butterfly chop. I prefer these because they tend to be leaner than a bone-in chop, but you could use either.) Quickly brown both sides of the chop to sear in juices.
Throw in 1 red apple, chopped into chunks (can be a MacIntosh, or an empire, or anything really, I just don’t think that a Granny Smith would work).
Pour in some marsala wine -- enough to cover the bottom of the pan and go up the sides a bit.
Grind some fresh black pepper over all of it.
Put the lid on the pan, turn the heat down, and let it braise for a bit. Maybe seven minutes.
In the meantime, wash and prep a large handful of spinach. Stick the spinach into the pan, and turn over the chop. Let it braise a bit more. Check for doneness (pork chops can have a “hint of pink”). The apple chunks should be soft and coming apart, and the spinach should be all wilted but not overdone.
Dump the whole delicious mess onto a plate.
Serve with brown rice or texmati/wild rice, or baked or mashed sweet potato (If you cut a sweet potato into bite-size chunks, you can throw it into the pan along with the apple and cook it there, too).

Yum!