[CH] Harissa
Linda Hutchinson (lipant@sympatico.ca)
Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:54:41 -0400
Courant.com
Harissa, mon amour
North Africa's favorite chile sauce is fiery, but also wonderfully nuanced.
What's not to love?
By Amy Scattergood
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
This is an ode to harissa. It's replaced my ketchup, my salsa picante, even
(gasp) my Louisiana hot sauce. I put it on everything. Well, not exactly
everything, but the potent North African chile sauce goes into my bean soups
and sandwiches, it spikes my aioli and tops my pizzas. I even take it on
road trips, as a kind of food insurance, where it's done wonders for
roadside hamburgers and omelets, even stadium Dodger dogs.
I owe the invention of my favorite hot sauce to the spice traders who
brought chiles back from the New World to Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. But
these days our spice traders are on the Internet, where you can find a huge
variety of harissas, from mild tomato-y tubes of it to breathtakingly hot
versions to marquee mixes laced with rose petals. Although many of these are
good, it's hard to beat the stuff I make myself. With terrific dried chiles
readily available and the food processor a handy substitute for the
traditional mortar and pestle, there's no reason to squeeze your harissa out
of a tube either.
Although you can make harissa out of virtually any dried chile that suits
your personal heat index, most traditional harissas use chiles that are only
about as hot as anchos or pasillas. Guajillo and New Mexico chiles,
according to cookbook author Paula Wolfert, are the closest to the peppers
of Nabeul and Gabès in Tunisia. Use one or both, or add a few chipotle
chiles into the mix: The smokiness of the chipotles adds a terrific earthy
note. Or, if you like more heat, add a generous handful of chiles de árbol
or even some red-hot Thai chiles -- the flavors will mellow a bit, though
not that much.
Put the dried chiles into a bowl, cover with boiling water and allow them to
soften for half an hour. Though many recipes call for warm or even tepid
water, rehydrating chiles in boiling water softens up their papery skin and
allows them to blend more easily, resulting in a smoother paste.
While your chiles are softening, grind coriander and caraway seeds in a
spice grinder or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, or use a
mortar and pestle. This is worth the effort, as pre-ground spices, like
pre-ground coffee, often have lost much of their flavor. After the chiles
are rehydrated, seed and stem them; be sure to wear rubber or latex gloves,
as the oils from the peppers can irritate your skin and remain, like
incendiary fingerprints, on your hands.
Then blend the chiles, spices, garlic and salt in a food processor with some
olive oil and maybe a little water. Resist the urge to add too much oil;
harissa, once finished, is stored with a layer of oil covering the top, so
some of that will get mixed in over the course of its use. (Covered like
this, it will keep for months in your refrigerator.)
At this point, you have a fantastic harissa -- hot but not scorching, the
flavors of the various chiles marrying with the garlic and the spices to
create a sauce that has plenty of heat, but also a surprising complexity.
Although it's ready to go at this point, the flavors will deepen and marry
and mellow a bit in the process; for this reason, making your harissa a day
before you want it, particularly if you're using very hot chiles, may be
worthwhile.
Harissas vary widely from region to region, so there isn't really a
definitive recipe. The most basic, using just dried chiles, a few spices,
garlic, salt and olive oil, is traditional -- but even this is open to
debate.
After you've made the basic harissa, you can also vary the flavor profile if
you want -- adding cilantro and dried mint to the chile paste, as cookbook
author and historian Claudia Roden suggests. Or freshly ground cumin, fresh
chiles or onions, a dash of lemon juice -- even preserved lemon.
Many cooks add tomatoes, either sun-dried and rehydrated or canned, or
roasted red bell peppers to the mixture to further round out the potent
flavors of the chiles. Try adding some of both, for a lovely, nuanced sauce
that combines the rich, jammy notes of the tomatoes with the lighter, more
floral register of the bell peppers.
Harissa is both an ingredient and a condiment. Stir a spoonful or two into a
couscous or tagine as it simmers, then thin some out with a little water so
it has the consistency of a thick sauce, and serve it at the table for
people to stir into their bowls. Use harissa to torque up a spaghetti sauce
or a minestrone as it simmers, use it as a rub for fish to go on the grill,
or thin it out and use as a marinade for chicken or lamb.
As a condiment, just about anything goes. Harissa is a great sauce for roast
chicken or grilled steak. Spread a thin layer on a roasted vegetable
sandwich or an ahi tuna panini, or use it instead of ketchup on a
coriander-laced lamb burger. Slather it on a taco. Thin it to the
consistency of salsa verde or stir it into yogurt, and you've got a splendid
dipping sauce for flatbreads or crudités. You can even use it to spice up
mayonnaise.
I'm thinking tonight I'll make a simple, kohl-black beluga lentil soup. A
dollop of tart Greek yogurt, a few leaves of fresh cilantro, then I'll swirl
in a spoonful of fiery red tomato-pepper harissa.
That is all I know on earth, and all I need to know. Or eat.
Basic harissa
Total time: 40 minutes
Servings: Makes 1 cup
Note: You can grind the spices in a spice grinder, a coffee grinder or with
a mortar and pestle.
Ingredients
4 ounces dried chiles (equal amounts of New Mexico, guajillo and chipotle
chiles)
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 tsps. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsps. caraway seeds, freshly ground
1 1/2 tsps. coriander seeds, freshly ground
2 Tbsps. best-quality olive oil, plus extra for storage
1. Place the chiles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let rest
until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain, then remove the seeds and stems
from the chiles. Wear latex or rubber gloves when you do this to avoid
irritating your skin.
2. Place the seeded and stemmed chiles into the bowl of a food processor
with the garlic and pulse a couple of times. Add the salt, caraway and
coriander. Process until smooth, pouring the olive oil into the feeding tube
on top as you blend. Add a little water if necessary to achieve the right
consistency: The harissa should be a thick paste. To store, top off with a
thin layer of olive oil and refrigerate.
Each serving: 37 calories; 1 grams protein; 4 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams
fiber; 2 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 108 mg.
sodium.
Beluga lentil soup with tomato-pepper harissa
Total time: 1 hour
Servings: 8
Note: If Beluga lentils are not available, French green lentils may be
substituted.
Ingredients
2 Tbsps. olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced carrots
1/2 cup finely diced onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bouquet garni (leek greens, 2 thyme sprigs, 3 parsley stems, bay leaf, 6
black peppercorns tied up in cheesecloth)
2 cups beluga lentils
6 to 7 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup (or to taste) tomato-pepper harissa
1/2 cup (or to taste) Greek yogurt
Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
1. In a large saucepan over low heat, cook the olive oil, carrots, onion and
garlic until softened, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the bouquet garni, lentils and 6 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil,
lower the heat, cover and simmer on low until the lentils are soft, 35 to 45
minutes. Check the soup periodically, adding additional chicken broth if
necessary. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Check for
seasoning and correct if necessary.
3. Ladle the soup into a soup plate or bowl, add a spoonful of harissa, a
dollop of Greek yogurt and some cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.
Each serving: 275 calories; 19 grams protein; 37 grams carbohydrates; 13
grams fiber; 8 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 2 mg. cholesterol; 167 mg.
sodium.
Tomato-pepper harissa
Total time: 25 minutes
Servings: Makes slightly more than 1 cup
Ingredients
3 sun-dried tomatoes, dry-packed
1 large red bell pepper
1 recipe basic harissa
1. In a small bowl, cover the sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water and
allow to soften, about 15 minutes. Drain.
2. Roast the pepper over a flame or under a broiler until blackened on all
sides. Place the pepper in a paper bag and let steam for 15 minutes, then
remove the blackened skin, the veins and the seeds. Do not rinse under
water.
3. In a food processor, combine the basic harissa with the tomatoes and
one-half of the roasted red pepper (reserve the rest for another use),
adding a few Tbsps. of water if needed to achieve the right consistency. The
harissa should have the texture of thick paste. Cover with a thin layer of
olive oil and refrigerate until needed.
Each serving: 32 calories; 1 gram protein; 4 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams
fiber; 2 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 93 mg. sodium.
Copyright © 2008, The Los Angeles Times
--
Linda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me - I want people
to know WHY I look this way: I've traveled a long way and some of the
roads weren't paved.