Add Spice to Taste (16 page)

Roasted Eggplant with Cilantro Sauce

Eggplant is often used in Moroccan cuisine, and cilantro is a typical herb.

2 ½ lbs. small eggplants

2
cups fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. (You can also cook these on a grill.)

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast, face down, on a baking sheet lined with foil until well browned underneath (you’ll have to check periodically). Turn them over and roast another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, combine cilantro, garlic, lime, and some salt and pepper. Start machine and slowly pour in the oil. Process until smooth. Add yogurt and process until well blended. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your taste.

Place eggplant on a platter and drizzle with sauce, or serve sauce on the side.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Harira (
Tomato-Lentil and Chickpea Soup)

This traditional soup is particularly popular during Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims. It is eaten at sunset to break the fast.

1½ tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 celery rib, finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup lentils, rinsed

½ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1
(15-ounce) can chickpeas

¼ cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup minced parsley

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and
sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add celery and cook until soft, about another 5 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste. Add broth, lentils, bay leaf, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and salt, and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. Add chickpeas, cilantro, and parsley and cook 5 more minutes.

Discard bay leaf. Serve hot with flatbread.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Meskouta (Orange-Almond-Yogurt Cake)

This cake is also known as Butterless Cake because it was created during the French/Spanish colonization in the early part of the 20th century, a period when butter was scarce and expensive.

1/3 cup finely ground almonds

¼ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large
eggs

¾ cup
sugar

¼ cup olive
oil (not extra virgin)

¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water or orange extract

Orange Syrup
:

¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

2
tablespoons sugar

Garnish
:

Orange strips

¼ cup almond slivers

Grease
an 8-or 9-inch Bundt pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, almonds, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar; add oil and yogurt, then add orange juice, blossom water or extract, and zest and blend. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix just until fully blended.

Pour into Bundt pan and bake 45 to 60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Invert it onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the syrup. Whisk together juice, cinnamon, and sugar in a small bowl.

When cake is cooled, poke holes all over the top with a toothpick or skewer. Pour syrup over the cake, letting it absorb. Sprinkle almond slivers over the top and decorate with orange slivers, if you like.

Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

About the Author

R.G. Emanuelle is a writer, editor, and trained chef who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City and when she’s not writing, she’s creating recipes and exploring the varied facets of world cuisine. And fantasies about being an Iron Chef are not unusual.

She has published several short stories, which can be found in
Best Lesbian Erotica 2010
;
Lesbian Lust: Red Hot Erotica
;
Women in Uniform:
Medics and Soldiers and Cops, Oh My!
;
Lesbian Cops: Erotic Investigations
;
When the Clock Strikes Thirteen
;
Khimairal Ink
;
Read These Lips
, Volumes 4 and 5; and the online collection Oysters & Chocolate. She also co-edited
Skulls and Crossbones: Tales of Women Pirates
, and in 2013, her first novel,
Twice Bitten
, was published. That tale deals with another of R.G.’s fascinations—vampires and gothic horror.

You can find out more about her at her website:
www.rgemanuelle.com
.

Email:
[email protected]

Twitter:
@rgemanuelle

Pinterest
:
www.pinterest.com/rgemanuelle

Twice Bitten

Fiona lost her mortality unwillingly to a woman she once loved. Now she wanders through the decades, a vampire in search of a soulmate. After 200 years, she thinks she’s found her, in an upper-class family in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Her name is Rose, and if only she will come to her willingly, Fiona will have her eternal companion. But Rose loves another, so Fiona sets in motion a twisted scheme that involves the woman Rose loves and a betrayal that will lead Rose into transformation. Will Rose succumb to Fiona’s machinations and forever lose the woman she truly loves? Or will she find a way to foil the vampire’s devious plan and save her soul—and her beloved’s life? She’s running out of options and, worse, out of time.

Available in print and ebook. Read an excerpt at
www.rgemanuelle.com
.