So this week, we are without our third, as Steph has taken ill. So do we go ahead, or do we put off Monday night dining? It turns out we are hungry, and we prepped a lot of food, so ahead into the fray we go…
We have been hanging around the Mediterranean lately, so Shawn decided on Moroccan for tonight’s menu. We started the evening with a Moroccan lentil soup.
This is a hearty flavourful soup. Great for fall and winter. The chickpeas and fava beans add a lovely texture as well.
The main is something we have been thinking of making, and our local store had lovely fresh rabbit this week, so we enjoyed Rabbit pastilla, with pomegranate and pistachio salad.
The rabbit was braised for hours, until it fell of the bones. The rabbit stew was wrapped in layers of phyllo pastry and baked. A nice trick is to take the pastilla out of the form and bake it upside down for the last few minutes, so it is evenly browned. With a nice flaky crust, the richness of the filling and a nice crunch and fresh zing from the salad, this is one dish we need to make again. Plus there were leftovers for days.
The dessert was an original. We combined an older poached pear recipe, with a little Moroccan flavouring and used the cake from the Persian Love Cake, to come up with poached pear, with saffron and cardamom spiced cake. The cake soaked up the poaching liquid, which matched the silky texture of the pear beautifully.
Without guests, it just did not feel like a Monday Night Dining experience…. We do however have to go to rehearsal, as we learn Elijah.
