ras el hanout

Way back in June, I received this huge box filled with condiments, candies and other foodie things from Bourgogne in France.

The candy and snacks are long gone, but I recently looked in the basket I keep food things in and saw a spice packet. It said "Ras el Hanout". I was trying to read what it said, but everything was in French. Well, thank goodness for the internet! I googled and came up with an explanation of what it was and how it was used.

Since it is mostly used for squab (a.k.a. pigeon) (and that isn't readily available here), I used it with chicken. I cooked some couscous in consomme with raisins and onions. Then seared the skin of the chicken in a frying pan. I then put the chicken in a baking dish with some eringi mushrooms and a ripe tomato. I drizzled everything with olive oil and sprinkled some of the ras el hanout onto the chicken. For the eringi and tomato, I just sprinkled some salt.

I baked everything for about 20 minutes. The spices baking with the chicken kind of reminded me of autumn with pumpkin pie--warm, cinnamony and a little sweet.

This chicken went nicely with the couscous. The skin was crispy and delicious. I think next time I'll try flavoring the couscous with the ras el hanout. Thank you again, Bourgogne for the huge foodie care package and for introducing me to this new spice.

We have another 3-day weekend (can you imagine 2 in one month?) Take care.