A Southern North African Sandwich Recipes

A SOUTHERN NORTH AFRICAN SANDWICH

Steps:

• For the Kesra: In a small bowl of 1/4 cup warm water, stir in the yeast and sugar. Stir lightly until yeast begins to dissolve. Allow mixture to stand until it begins to bubble, about 10 minutes.
• In a standing mixer bowl, put flour and 1/3 cup of cornmeal. Make a well in the center and add yeast mixture, salt, and melted butter. Knead the bread and gradually add remaining warm water until dough is smooth and elastic.
• Sprinkle baking sheet with olive oil and then dust with cornmeal. Separate the dough into 2 balls of equal size and sprinkle sesame seeds evenly over the loaves and flatten into round circles. Cover the doughs with a clean towel and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prick the top of each dough with a fork all over. Bake for 10 minutes.
• Lower heat to 375 degrees and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until crusty and golden brown.
• For the Vegetables: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cut the eggplant into 1/4-inch round slices and sprinkle with salt, let sit in colander for 10 minutes until bitter juices are extracted.
• Rinse the slices, and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the eggplant slices until they are tender and a little crisp.
• Mix flour and cornmeal and season with spices, to your taste. Coat each tomato slice with mixture and heat butter in heavy skillet (preferably cast iron). Add the tomatoes and cook until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
• For the Harissa: Process all the ingredients in a food processor. Season, to taste, and reserve in a small bowl.
• To assemble sandwich, spread 2 slices of Kesra with Harissa spread. Place a layer of eggplant, then tomatoes on bottom slice. Curly lettuce is optional. Top with other slice of bread.

GATSBY

Steps:

• Toast the cardamom pods, star anise, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and cinnamon stick in a dry large pot over medium-low heat until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the wine, curry powder, turmeric and 1 tablespoon of the chicken broth.
• Add the chicken, then cover with the remaining chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 1 hour.
• Remove the chicken from the broth and let cool. Remove and discard the spice pods from the broth; reserve the broth.
• Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it and add it back to the broth. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chutney, adding more to taste. (You don't want the chutney to overpower the curry and make it too sweet, but you need enough to fully balance the curry; if the curry gets too sweet, add water.) Season with salt and pepper.
• Spread mayonnaise on the cut sides of the rolls. Put Peppadews and pickled cucumbers on the roll bottoms, then top with the chicken and fries. Season the fries with salt and pepper and a few dashes of malt vinegar. Cover with the roll tops.

SOFT SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH HARISSA

Steps:

• Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl with some salt.
• Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium nonstick skillet over low heat; swirl to coat the bottom and sides. Add the eggs and cook, stirring the eggs and scraping the sides and bottom of the skillet with a heatproof rubber spatula, until small curds form and the eggs are just set, 7 to 9 minutes.
• Add the butter and harissa and gently fold in with the spatula until the butter is melted. Serve hot, seasoned with pepper.