photo by Denise Wilkins
National food writer, Deborah A. Rankine, has covered the food scene in Canada for the past 15 years. As her alter ego, “Chef Deb,” Rankine captains the catering kitchen at www.culinarycaravan.com. Her culinary world travels provide inspiration for her ethnic-themed cooking classes she teaches at professional cooking schools throughout Toronto’s GTA and beyond.
Rankine is the proud winner of the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s 2008 Durham Region Chef Challenge. She’s appeared on City TV’s “Breakfast Television” and adds her monthly cooking segments on Rogers (Durham/York Region) TV’s “Daytime” to her roster of fun foodlicious experiences.
Rankine’s fast ’n frugal cookbook series, The Fridge Whisperer, publishes a new title every fall, with each new edition helping to get people back into their kitchen and families back to their dinner table EVERY night of the week.
For more mealtime inspiration log onto www.thefridgewhisperer.com to view Chef Deb’s video cooking segments, read her food blog, or to view her calendar for upcoming cooking classes on offer.
These gorgeous photos of Morocco were taken by Tom Fakler. Check out his website: www.tomfakler.com
Moroccan Harira Winter Soup (serves six to eight)
An original recipe from “Chef Deb” at www.thefridgewhisperer.com
1 teaspoon EACH ground cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika and ginger
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons EACH unsalted butter and extra virgin olive oil
¾ pound lamb shoulder, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 ½ cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cups good quality beef stock
4 cups canned diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
¼ cup uncooked parboiled rice
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup canned lentils, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons each chopped cilantro and Italian flat leaf parsley
• In a heavy-bottomed stock pot set over medium heat, add cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, ginger and cayenne pepper and dry sauté for 1 minute.
• Add butter and oil to spice mixture and stir to combine.
• Add lamb and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add carrot and sauté for 3 minutes.
• Add onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring frequently and scraping up any brown bits that may have accumulated on the bottom of the pot.
• Add chickpeas and sauté for 2 minutes.
• Stir in stock, canned tomatoes, bay leaf and uncooked rice and bring mixture to a boil.
• Reduce temperature to low and allow soup to simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until rice is al dente.
• Remove bay leaf.
• Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Stir in lentils.
• Stir in parsley and cilantro just before serving.
photo by Tom Fakler
photo by Tom Fakler