Moroccan Night

Here in Seattle we just had our friends Ryan and Angela over for dinner. Angela's a clever copywriter and Ryan is developing a top-secret video game at Microsoft. We see them regularly, but haven't lived in the same city since they moved from Chicago to Seattle several years ago.

The last time Ryan and Angela sampled my cooking was at a party at our place in 2000. Along with many other friends, they tried a tasty dish called Cat Hair Flatbread. Here's how you make it:

- Get the idea for a Hawaiian-themed party since it's February in Chicago.

- Steal a menu from Trader Vic's, buy a blow-up palm tree and some Martin Denny CDs, and make leis for everyone out of crepe paper.

- Develop a South Pacific fusion menu involving such key ingredients as pig, pineapple and coconut.

- Drink a mai tai while you're cooking and decide it would be funny to make the cat wear a crepe paper lei.

- I'm not really sure what happened after that, but somehow Fluffy's golden tendrils appeared on the Huli-Huli Chicken Flatbread. That was embarrassing. Other than that, it was a great party.

As you can now understand, I felt some pressure to make Ryan and Angela a nice dinner that didn't include any aspects of our two long-haired cats or Great Pyrenees. I decided on Morocco as inspiration, having recently rediscovered a Moroccan chicken recipe from Elephant's Delicatessen down in Portland. The recipe calls for cinnamon, red pepper flakes, turmeric, black pepper, cumin, paprika and sesame seeds, so it's a good excuse to buy DIY little bags of spices from the supermarket's bulk section and update your spice collection. I adapted it a bit, and also used the lovely Joanne Weir's From Tapas to Mezze (Ten Speed Press 2004) for side dish flavor inspiration.

Finally, I wanted to give the menu a seasonal Northwest aspect, and thought about a recent dinner Dara and I had at Jerry Traunfeld's Capitol Hill restaurant, Poppy. From a flavor perspective, what Chef Traunfeld does is really interesting: He uses Indian flavors with Northwest ingredients, including his signature healthy dose of fresh herbs. For example, as a condiment he served pickled rhubarb with fresh mint. The pickling spices tasted Indian, but the rhubarb and mint were fresh and local. I loved that!

The resulting Moroccan night menu included a first course of local steamer clams in a fresh fennel broth, followed by Moroccan chicken, all spicy and sweet with the aforementioned spices as well as green olives, dates and honey.

One side dish was stewed lentils with caramelized onions and golden raisins, served over couscous. The other was a salad of wild greens, shaved carrot and radish from the farmer's market combined with pink grapefruit segments and fresh mint and cilantro, all clothed in an aromatic swirl of lemon juice, olive oil and a few drops of orange blossom water.

We poured boiling water over mint leaves from the garden to make a tisane, and sipped a Washington Riesling. For dessert we had Lazy Baklava, which means filling frozen phyllo shells with a mixture of chopped, toasted walnuts and cinnamon-cardamom syrup. Sticky as it was, it gathered no cat hair. And Fluffy did not have to wear a fez.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN

Serves 4

3/4 cup pimento-stuffed green olives

1/2 cup dates, seeded

3/4 cup honey, divided

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon kosher salt, divided

1 tablespoon black pepper, divided

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon turmeric

4 pounds bone-in chicken parts

Lime wedges

Finely dice olives and dates, and toss with 2 tablespoons honey, lemon juice, cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. Combine remaining honey, salt and pepper in a large bowl with cumin, paprika, sesame seeds, cinnamon, red pepper flakes and turmeric. Add chicken parts and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight, tossing occasionally.

Heat a grill to medium heat. Place chicken on the grill and brush with excess marinade. Grill chicken parts until golden and juices run clear. Top hot chicken with cold olive-date tapenade and serve with lime wedges on the side.

LENTILS & COUSCOUS

Serves 4-6

1 cup dry lentils, preferably the small black French type

2 bay leaves

1 2-inch piece of lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt + more

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup golden raisins, minced

1 box plain couscous

Pick over the lentils and discard any stones. Place lentils in a large saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Add bay leaves, lemon peel, salt and garlic, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20-30 minutes, until lentils are just tender. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet and cook onion on low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. Sprinkle onions with a touch of salt and toss with golden raisins. Cook couscous according to package directions, and top or gently toss with lentils and onions. Serve.

SHAVED CARROT & RADISH SALAD WITH PINK GRAPEFRUIT

Serves 4-6

1 large pink grapefruit

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon orange flower water

2 teaspoons sugar

Salt and pepper

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into paper-thin slices

10 red radishes, trimmed and cut into paper-thin slices

1 cup baby arugula or mesclun mix

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

Use a small sharp knife to slice the tops and bottoms off the grapefruit, and then the peel from all sides, cutting so that you don't see the membrane any more and just see the flesh. Cut each segment from the grapefruit, leaving the membrane. Cut each segment in half and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, orange flower water and sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add grapefruit and remaining ingredients, toss and serve.

LAZY BAKLAVA

Serves 4-6

12 frozen mini phyllo cups

3/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cardamom (to taste)

Toast walnuts in a preheated 350F oven for 6-9 minutes, until fragrant and golden. Chop roughly and combine with honey and spices. Fill phyllo cups and serve.