Moroccan Olives With Harissa Food

MOROCCAN SPICED OLIVES

Steps:

• Cover olives with water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then drain.
• Cook garlic in oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in water, harissa, thyme, and olives and simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until liquid is thickened and coats olives, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon slices. Transfer to a shallow dish and marinate, chilled, at least 24 hours.
• These will keep for 1 month if kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

MOROCCAN HARISSA

Steps:

• Mince the chillies, roast capsicums, preserved lemon and garlic by hand or in a food processor.
• Mix with the coriander (cilantro), cumin and salt until well combined.
• Let the mixture stand for 1 hour, then transfer to a preserving jar and cover with oil. Store indefinitely in the refrigerator.

BLACK OLIVES WITH HARISSA

Steps:

• In a colander rinse olives under cold water 1 minute and in a large bowl cover with cold water. Soak olives 4 hours to remove excess salt and drain well.
• Make harissa: In a mortar with a pestle, an electric spice grinder, or a cleaned coffee grinder grind seeds fine. If using mortar and pestle, add chilies, garlic, and salt and pound to taste. If using a spice or coffee grinder, transfer seeds to a small food processor and add chilies, garlic, and salt. Grind mixture to a paste. Add pepper and oil and pound or purée to a coarse paste.
• In a large bowl stir together harissa and olives and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 6 hours or overnight. Olives may be prepared 1 week ahead and kept chilled, covered.
• Serve olives at room temperature.
• To roast peppers:
• Using a long-handled fork, char peppers over an open flame or on a rack set over an electric burner, turning, until skins are blackened, 4 to 6 minutes. (Or to broil peppers on rack of a broiler pan under a preheated broiler about 2 inches from heat, turning every 5 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes, or until skins are blistered and charred.) Transfer peppers to a bowl and let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle. Keeping peppers whole, peel them, starting at blossom end. Cut off pepper tops and discard seeds and ribs.

HARISSA OIL

Steps:

• Using a pestle and mortar, grind the dried ingredients together to form a coarse mixture.
• Add the garlic and stir in the olive oil.
• Pour the mixture into a jar, allowing the spices to settle.
• Keeps in the fridge for 1 week.

MARINATED MOROCCAN OLIVES

Steps:

• In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine olive oil, pepper flakes, garlic, coriander and cumin. Squeeze the lemon juice and add the lemon wedges, the olives, and mix well.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight. Leave out at room temperature for a few hours before serving.