Sackville

Last time we were in Morocco we bought a massive quantity of pre-ground cumin. I immediately put it into the freezer when we got home and we still have some of it left. Even after a year it is still more fragrant than anything I can buy in the supermarket. When I first bought it, I shipped a little to friends in Canada and they said they could smell it as soon as they picked the unopened box up from the post office, through all the cardboard and packaging!

Sigh, was hoping for a brilliant suggestion! Have either of you tried Riverford? I have a friend in Southhampton who is very pleased with them but I still have to convince my husband to take delivery for me. He's not thrilled by the idea of lugging veg home, they don't deliver to my work area and getting it delivered to our flat won't work as there's nowhere to leave it.

I'm trying to find the ultimate provider of an organic veg box -- needs to be someone who will deliver to central London during working hours. I have so far tried Farmaround.co.uk and Organicdelivery.co.uk Both have been okay but I find the quality variable. One week I'll great really great stuff like organic artichokes and another I'll get a glut of turnip, parsnips and white cabbage. Also, I know organic produce doesn't last as long as normally farmed stuff, but last week I got some greens that were already going slimy in the bag from Farmaround. Perhaps this is par for the course or are there some really top providers out there? I mean to try Riverford.co.uk in the next week or so as I've heard good things about them.

I have some pictures for you. The first is a pic of Moroccan Bread from one of Paula's cookbooks. I also made her Beef and Cauliflower tagine (with lamb), a carrot salad and the oranges with rosewater and cinnamon (just like I remember them from a restaurant in Marrakech!) but alas did not take pictures of all the other dishes. We were too hungry!! I also have a pic of a recipe called Moroccan Bread Salad, although how authentically Moroccan it is I'm not sure. The recipe came from the owners of Moro and originally included directions to add olives and fresh herbs, but I have neither of those in the house so made do without.

I will add my second to this! I have (I think) all of Paula's cookbooks, and in fact, doubles on a couple that have been used so much they are spotted and dog-eared. Some of the pages are stuck together from having stuff spilled on them and not cleaned adequately prior to being put away. ← I think I will soon be "thirding" this praise! My books of Paula's came yesterday from Amazon and today I am doing a mini cookathon of a carrot salad, the Moroccan bread and a lamb and cauliflower tagine. It's all in process now and the kitchen smells fab!

Glad to hear it's held up to tests! I'd just hate to see anyone ruin such a beautiful tagine. Mine is ugly as heck (just a poor man's tagine from a tiny market) but it's thick and sturdy. Don't think anything could break it.

Be careful in making sure your tagine is for cooking! It's hard to tell from a picture, but often the decorated ones are just for serving and not for cooking on top of the stove with. They tend to be thinner and will crack if you try and put them over heat.

Okay, this is certainly not a "trendy" neighbourhood like the South bank is now, but I find Palmers Green a good area for lots of Turkish shops with good, cheap fresh fruit & veg. There is also a good, weekly farmers market with lots of local/free-range/organic meat and produce. In an ideal world I would live next to Borough market and shop there every day but neither my housing or food budget will support that! Palmers Green offers easy access to many main points in London (direct train connection to Moorgate and Kings Cross as well as the Picadilly/Victoria lines via Finsbury Park) yet is a bit cheaper than living in the centre and lots of green space.

I can also recommend tours through www.eqtravel.com -- great fair trade group, though they mostly do desert treks. Generally, if you ever have the chance then do go. It is an amazing country!

Last night for us was a pork roast with potatoes, carrots, broccoli and melting chocolate puddings for desert. On Sunday afternoon we did a pasta dish with penne, chorizo, spinach and mushrooms. Saturday's supper was vegetarian: Imam Baldi (stuffed eggplant) and a rice flavoured with chicken broth, mushrooms and a pinch of saffron I cook pretty much every night, even if it's just a pasta dish thrown together.

I hate to burst your bubble but the site said the same thing when I ordered mine. I just checked the tracking and it is on its way. ← You could always just organise a trip to Morocco and pick out your own

The roast was lovely! Thanks to all who offered their tips. I roasted for about an hour at 325 F then turned the heat way down for a little longer (guests called to say they'd be late). Took out the roast to rest, cut off the crackling and finished it off with the potatoes in the oven under the broiler. Just perfect and couldn't have done it without your help

Right-o.... I will try the crackling separately :-)

Thank you both for your help. I will try roasting at a lower temp and then see about the crackling nearer the end. I do remember a butcher a while ago telling me you could just turn up the broiler for 5 mins at the very end to get the crispy crackling.

You can see what I have here. It has at least 1 cm fat over the top but not much through the actual meat. That's why I'm thinking a slow braising method wouldn't be much help. Besides, I want good crackling!

I assume Cooks Illustrated is an American magazine? I'm in the UK.... unfortunately, I have no time to brine so let's go for the 2nd best method

You're very welcome. I also learned how to make couscous and some salads there and have all the directions written in my notebook but I haven't yet transcribed them. I would love to go back and just spend months learning the cuisine. Can't do that anytime soon so in the meantime I just went to Amazone and ordered two of your books I hope you like the tagine. I'm afraid some people may think it a little bland, as it doesn't have much in the way of "exotic" seasoning that we often associate with Morocco. I think it is a fairly authentic yet basic tagine that the average person would eat on a daily basis.

Believe it or not, I've never done a pork roast before... I've done plenty of roast chickens and the odd leg or lamb or piece of beef but never pork. What do I need to know? Should my meat be raised off the pan (so it doesn't swim in its own juices)? I was just skimming through my MEAT cookbook and in there it recommends to do a high heat sizzle for 10-30 minutes, depending on the size of roast, to help get a good crusty skin and then to turn the heat down to about 160 C and proceed from there. Sensible? This is only a small roast, just enough for 4 people.

The one I always recommend is Tas Restaurants. The one near Shakespeare's Globe is better than the one near Southwark Tube station, IMHO, in terms of atmosphere. I haven't been to the others. Very prettily decorated and set menus from £7.99 and, believe it or not, the food is good. It's also plentiful. Okay, it's not typically English but it certainly fills you up and for about as you cheap as you get for a sit-down meal in London. http://www.tasrestaurant.com/

Is there anyway you could share that recipe with us? I would be very interested in trying it! Your pictures and description of the dish are making my mouth water... And to the Algerian tagine expert, please speak up! I'd love to learn about the differences....

Thank you for taking the time to type all this. I will definitely be trying some of the better ones you mention :-)

Got some more pics for you

I decided to make this tonight and snapped a pic after about 4-5 minutes in my tagine. That's how mine browns up. I let it go a couple more minutes and then add the potatoes, carrots, etc... That's 4-5 minutes of the chicken top side down in the tagine.

Just wanted to chip in and say that I have been "supermarket free" (aside from the occasional foray into Waitrose) for about a year now and never been happier with the quality of my food. However, I am very fortunate to have a market with fresh veg near work and some local Turkish shops which also provide fresh produce at good prices. I also make a run about once a month to a quality butcher for meat, which I then divide up and freeze for the weeks to come. I acknowledge that it takes more time and in some regards the food is more expensive. Overall I'm not sure if I spend that much more overall because I tend to buy far less processed food and the savings of cooking with simpler, seasonal ingredients certainly helps. What "broke" my dependence on Tesco et al was the constant poor quality of their produce. I would get a box of strawberries home and discover mold at the bottom. I'd buy tomatoes and they'd be off before their "best before" date. This happened repeatedly and I decided if the produce was of that "quality" the rest of the food didn't bear thinking about. Once I started shopping around, I found the Turkish markets MUCH cheaper (like half the price) for produce.

Cool! I get those eggs!! Thank you so much for sharing