Recipes and Uses for Ras El Hanout

[BadRabbit]

A friend of the family made a huge batch of Ras El Hanout and gave out jars for Christmas. It really smells wonderful but I'm currently at a loss on what to do with it. I could find very few recipes online (other than recipes for making the actual spice mixture).

My first thought it to mix it with yogurt and marinate chicken thighs in it because I really wanted to use it in a preparation of meat rather than just mixing it in with some couscous or something.

Does anyone have any recipes or just general applications for this spice blend?

[mkayahara]

I often use it to dust pieces of fish, either before cooking them sous vide, or after pan-frying, just before serving.

[ShaneH]

I use mine as mkayahara does, dusting fish after cooking, just before serving.

[sheepish]

I put a good dose of it in a chicken tagine, or in a split-pea soup. Or make caramel flavoured with it and layer between scallops, apple and cauliflower, a la David Everitt-Mathias.

[BadRabbit]

I often use it to dust pieces of fish, either before cooking them sous vide, or after pan-frying, just before serving.

Do you serve a sauce with the fish when you do this?

[andiesenji]

Lordy, I use Ras el Hanout in many foods.

Yesterday I made a dish of rice, beans & beans (white kidney beans and red beans with green beans) bacon and onion.

flavored to taste with this spice mixture.

Any recipe with legumes, lentils, chickpeas, beans, and with grains, can be gently flavored with it.

I mix it into the dough for pita bread or brush the freshly baked bread with butter or oil and sprinkle with it.

I steam cauliflower florets and toss them with oil seasoned with it.

I mix it into melted cheese for my version of Welsh rarebit.

I recently copied this recipe for Chicken in Lemon Syrup, etc., and plan to try it soon.

I'm glad you posted this topic, it has reminded me of it.

It makes a great rub for any kind of meat, especially lamb and goat.

It works great in stir-fry dishes - sort of a cross-cultural event.

[mkayahara]

I often use it to dust pieces of fish, either before cooking them sous vide, or after pan-frying, just before serving.

Do you serve a sauce with the fish when you do this?

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Last time I did this, I sauced with a reduction of orange juice, ginger and caramelized sugar, seasoned with a little rice vinegar. The aroma of the ras-el-hanout still came through nicely.

[DanM]

The Spice House has a few recipes for Ras El Hanout at http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/ras-el-hanout

Look at the bottom of the page. I cannot speak to how good these recipes are, but I hope it helps.

Dan

[nakji]

This recipe for kefta with tomato and eggs is one of my favourite weeknight recipes. It's gorgeous. I'd never seen ras el hanout before, or tasted it - but Chufi was kind enough to send me a packet from the Netherlands to taste. Now I've approximated my own spice mix for it, but if someone gave me a big jar of ReH, I'd be thrilled.

If you make this recipe, make sure you have plenty of bread on hand to mop up the sauce.

[Chris Amirault]

With finely ground salt and sugar, ras al hanout makes for outstanding spiced nuts.

For a while, ras al hanout seemed a guarantee to make it through at least half of a "Top Chef" season. I'll bet a seared scallop with balsamic gastrique that there are a few recipes on that website.

[ScoopKW]

I regularly make tagines of chicken and lamb. Ras al Hanout combines with stock, squashes, onions, root vegetables and dates to make a lovely sauce.

Dose it over couscous and serve with wine.

[rarerollingobject]

Like andiesenji, I regularly use it with lamb. 4 minute lamb cutlets - rub cutlets with a little oil, sprinkle with ras el hanout and salt and sear in a pan for 2 mins each side. People rave.

Also cauliflower - sprinkle REH, olive oil, salt and a little sugar over florets and roast in 400F/200C oven for 20 mins till toasty brown.

Sprinkle over large raw prawns and grill em.

I use a blend by a spice merchant in Sydney that he's jazzed up even further with rose petals, lavender, Sichuan pepper, grains of paradise, long and cubeb pepper, lemon myrtle and mastic (in addition to the base spices). Unbelievably lovely.

Edited March 2, 2011 by rarerollingobject (log)

[BadRabbit]

The Spice House has a few recipes for Ras El Hanout at http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/ras-el-hanout

Look at the bottom of the page. I cannot speak to how good these recipes are, but I hope it helps.

Dan

The North African Style Stewed Chicken sounds delicious but it has greens in it and my wife does not care for them. I know it will change the flavor a bit but I wonder if I could just use tomato paste or something like that to give some more depth of flavor instead of the greens.

Any suggestions?

http://www.thespicehouse.com/recipes/north-african-style-stewed-chicken

1 whole small chicken, 2-3 pounds

2-3 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed

1/2 large red onion

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

3-4 cloves minced fresh garlic

1-2 wedges, rinsed and minced, preserved lemon

2 inch piece whole Saigon cassia cinnamon

1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 cups washed and coarsely sliced mustard greens

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

2 whole green cardamom pods

1-2 teaspoons ras el hanout

pinch of saffron threads

Edited March 2, 2011 by BadRabbit (log)

[BadRabbit]

Update:

The recipe above was pretty good with the addition of 1 tbs tomato paste and leaving out the greens. I'll probably try it with the greens some time when my wife is out of town.

[alexthepink]

I also use it with lamb. I mix some with honey and oil and use as a marinade. Then cook the lamb with tomatoes and dried apricots. Yum!