Chermoula and Couscous

One of the goals I've staked out for myself was to go beyond my comfort zone and try some dishes from the other side of the Mediterranean - North Africa.

I've seen, heard, read (and now tasted) varying Chermoulas. It's a marinade used in cooking in the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. After doing some research, I found that there's no real base recipe for Chermoula, other than it usually containing cumin, citrus and some heat. The rest is subject to interpretation and taste.

A Chermoula can be used to marinade anything...vegetables, chicken, lamb, beef and in this case, sea bass fillet.

I've taken the flavours that appealed to me today (my mood does change) and I applied it in this marinade. The next time I use a Chermoula, I'm sure I'll try another combination. I'm already diggin' this marinade's liberal allowance of interpretation.

While making this dish, I was reminded of the many times I had seen Jamie Oliver pound the Hell out of herbs & spices for his dishes. Until today, I used to just use pre-ground spices...until today.

Pounding your spices into a powder makes for a much more robust, flavoured spice. As an added tool, I think I'm going to splurge on a small coffee mill that I will exclusively use to grind spices.
I'm not writing off already ground spices but I'll augment my cooking with grinding my own too.

I'm convinced this dish's success was heightened by my labour in pounding these spices with a mortar and pestle. I've had one for years and now I can use it for than just making Melitzanosalata.

How would I describe this Chermoula Sea Bass? First, the flavour of the fish was still evident (good), a slight smokyness came through from the cumin and paprika, a touch of heat from the chili flakes & peppercorns and, the tang of the lemon rounded out what was to be a fabulous fish dish. Chermoula my love!

As seen in the photo, I also made a brilliant coloured couscous with Saffron. The recipe is quite basic and I wanted to keep it this way so as to not steal any flavours from the sea bass. This simple yet beautiful Saffron dish looked like a bed of golden caviar for my sexy Chermoula sea bass to lie on.

As for the shrimp, they were great too...they were like my savory dessert, to be eaten at the end!


Chermoula Sea Bass
(serves 4)

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
6 whole black peppercorns
10 cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic,
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 Tbsp. sweet paprika
1 medium onion, grated
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 Tbsp. olive oil
4 skinless, sea bass fillets

Preheated 400F oven

Saffron Couscous

2 1/4 cups of water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp saffron threads/powder
1 1/2 cups of uncooked couscous

1. Using your mortar and pestle, add the smashed garlic, cumin, black peppercorns, coriander seeds and coarse sea salt and pound the contents until it becomes a mash. Empty the contents into a bowl.
2. To the bowl, add the olive oil, lemon juice, grated onion, parsley and paprika and mix well.
3. Smear the Chermoula marinade all over your fish fillets. Place in a bag, seal and refrigerate for 1 hour. Return the fish to room temperature before baking on tray.
4. Treat your tray with cooking spray and season your fillets with salt and a sprinkle of more sweet paprika.
5. Drizzle with some olive oil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the fish is just flaky.
6. Serve immediately with a lemon wedge.

Couscous

1. Combine water, butter, salt and saffron in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in couscous. Cover, remove from heat.
2. Let stand 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff couscous with fork.
3. Add another pad of butter and adjust seasoning with sea salt.
4. Keep covered & warm until your main is ready to be served.
   

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