ras el hanout -- suggestions?

[ndl]

a friend brought me a little tin of ras el hanout from a trip to montreal (she always brings back spices from a shop there). she is coming for dinner next saturday and i want to serve something with the spice mix. i'm thinking a braised dish -- chicken or lamb shanks maybe? i'd love some tips on flavor combinations. what would be a good braising liquid? yogurt/water or stock, tomatoes?...

thanks!!

[grocerytrekker]

It's fun to remember that this spice is made with rosebuds, as well as cloves, cinnamon and black pepper. Rose-flavored ragouts...

Restaurants have fallen in love with ras al-hanout.

-Pistachio crusted sea bass over braised Swiss chard and garbanzos with ras al hanout
-Chicken satay with ras al hanout sauce
-Rack of lamb "tagine" with winter vegetables Parisienne and a butternut squash, ginger, ras al hanout, saffron sauce

[Caitlin McGrath]

There's an excellent roast chicken recipe from Bon Appetit that uses a rub that includes ras el hanout. The recipe calls for 2 T. paprika and 1 T. ras el hanout, but reversing those proportions will give you a fine result and feature the complex flavors of the spice mix more. This is an easy recipe, actually just a variation on Marcella Hazan's roast chicken with 2 lemons, and produces a very juicy bird. The rub is delicious.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

[adamclyde]

its very good on chicken thighs. a really basic recipe would be to rub some on thighs, sautee with onions (add a little brown sugar... ras al hanout, if it doesn't have any in the mixture, needs a bit of sugar - either honey or brown sugar - in my opinion)). and serve over couscous. after searing and cooking, deglaze the pan with a bit of white wine or stock with lemon to make a rich sauce to spoon over the chicken and couscous. adorn with basil, mint or parsley.

not authentic, probably, but very good!

[Fleur]

Use it in the liquid used to make Rice Pilaf or Couscous. Add a little cinnamon, orange rind, add (at the end)golden raisins, and toasted pine nuts for a delicious Moroccan style dish.

[Robert Lauriston]

It's good as a rub on roast salmon.

[Nancy Berry]

There's a good recipe for Lamb Tagine with Prunes that uses this spice mix. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/ylgsty

And there are some more good recipes that use Ras al Hanout at these links:

http://www.globalpalate.citymax.com/raspage.html

Ras al Hanout Chicken with Almond Crust
http://www.ground.co.nz/recipe.asp?id=48

Ras al Hanout-Spiced Aubergine
http://www.ground.co.nz/recipe.asp?id=52

Baked Squash with Ras al Hanout, Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing
http://www.ground.co.nz/recipe.asp?id=53