Algeria - Menu and Overview

Welcome to week 4 of my family's challenge to cook from every country in the world.  It's on to Algeria.  I'm posting this on February 16th, but we actually prepared this back on January 25th.

This week was another winner.  I think it's right up there with Afghanistan.

Menu

Djouaz el Hummus (Chickpea Soup)
Chicken Tangine with Apricots and Toasted Pine Nuts
Chakchouka
Couscous

Yes, you read that right, I made couscous!

We had a quiet meal this week.  It was just Pete, the baby and I for the soup course and just Pete and I for the rest of the meal.  Even though I made couscous, this was the easiest meal that I've done for this challenge to date.


Djouaz el Hummus (Chickpea Soup)
This was Zander's favorite.  He's been eating it for lunch all week and cries when it's all gone.  I thought that it was good.  I'd probably use it as a base for a stew in the future maybe with lamb.

Chicken Tangine with Apricots and Toasted Pine Nuts
Pete really liked this.  He stole all the leftovers and took them to work to nosh on throughout the week.  I did like this quite a bit too.  The chicken was cooked with a glaze of bitter marmalade which was amazing.

Chakchouka
This is commonly served with eggs.  I think that it would have been better in season with local tomatoes.  I did use fresh, but it's January in Chicago so obviously they could have been fresher!

Couscous
I was sooo excited to make couscous.  It was not as hard as I was worried that it would be.  Definitely easier than making homemade bread.  I will probably not make it from scratch again because it's so easy in the box and, frankly, less expensive.

Here's Zander trying the Djouaz el Hummus.