After last week’s stew, this week we wanted a slightly different stew.  So once again, I started with a not so interesting stew recipe, and then modified the day lights out of it!  The Moroccan stew is clearly a different beast than last week’s stew, but equally yummy!  The recipe starts off the same way by browning the sausage, after that of course the spices and vegetables change, but fun none the less.  We also, cooked up a chicken soup that was needed all around, in the house.

Moroccan Sausage Stew

1. Olive Oil to coat pan/pot
2. 1 pound of Kielbasa cut on the bias into one inch chunks
3. Two or three sweet onions cubed into 1 inch squares
4. 2 or 3 good shakes of sea salt
5. 4 or more garlic cloves
6. Ground Coriander
7. Ground Cinnamon
8. Ground Cumin
9. Ground Ginger
10. Saffron
11. Half a package of Trader Joe’s Frozen Sliced Bell Peppers
12. 1 or 2 eggplant (depending on size)
13. Two large sweet potatoes cubed into 1 inch cubes
14. 1 can of diced tomatoes (15 or 28 oz)
15. 1 can of cooked chickpeas
16. 1 to 2 oz of honey
17. Salt and pepper to taste

Start by taking a large dutch oven and place into it a tablespoon or two of olive oil – just to coat the bottom.  While waiting for the oil to get hot enough, cut the Kielbasa into 1 inch cylinders on the bias, and then start to brown the cut edges.  Once one side is browned, flip them to the other side.  Once all sides are browned, take the meat out and drop the cubed onions into the oil.  Add the salt to the onions to help the onions release their liquid.  Sauté the onions and once browned, throw in the spices and garlic, and make sure the onions are fully coated with them.  From there on, add the vegetables into the pot one at a time.  Once the vegetables have released their water, add in the diced tomatoes, chickpeas, honey, and last spices.  Cook the stew until the vegetables and meat are combined into a singular and uniform form.  The best part of this stew is the crazy smell and aromas that come exploding out of this stew.  Like many Moroccan dishes (Tajine, etc.) the combination of spices make for a truly pungent experience.

The meal started with the chicken soup, and was followed by the stew along with quinoa and fresh green salad.  To pair, I went looking for a wine that had enough stamina to stand up to the rich stew, and I decided on a Cabernet Sauvignon.  With that classification set, I chose the 2006 Teperberg Cabernet Sauvignon Silver.  The wine is mevushal, and it is still quite a joy.  The fruit is a bit over the top and rich to start, but the wine has enough body to match the rich fruit nose.  The wine note follows below:

2006 Teperberg Cabernet Sauvignon Silver – Score: B+

The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is really nice for a mevushal wine; it is hopping with blackberry, plum, cassis, meat, ripe and rich black fruit that almost overpowers the nose to start, and spicy oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is soft with almost mouth coating tannins. The black fruit comes through strong on the mouth that leads to an oaky and balanced mid palate. Initially, the finish is closed, but opens up with a fair amount of air. The finish is long and spicy with black fruit, spicy oak, and a smooth finish with pleasant tannins that linger long on the palate, after the wine is gone.