North African Fish Stew

This evening was the third time cooking with the tagine J purchased a few weeks ago and it came out fabulously. We used a recipe in this month's Food&Wine. The recipe is by Cat Cora. While we did a few things differently (J made his own vegetable stock, I made our own ras el hanout) we did follow the recipe relatively closely. It was fantastic! Cat Cora had a recipe for a warm quinoa salad with chicken skewers that we also made (just the quinoa salad part). Recipe to follow!

Cat Cora's original recipe posted here. :)

I have reposted it below.


Ingredients, Fish Stew:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons golden raisins (J added a bit more as we really love the sweetness of the fruit with the dish - just like we had in Morocco!)
1/4 cup salted roasted cashews
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 medium tomatoes—peeled, seeded and sliced crosswise 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend, we made our own...follow link for post)
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (J made his own - so flavorful!)
1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Couscous:
2 cups couscous
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 scallions, thinly sliced 

1. In a large, deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add half of the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until browned, 8 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate. Add the raisins and cashews to the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to the plate.
2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet along with the remaining onion and both peppers. Cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ras el hanout and stock, cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Season the fish with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Cook over moderately high heat until the fish is cooked, 5 minutes.
3. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and toss with the cinnamon and cumin. Pour the boiling water over the couscous, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the couscous into bowls and top with the fish stew. Garnish with the onion, raisins, cashews and scallions.

Onion, raisin, and cashew garnish. Beautifully balances the spice.

Ta da!

The spread.

Plated.