Azafran soup with spinach greens & yellow cornmeal dumpli

Yield: 6 Servings MMM

Ingredients:

1 c Ground yellow cornmeal
3/4 c All purpose flour
2 ts Baking powder
1 ts Salt
1 ts White pepper
2 1/2 ts Sugar
1 ts Unsalted butter softened
2 c Chicken stock MMMMM------------------------AZAFRAN SOUP-----------------------------
6 c Water
2 tb Azafran (see note)
1 ts Salt
1/2 ts White pepper
3 c Chicken stock
2 Yellow summer squash diced
3 c Corn kernels
1 Bunch spinach

Instructions:

washed and -stemmed To make the dumplings combine the cornmeal flour baking powder salt pepper and sugar together in a bowl. Add the butter and milk and mix well to make a batter that is moist but not sticky. If the dough is too moist knead in a little more flour. Divide the dough into 1" balls flatten and shape into small triangles. Pour the chicken stock into a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and drop in the dumplings. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until tender and cooked all the way through. Remove the dumplings from the stock and set aside. For the soup heat 2 cups of the water and the azafran in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until the liquid has reduced by half about 7 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve discard the azafran and return the liquid to the saucepan. Add salt pepper stock and the remaining 4 cups of the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add squash reduce the heat ans simmer 5 minutes. Add cork kernels and simmer another 5 minutes. Add dumplings and spinach cook 2 minutes and serve immediately. **Note** Azafran also called Native American saffron my the American Indians is an herb that is actually fine threads from the stigma of the safflower plant. Despite the name azafran is not the same as saffron which is an expensive spice derived from the crocus plant in the iris family. (Saffron can be substituted for azafran though: use 1 pinch of saffran for 2 tablespoons of azafran). Azafran is commonly sold in Latin American markets and specialty herb stores. It can also be ordered by mail. It is best stored in a cool dark place and will last several months in a sealed plastic or glass container. From "Native American Cooking by Lois Ellen Frank

MMMMM

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: AZERBAIJANI PILAF

Categories: Grains, Ethnic

Yield: 6 Servings

2 c Rice

3 c Water or meat broth

3 tb Cooking fat

2 lb Broad beans

2 tb Margarine

1/2 c Water

1 ts Flour

2 tb Lemon juice

2 Bunches fresh dill

Salt

Melt margarine and put into saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water, flour,

lemon juice and a little salt. Pare the skins of the broad beans. add

to saucepan and cover and cook 30 minutes or until beans partially

cooked. Heat 3 cups of meat broth or water and add to saucepan and

bring to a boil. remove from heat and set aside.Place rice in a bowl

with 2 tsp of salt and enough warm water to cover.set aside to cool.

Drain and rinse and drain rice. Heat the fat in a sucepan and add

rice and saute for 10 minutes, stirring constantly over hight heat.

Add the broadbean mixture to the rice and cover and cook on high then

reduce heat to moderate until rice absorbs the liquids. Chop dill and

simmer rice a few minutes before adding dill.

MMMMM

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: AZIZA BENCHEKROUN'S FIVE-DAY PRESERVED LEMON

Categories: Sauces, Fruits, Jams

Yield: 1 Batch

1 Recipe below

Wolfert writes: If you run out of preserved lemons or decide on just a few day's notice to cook a chicken lamb or fish dish with lemons and olives and need preserved lemons in a hurry you can use this quick five-day method taught to me by a Moroccan diplomat's wife. Lemons preserved this way will not keep but are perfectly acceptable in an emergency." With a razor blade make 8 fine 2" vertical incisions around the peel of each lemon to be used. (Do not cut deeper than the membrane that protects the pulp.) Place the incised lemons in a stainless-steel saucepan with plenty of salt and water to cover and boil until the peels become very soft. Place in a clean jar covered with cooled cooking liquor and leave to pickle for approximately 5 days. From _Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco_ by Paula Wolfert. New York: Harper & Row Publishers Inc. 1987. Pg. 32. ISBN 0-06-091396-7. Posted by Cathy Harned.