Casablanca Dinner

My brother Jake got us a three month subscription to "Try The World" where they send you fun food items from all over the world.  In our holiday box, we had a box of Croquants A L'Ecorce D'Orange cookies from Morocco.  So I made a dinner around that themed to Casablanca! 

For dinner, we had Moroccan Meatballs, Garlic Herb Couscous, Dates stuffed with Gournay Cheese, Rick's Gin Joint Gin and Tonic, and Croquants A L'Ecorce D'Orange cookies. 

Moroccan Meatballs: 

I found the recipe here and sort of melded it with our Lady and the Tramp meatballs and the results were amazing! 

Ingredients for meatballs:

1.25lbs of ground beef

1/2 onion, diced 

1 clove of garlic, minced

a pinch of chili powder

2 tablespoons of Tandoori spice

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper 

Ingredients for sauce:

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 14.5oz cans of diced, peeled tomatoes

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of coriander

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and use cooking spray to cover the baking sheet. 

2. Mix together all of the meatball ingredients in a bowl

3. Roll into golf ball size meatballs and stick in the over for 22 minutes (or until golden brown)

4. In a small pot, add olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 onion, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of coriander and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

5. Add tomatoes, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 

6. Serve with sauce over the meatballs

Garlic Herb Couscous:

We just found some boxed couscous at the grocery store and it was quite good!

Dates stuffed with Gournay Cheese:

We bought pitted dates and Tim cut them lengthwise.  He then stuffed them with Boursin Gournay Cheese spread.  Yummy and SOO easy!

Rick's Gin Joint Gin and Tonic:

Ingredients:

1 part Gin

2 parts Tonic Water

Ice

Croquants A L'Ecorce D'Orange cookies from our Try The World box:

We had an excellent and cohesive dinner!