Well, I didn’t get a spot on the 3rd season of the Food Network’s Grill It With Bobby Flay, but no worries because I still have my recipe for chermoula marinated grilled fish with a savory, yet fruity couscous to share with you. I made some tweaks to my Moroccan chermoula sauce and used it this time to marinade halibut instead of mahi mahi, and I like the dish even better now.

Since I made the first version of this fragrant and earthy sauce used widely in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian cooking, I attended a cooking demo with Moroccan native, Chef Samir Labriny of Moroccan Cuisine Academy. At the demo I learned even more about Moroccan cooking, including more about chermoula sauce.

Some chermoula sauces are more herb-based (parsley or cilantro) as mine is and some are more tomato-based. In my original chermoula recipe I didn’t include tomatoes, but I did in this most recent version. The tomatoes add a nice balance to the flavor, cutting down on some of the grassiness of the parsley and cilantro.

At the cooking demo I also learned about making couscous using any regular couscous rather than a quick-cooking variety that I normally use. I basically think using either is fine, but the boxed quick-cooking variety sometimes tastes a little like the cardboard box it comes in and didn’t seem to cook as fluffy as the brand I used this time. So, from now on, I think I’ll use Chef Labriny’s approach for couscous, which is to place the semolina pasta-like granules in a large bowl and cover the couscous with boiling water or broth, cover the bowl and allow it to sit for about 30 – 40 minutes before tossing in any remaining ingredients. It works perfectly.

As for the type of fish I used in this dish, both the mahi mahi (what I used in my Food Network audition video) and Alaskan halibut are good grilling choices. They’re meaty, but not overly so, and they have a mild flavor that allows the chermoula sauce to be featured. Also, this time I grilled the fish using my new Staub cast iron grill pan (love it!) rather than an outdoor grill. The fish seemed to take a little longer on my grill pan, but it still worked fine and almost just as well as the outdoor gas grill.

Overall, I was very pleased with this meal, and it really didn’t take that long to make, so it’s a good week night choice. You can also make chermoula sauce in advance and keep it refrigerated for several days to have it ready to use. The sauce works well for seasoning chicken or vegetables in addition to fish, so try it out and enjoy!

Moroccan Chermoula Sauce Over Grilled Fish
Serves 4 – 6

Six 4 – 6 oz. pieces of U.S. mahi-mahi fillets (about 3” in width, 4” in length), skin on (Halibut can be used as well)
1 cup of chermoula sauce
Vegetable oil for drizzling/brushing
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

While heating a gas grill on medium heat, rinse and pat dry the fish fillets, then place them on a baking sheet for holding. Brush the skin side of each fillet with a little oil. This will help prevent the fish from sticking to the grill. Then with skin side down on the baking sheet, sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper.

Using a spatula, place 1 – 2 tablespoons of the chermoula sauce on each fillet and thickly spread the sauce over the fish. Lightly cover the sheet of fish with plastic wrap and place sheet in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, but up to two hours.

After marinating the fish, remove it from the refrigerator and place on the heated grill with skin side down. (Be sure to oil the grill grate with a paper towel saturated with vegetable oil to prevent sticking.) Note: If using a stove top grill pan, heat the pan on medium to medium-high before adding fish.

Grill fish directly over medium heat. If your grill tends to be cooler on one side than the other, use the cooler side. After about 15 minutes, carefully flip the fillets and grill on the other side for an additional five minutes. Fish should have light browning and flake easily with a fork when done. Remove fillets from grill and serve over couscous.

Chermoula Sauce
Makes about 1 cup of marinade

2 cups of roughly chopped cilantro
1-1/2 cups of roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 green onion (scallion) sliced, using both green and white parts
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 medium sized, ripe tomatoes – peeled and seeded
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Juice of a half lemon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In the small bowl (4-cup) of a food processor, add all of the ingredients except for the olive oil. Process the ingredients as you slowly add in the olive oil through the oil drain (top) of the food processor until the marinade comes together to form a thick, pasty sauce. Add in the olive oil a little at a time. You may not need all of it. Sauce should be thick, not liquid-like. Taste the sauce for flavor and add additional salt or pepper if needed. Transfer sauce to a small bowl, cover and set aside until ready to use.

Couscous with Golden Raisins and Dried Apricots
Serves 4

1 cup couscous
2 cups water or chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 plump garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup diced dried apricots
1/4 cup golden raisins or dried currants
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt

Place couscous in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Add the water or broth to a medium sauce pan along with the minced garlic and dried fruit and bring to a boil. Add the boiling water or broth with the garlic, raisins and apricots to the bowl of couscous. Use just enough of the liquid to just cover the couscous. This may be a little less than 2 cups.

Cover the bowl immediately with plastic wrap and set aside. After 30 – 40 minutes, uncover couscous and add parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Stir and fluff couscous gently to mix in ingredients, and serve with chermoula marinated fish.

I recently found out about an opportunity to be on Grill It with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. The network is currently looking for guests to appear on the show for its 3rd season and asking for recipes and 3-minute video clips of contenders doing their thing on the grill.

While getting on TV or having a cooking show had never been a particular aim or objective of mine since I began my journey into food blogging, when this opportunity arose, I thought, why not? Making a TV appearance with Bobby Flay would be a great experience and way to share my recipes with a broader audience as well as learn from a great chef and one of the best food TV personalities around.

So I created my recipes all centered on a Moroccan theme because I love various cuisines from around the world (Moroccan being one of them) and this North African country is known for a fragrant herb marinade (chermoula sauce) that goes deliciously with fish.  Grilled mahi-mahi with grilled shrimp and vegetable kabobs along with a fruity couscous and an appetizer of grilled roasted red pepper pita wedges is a tasty and interesting menu that I think will be great for TV and your grills this coming spring and summer.

Thanks to the generous help of my tech and video savvy uncle, I was able to put together a brief clip of me demonstrating the main dish of Moroccan-Inspired Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Chermoula Sauce.  Take a look at the video and let me know what you think! We’ll see what happens, but either way, you’ll get the recipes soon – either on the Food Network or FlavorDiva.com.

If food has power, then so does the cook. When we prepare and share our culinary creations with loved ones, we can heal, express love and set the atmosphere (whether for a romantic dinner or a fun-filled party). But where have all the great home cooks gone? True, there are plenty of people who cook and cook well, but I think many would agree that the woman (and I don’t mean your mother or your grandma) who has the skill to whip up a variety of good dishes from scratch is becoming extinct. This is due to many reasons from women’s busy lives in and out of the workplace to the heavy promotion of convenience and packaged foods by food marketers. However, I refuse to let the great home cook die. She’s too important to our own health and the well-being of our families and friends.

Cooking, especially with fresh ingredients, is truly a legacy and a talent to be recaptured. If you already have the skills, great! Keep it up. If you aren’t so fortunate and have let some of the great culinary skills of past generations of Black women fade away, reclaim them. While I’ve always enjoyed cooking, there was a time when you wouldn’t find me in the kitchen except to heat up leftovers from last night’s takeout. However, my desire for true flavor and fresh, whole food called me back into the heart of the home to express my creativity and get back to an art and science that’s too important to let become a thing of the past. I’ve used a combination of cooking classes, cookbooks (I actually read the reference sections), cooking shows, a few tips from family members, and practice to get me on my way. The feedback from my family and friends has been positive. Not only do I cook well, but I also think I have a knack for it. However, with a little patience and practice, cooking is something I think anyone can learn to do well.

And so, I’ve started this blog to share my writing, recipes and culinary journey, as well as to inspire others to reclaim the legacy of the great home cook. In forthcoming posts I’ll share things I’ve learned in the kitchen, reviews of cookbooks and other books on food along with other food related tidbits. I also intend to feature a few guest bloggers on occasion (Flavor Diva friends of mine with great food knowledge) and interviews of other African-American foodies.

For this first post, I’d like to share my recipe for Tilapia en Papillote (tilapia steamed in a parchment paper or foil packet; I prefer parchment paper). This dish is light and easy to make for one person or more. You can substitute a variety of herbs and spices. Experiment with different ones to see what you like or use whatever you have on hand. En papillote recipes from Joy of Cooking and Mark Bitttman’s How to Cook Everything inspired this recipe.

Tilapia en Papillote
Serves 4

4 tilapia fillets
1 lemon
16 sprigs of parsley
4 pinches of dried thyme
¼ red bell pepper cut into thin strips (julienne)
¼ green bell pepper cut into thin strips (julienne)
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
4 12” x 12” (approximate) square pieces of parchment paper to make individual packets

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Salt and pepper one of the fillets on both sides. Center the fillet on the bottom half of a 12” x 12” piece of parchment paper. Next, sprinkle a pinch of the dried thyme over the fish. Then, drizzle about ½ tablespoon of olive oil over the fish. Lay a few slices of the red and green bell peppers, and 2 – 4 sprigs of parsley over the fish along with a slice of lemon. Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper over the top of the fish again.

Now fold the top half of the parchment paper over the fish. Beginning on one side, fold the parchment paper repeatedly along the edges (overlapping each fold) to seal the packet (see photo).  Prepare the remaining fillet packets as described above. If so desired, you can make one large packet and place all four fillets and toppings in one packet. Place the packet(s) on a cookie sheet and place in the oven.

After 20 minutes, open one of the packets to check for doneness. Fish should be white, moist and flaky. Serve packets individually and directly on the plate, or remove fish from the packets before serving. Remove the steamed parsley sprigs and lemon slice, and garnish with fresh parsley and a fresh slice of lemon.