Not sure how I wound up on Anthony Bourdain’s site called www.ExplorePartsUnknown.com but I noticed a few recipes there that sounded interesting. One of the recipes there was something called Chraime by Shay Levi. On the Explore Parts Unknown site this recipe was described as a traditional North African Recipe. I looked Chraime up on other sites and it was also described as Moroccan and also Libyan and I also found it as a Sephardic Jewish Recipe……Anyways…..The recipe is very simple and sort of taste close to harrisa-like in taste. So if you are a fan of the taste of Harissa then you should enjoy this recipe. I made only slight changes due to what I had to use up at home. I also held back on adding roasted red bell peppers that would have added a nice taste. From what I read Chraime should be more of a fish stew but for me this worked out to be fish in a very tasty sauce tonight. The next night I did use more of the sauce and it was more stew like. It is recommended to cook a mild white fish in the sauce in a pan………I cooked mine in the oven because I didn’t want to break up my from frozen fish but you can cook the fish anyway that you like. If you live near a store that sells fresh fish you might want to cook the fish in the pan with the sauce. If you don’t have fresh fish and have to use frozen fish like me this might work out better with your thawed fish done in the oven and just add the sauce……. This recipe makes around 4 servings. You might get more or less depending on how you use the sauce….and also how thin you make the sauce……I got 4 servings and I also used some of the sauce on plain spaghetti squash that was topped with Greek Feta cheese and it was delicious with the fish.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

4 mild white fish filets (something like cod would work well)

1 onion – diced

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1 cup water (maybe more depending on how thin you want)

8 garlic cloves – ground to paste

2 Tablespoons hot paprika

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil +plus more oil to roast fish (about 1/4 cup)

1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

sea salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

Directions

If you are using frozen fish set your oven to 350 degrees F and oil a baking sheet with olive oil. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and LIGHTLY season the fish with salt and pepper. The nice thing about thawed from frozen mild white fish is that they come out usually perfect in 15 minutes when you place them on a middle rack.

The sauce cooks up real fast.

Add olive oil to a sauce pot on medium high heat. Add the onions when the sauce is hot and cook till the onions are translucent. Then add the crushed tomatoes, water, garlic, hot paprika, salt, cumin, and caraway, Simmer for around 10 minutes and then add the lemon juice. Decide if you want to thin down more with more water.

Serve on your fish.

Garnish with some scallions and cilantro if you have any.

ENJOY!!!!

A Special THANKS!!!!! To www.ExploreParksUnknown.com and Shay Levi for their really delicious recipe so I could make what I got here.

I have a Turkish ground chili spice called urfa biber that I have to use up so it’s usually delicious on cauliflower…..BUT by accident this is much more delicious than I imagined it would be………….I added a little Aleppo pepper to it that is a mild delicious heat…..so the crust not exactly but almost taste like raisins with a pinch of cayenne on the cauliflower. I made the dressing extra delicious by using my roasted whipped garlic that is never strong and is naturally very sweet. I hate to brag but this came out really great! I think I will have to do something similar on chicken. Serving size is hard to tell because all cauliflowers are different sizes and all people like different size portions. I thought my cauliflower looked medium-ish-smallish in size. I cut mine into 8 wedges that were very small wedges so I made two wedges a serving…..You might get more servings if your cauliflower is bigger than mine was.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 medium cauliflower – quarter and cut eat quarter so you have 8 wedges

4 Tablespoons ground urfa biber pepper

2 Tablespoons ground Aleppo pepper

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

non stick spray

2 1/2 oz roasted whipped sweet garlic …It’s worth making! (cut a few garlic heads in half pour a generous amount of olive oil on them cover with foil and roast at 375 for an hour. Blend. – sumac dressing

1 large ripe lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice – sumac dressing

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – sumac dressing

2 teaspoons sumac – sumac dressing

1/4 teaspoon sea salt – sumac dressing

1/4 cup parley leaves – torn or lightly chopped – to finish

1/2 cup pistachios – lightly crushed – to finish

1/2 small red onion – thinly sliced on mandolin – to finish

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F and spray a baking sheet with non stick spray.

put the oil in a small bowl that is big enough for the cauliflower wedges to roll around in.

In a small bowl mix together the urfa biber pepper, Aleppo pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Use the bowl or spread it out on a mat or smooth surface and roll the oil soaked cauliflower in it.

Repeat till you are done.

This goes on the middle rack until slightly browned. In my oven they took 40 minutes but timing can differ.

While the cauliflower are roasting make the sumac dressing.

In a small bowl mix together the roasted whipped sweet garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sumac, 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Serve

Dress the cauliflower with the sumac dressing. Finish with parsley, red onion slices, and pistachios.

Enjoy!