Moroccan-inspired Christmas 2022

Like many people around the holidays, my life has been absolute chaos. The restaurant industry gets incredibly busy around the holidays. No one wants to cook when they're about to cook for the whole family! So, even if there were no other stressors over the last couple of weeks, I would still be in doing ten things at once mode. I also only get an extra day off. So, it barely seems like the holidays actually count as a break! But that's no excuse not to make absolutely delicious food. I'll take any excuse to make an enormous meal. Although nothing quite hits the spot like hot food on a cold winter's day. And this year decided on a Moroccan-inspired Christmas menu.

What to Make for Moroccan Christmas?

There's a second annual cookie exchange that I'm absolutely bringing cookies to. I want to say that I'm testing out recipes for the big day. But I'm not going anywhere this year. If anyone wants to spend Christmas with me, they're absolutely coming here! So, I'm really just making anything and everything that sounds delicious to me. Which is going to be any and every holiday cookie that I want for the cookie exchange. Plus, Moroccan food. Because I had a fairly traditional Thanksgiving and I like to make either Thanksgiving or Christmas a little bit more fun than simply mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce!

I also am in a part of the world that insists on celebrating Christmas on the 24th, instead of the 25th. This isn't something that I'd ever come across until moving to Wisconsin. This likely has to due with the amount of European and Latin American immigrants. Although, because of this, it's become absolutely imperative to do something on Christmas Eve. Even though I'm a steadfast Christmas day kind of person. After all, who doesn't want an extra day to get everything ready?? It also gives me an extra day to grocery shop. So, I decided to make the one thing I cannot make on Christmas Day because all of the purveyors of live lobster are closed. But it's the perfect opportunity to make Macaroni & Cheese w/ Lobster & White Wine.

The Moroccan Christmas Menu

This year's Moroccan Christmas:

Gallery

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies w/ Cocoa Powder & Cayenne Pepper

The Grinch Cookies w/ Peppermint Extract

How to Get All of the Dishes Out at the Same Time

I designed this Christmas to be as low stress as possible. I made several of the dishes ahead of time and then attempted to time out the rest of the meal.

Dishes to Prepare Ahead of Time

Cookies are best made ahead of time. They last several days when stored in an airtight container. A lot of cookies also require a chilling period. So, even if you want to cook them fresh and warm on the day of, you can make the batter and chill a day or two ahead of time.

I also made the Macaroni & Cheese on the 24th. So, that didn't interfere with the cooking on the day of, either.

Chickpeas can be soaked ahead of time. So, if after you've gone through all of the festivities on Christmas Eve, if you can remember, grab 2 cups of chickpeas and soak them the day before! I did not remember to do this, but you certainly can if you have the time. It will give you one less thing to do on Christmas Day. Although these chickpeas are for a salad, rather than being blended into something like hummus or baba ghanoush. So, it's fine to do a quick soak on the day if, if you're like me.

Dishes to Cook on the Day Of

I tend to start bread right away because I know that it's going to have a proof time and I don't want to have to worry about it. Although a smart person would start with quick soak chickpeas. Followed by bread. And then roasting the ingredients for the roasted carrots/cauliflower and starting the rice cooker for couscous. Lastly, I'd make Moroccan orange cake and candied oranges after everything else is cooking.

I didn't precisely follow this to the tea. Despite wanting this to be a simpler cooking process, it was the most complex menu I've done in years! Just make sure to make the chickpeas and sweet potatoes before the tagine recipe. You can cook the bread and roasted carrots and cauliflower at the same time. Just adjust the cooking time for the carrots and cauliflower, since the temperature is higher.

Cooking Times

Grinch Cookies: ___
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies: ___
Ginger Snaps: ___
Macaroni & Cheese: 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Quick Soak Chickpeas: 3 hours on the stove (must be made prior to Tagine Chickpeas)
Roasted Sweet Potatoes: 45-60 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit (must be made prior to Tagine Chickpeas)
Bread: 45 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit
Salad w/ Couscous: 45 minutes in the rice cooker
Mashed Potatoes: 30 minutes on the stove
Roasted Carrots & Cauliflower: 25 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Tagine w/ Chickpeas & Sweet Potatoes: 20 minutes on the stove
Moroccan Orange Cake: 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Candied Oranges: 15 minutes on the stove

Conclusion About the Meal

Overall, this meal was absolutely delicious. I've been making Moroccan-inspired dishes for weeks afterwards. Which is absolutely the sign of a good meal! The star was definitely the roasted carrots and cauliflower, though. So, stay tuned for all sorts of cauliflower dishes that I'm inevitably going to make hereafter.

This Page Contains Edited Images

As a general rule, I don't like to edit images. Food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm. Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color. So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes. My place has very warm lighting, though. So, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural hues. I've adjusted the hues, levels, and/or cropped the following images: