Harissa

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Harissa is a North African sauce/condiment/seasoning most commonly associated with Moroccan food.  I looked through my cookbooks, found 3 recipes and they're all fairly different.  Sure, they all seem to use dried red peppers, coriander seed, oil and garlic but, after that, it's wide open.  Caraway, bell peppers, mint, cumin, lemon, it's pretty wild. 

This is Marcus Samuelsson's recipe from The Soul of a New Cuisine.  I've discussed the book in the past.  If you want to read those posts, click here.   

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground caraway
1 cup mild chili powder (I was skeptical about using chili powder but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it...chili powder already has ground cumin, onion powder, garlic etc in it...saves you a step, imo)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped mint

1.  Heat oil in a small pan.  When oil shimmers, add garlic and saute until golden.  (This step takes a few minutes so be patient.)

2.  Turn off heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Let cool.  Store in refrigerator for  up to 2 weeks.

So whaddya do with this stuff?  So far, I've used it as a rub for lamb and for fish.  I also introduced some hummus into my standard hummus recipe.  I'm going to spend the majority of the next two weeks cooking Moroccan/North African food so we'll see where else I go with this stuff. 

Time- 5 minutes, if even that much.

Food Cost- More than I would've liked. 
Chili Powder- $3.79
Caraway Seeds- ~$0.20
Incidentals- About a buck? 
Total- $5.00.  Servings--unknown.  Alot.  You'll probably have more than you can use.  I probably should've made a half recipe.  Next time.  :)