Potatoes with Cumin Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes, cleaned and cooked until just soft (20 minutes)
3 hard boiled eggs (cook with potatoes), chopped
juice from one lemon
1/2 tsp. harissa*
1 level T. cumin
2 T. olive oil
salt to taste
3 hard boiled eggs

Directions:

Peel and slice cooked potatoes. Salt lightly. Mix the lemon juice, harissa, cumin and oil (in that order). Mix the potatoes with the seasonings, taste for salt. This may need more seasoning as the potatoes cool. Serve over a bed of chopped hard-boiled eggs at room temperature.

*Harissa is a North African condiment, available in many Middle-Eastern or French specialty shops. It is a mixture of hot peppers, garlic, salt, and usually oil. Occasionally coriander or other herbs are added to the mixture. The word harissa comes from the Arabic word for "to break into pieces." Traditionally, the hot peppers would be broken into pieces with a mortar and pestle.

Yield: 6 servings

A very common Tunisian first course, Potatoes with Cumin can be found with two or three other dishes to begin every meal in French-Tunisian (Jewish) restaurants. It should be served with dishes that complement each other both in flavor and in color. Good choices are Carrots with Caraway, assorted olives (both green and black, cured in oil), and almonds or pistachios.