Harissa on breakfast sandwiches?

I'm learning about Moroccan cuisine. One ingredient that's unique to North African cooking, particularly Moroccan and Tunisian, is harissa -- not something we typically find at the local grocers -- so I googled, went shopping for chilis and spices, and voila! Homemade harissa. The first batch was not as spicy as I expected, but we've nearly depleted the batch I made, so that'll be remedied next go-round.

The condiment makes an appearance at the mezze, and is included in tagines and merguez. We happen to like breakfast sandwiches -- toasted whole grain bread with something crispy green (this week, it's been cuke slices), turkey or chicken, cheese and a good mustard (sorry, no French's in the house). I've been slathering harissa over the poupon. Don't knock it till you try it.

Harissa

Ingredients
15 dried chilis: guajillo, New Mexico, arbol
3-5 garlic cloves
1/2 t. salt
2 T. sweet paprika
2 T. coriander seed
1 t. caraway seed
1 t. cumin seed
1 T. lemon juice
3 T. olive oil
1 red bell pepper, roasted and peeled.

Directions

1. Oven-roast a red pepper or use prepared pepper. Set aside.
2. Remove the stems and seeds before soaking the chilis.
3. Pour boiling water on the dried chilis and soak them for about an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When it's ready, toast the spices on a cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes.
5. Grind the spices -- I used our retired coffee grinder.
6. Drain the chilis. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor (or use a hand blender) and let it rip until you have a relatively smooth paste.
7. Store the harissa in a clean jar in the fridge. I don't know how long it will keep....it never lasts long around here.

Coffee Chili Cocoa Spice Blend

Last summer, I picked up canister of Two Spicy Ladies' coffee bbq rub at the Roseville's farmer's market and used it up way too quickly. It's fabulous on meat or seafood and adds a deep smoky flavor to chili. I'm addicted and as it's not available online, I raided my spice cabinet to create this recipe.

We made a big batch in December and packaged the seasoning in magnetic tins for gifts. 

Coffee Chili Cocoa Spice Blend
Ingredients
6 T chili powder (mix em up: chipotle/ancho/new mexico)
6 T powdered espresso
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
3 T raw or demerara sugar
1 T each: coarse sea salt, coriander, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, ground mustard, coarse pepper, red pepper flakes