Lamb Tagine...
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So far my visit to Queensland has been wonderful. I’ve certainly been enjoying the sunshine and the early morning walks with my dad along the beachfront or through the mangroves. Mum and I have found a few charity / Op Shop treasures including a plant stand for the herbs I will be buying for her at Bunnings. We also increased her Fairy / Angel / Cat collection by three figurines (Dad is thrilled….).
The other night we decided to try something completely different and make a lamb tagine. It was the first time my parents used their fancy new tagine and we were excited to take it for a test run. It would have been wonderful if my sister could have been here with us too, but she probably would have pushed for an elk, bison, pheasant or yak tagine instead. I don’t think Mackay is ready for that……
We used this recipe from the brilliant taste.com.au website and highly recommend it.
Lamb Tagine
Ingredients
1.5 kg shoulder lamb, diced (we used 6 shoulder chops)
1 large Spanish onion, grated (we used 2 yellow onions, diced)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch coriander leaves, chopped
1 cinnamon stick (we used ground cinnamon)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger (we also used 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon saffron threads ( we left these out)
120ml ( 6 Tablespoons) olive oil
1 large piece of orange peel
800g chopped, diced tomatoes
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
375ml Campbell’s Real Stock Beef
1 bay leaf we used 3
30g butter, diced
2 Tablespoons honey
240g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup green olives we used Kalamata olives
Chopped fresh mint to garnish
Directions
Combine lamb, onion, garlic, coriander, spices, oil and 1-teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 160C. Heat a non-stick frying pan, add lamb in batches and fry until lightly browned all over. As meat is cooked, place in a tagine or casserole dish. Add orange peel.
Drain tomatoes, reserving juice. Set tomatoes aside. Combine juice with tomato paste, then add to meat with stock and bay leaf. Cover and cook in oven for 1.5 hours.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer meat to a plate. Place dish over high heat ( if using a tagine you will need to transfer the liquid to a frying pan).
Add diced tomatoes and butter and reduce for 2-minutes, then add honey, chick peas, olives and meat.
Cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Garnish with mint.
NOTE:
My parents have a tagine with a stainless steel base, which made the whole process even easier as we didn’t have to worry about transferring the liquid and we were able to cook it on the hob rather than in the oven.
The leftovers were great on mashed potatoes!
Enjoy!
