Moomy's Tagine-less Lamb Tagine!

If you’ve been following my blog, you would know that most of my entries were about the dishes I’ve tried and tested in my kitchen, for my darling lil family.

I must say, I have been pretty adventurous this year. I’ve attempted dishes that I have never thought I would try to cook at home.

Recently, my darling BFF asked me why didn’t I start cooking like this when I was still in SG. She said she would have placed orders and perhaps even recommend my food to her friends.

Hehehe what she said tickled me. But it got me wondering too.

Being this far away from home (SG) and because of our dietary needs, it has made me more creative, challenged and inspired to cook healthier dishes and try out new recipes. 

Besides, eating in Singapore is very much known as a national pastime. From hawker centres to open-air food courts to high-end restaurants, you can be pretty spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding what to have for dinner. And if you're one who doesn't cook, its quite equally easy and cheap to grab a delicious meal from the nearby hawker centres. 

One of my fave hawker centres in SG, Bedok Corner. This is where I get crispy pisang goreng (banana fritters), hot-from-the-wok Chinese-style carrot cake in black sauce (its different from the American carrot cake) and beef satay!

Another popular tourist attraction in SG: Lau Pa Sat, an open-air/street food court :D

Having all that convenience at our fingertips, it certainly has made me far too comfortable in SG. 

Which then got me wondering: if living here in the suburbs already made me cook like these, can you imagine what I would do if I were to live far, far, away in the middle of nowhere?

Like in a farmhouse or on a ranch with chickens running around the yard and laying fresh eggs for me to bake chiffon cakes (boy, I will need a lot of egg-laying hens) ...

That could easily be me, one day ...

And our lil boys will be like the cutest farm-boys ever in bright yellow boots and overalls feeding lil goats (I’d never eat a goat ever again) ...

And since we’re in the country, we’ll have a ginger, fat and furry indoor cat. O boy, no cat! NO CAT!! 

Anyhoo … today I tried making another tagine. I’ve attempted a chicken tagine once in SG but this time round, I’m going to cook it with lamb.

So for my Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas & Apricots, let’s start with the spices first:

I then poured the above warmed-up spices into my Magic Bullet and added the following too:

And gave it a quick blitz just to get the whole seeds all smushed up. This is your Ras el hanout* spice blend. Set it aside.

*Ras el hanout is Arabic for "head of the shop". Basically, it refers to a mixture of the best spices the shop has to offer. This spice is heavily used in Moroccan and North African cuisine. 

In a big pot, heat up about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Once the oil has warmed up, brown 1 and a half pounds of cubed lamb meat (do it in batches so you can get a nice sear on your meat). This will take about 4 minutes per batch. Once you're done searing the meat, set it aside.

 Lamb, lamb, lamb ...

Turn the heat down to medium and then add 1 large diced onion into the pot. Use your wooden spoon to scrape at the brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Saute these onions until they become soft, about 5 minutes.

Don't worry if you can't scrape all that brown bits off the pot. Once you've added more liquid into the mixture, you can still work on it. Believe me, those brown bits are good stuff!

Then add 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 5 garlic cloves (3 minced and 2 left whole), and 5 teaspoons** of the Ras el hanout spice blend. Stir and let the magic blossom in the pot for about 1 minute.

**I froze the rest of the spice blend that wasn't used.

Add 1 can of diced tomatoes and the seared lamb (including any juices on the plate). Bring this mixture to a boil.

Now the tomatoes and seared lamb have joined the merry party in a pot!

Add 2 cups of chicken stock into the pot, stir the mixture and return it to a boil.

Simmer, simmer, o meat please be tender;

Make this tagine one great meal to remember!

:D I'm a poet, I didn't know it! LOL

Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn down the heat to low, partially cover the pot and let the stew simmer for about 1 and a half hours. Just remember to check on it every now and then to give it a good stir.

In the meantime, prepare your vegetables. The original recipe called for only chickpeas but I love my stews to have at least 2 types of vegetables (chickpeas are vegetables? legumes!) so the meal is properly balanced out, y'know. These were the vegetables I had prepared for the tagine (I forgot to take a picture!):

1 can of chickpeas: Toss the chickpeas into a strainer and give it a quick rinse. Pour about half of the chickpeas into a small bowl and mash it up so its … well, mashed up. You'll now have half whole chickpeas and half mashed-up ones (the mashed up chickpeas will help to thicken the stew). Set these aside.

Half a butternut squash: Because I have this in my fridge. Because I think a butternut squash is wonderful in a stew. Because I love butternut squash. Hehehe but don't you think peeling the skin off it is such a pain? Anyhoo, I cubed the squash up. Set these aside.

1 carrot: Skinned and cut into chunks of similar size to the butternut squash. If you want to go rustic and leave the skin on, go ahead. Set these aside.

1 huge potato: Skinned and cut into chunks of similar size to the butternut squash. Set these aside in a bowl of water so your potato chunks don't discolor.

A handful of dried apricots: I cut the apricots into thirds. You may cut it into half or quarters too. Set these aside.

A handful of fresh cilantro: Chop these up finely and set it aside.

At the 1-hour mark, I added the hardier vegetables into the pot - butternut squash, carrots and potatoes. Give it a good stir, cover the pot and let it continue to simmer slowly to tenderness.

About 20 minutes later, add the chickpeas and apricots to the pot. Stir and let the stew continue to simmer.

Colors of Fall in a pot, don't you think?

Your vegetables should be ready - soft and fork-tender - about 10-15 minutes after you've added the chickpeas and apricots. Taste your stew; you can season the stew with more salt and freshly-cracked black pepper if necessary. Then throw in the chopped fresh cilantro and give it a good stir.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Moroccan-inspired Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots is ready!

Now you can have this tagine with warmed-up crusty French loaf, pita bread or even naan. I had originally planned to make couscous to go with the stew but at the last hour, I realized I didn't have enough couscous left.

Plan B was Rice Pilaf! Here's my fave recipe, courtesy of Mr. Good Eats, Alton Brown: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/rice-pilaf-recipe2.html

If you read through his recipe, he talked about putting the rice into the oven and all that. I've tried it before and I thought it was quite long-winded - sorry, Alton!

So instead of popping the entire pot into the oven, I poured the contents of my pot (prepping the broth for the rice) into my rice cooker and simply pressed a button. Once the rice is cooked and fluffy, I garnished it with a mixture of slivered almonds and golden raisins***.

My special garnish for the Rice Pilaf :D

***I warmed these (a generous handful each of slivered almonds and golden raisins) up in a frying pan, sans oil. Watch and stir the mixture around as it will burn. Once the almond slivers are golden brown and toasty, get them off the heat and into a bowl.

Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots & Rice Pilaf with Peas and Red Pepper

That was such a beautiful plate (to see and eat hehehe). You can smell and taste the saffron in the pilaf and it was just a perfect dish to go with that lamb tagine.

The tagine … omy. My darling hubby is a meat-lover and he absolutely loved lamb. Me, not so much. I'm a steak person hehehe but cooking this lamb stew for him was an absolute joy because he said the meat was tender and the stew itself was fragrant from that beautiful mixture of spices. I truly enjoyed this lamb stew that I'm looking forward to leftovers! :D

And I just used my normal pot to cook this tagine dish. I didn't have the conical cooking device that the Moroccans use.

So if you wish to introduce an exotic dish to your family tonight without ever leaving the country, give it a go then. You will love it! :D:D:D Happy days, everyone!