Moroccan Lamb Tagine With Apricots, Olives and Buttered Almonds

[Celerity]

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11521-lamb-tagine-with-apricots-olives-and-buttered-almonds

https://archive.ph/GtaBE



A warming one-pot meal, this Melissa Clark recipe, recalls the finest of Moroccan tagines. It pulls the best from various tagine recipes — cinnamon sticks and green olives, lemon and saffron, and dried apricots. Done in two hours, it might not be a dish for a busy weeknight, but a leisurely one, requiring a good amount of comfort.

Ingredients

Yield: 6 servings

4 pounds bone-in lamb shoulder or neck, or 2¼ pounds boneless lamb stew meat, cut into 2-inch chunks
4 garlic cloves, minced
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 large Spanish onions, peeled and quartered
2 cinnamon sticks, each 2 inches long
Large pinch crumbled saffron
1¼ cups dried apricots, sliced
1 cup cracked green olives, pitted and sliced if desired
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
⅓ cup sliced almonds
Cooked couscous, for serving
Chopped parsley or cilantro, for garnish

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Trim excess fat off lamb. Put meat in a deep Dutch oven or cast-iron pot with the garlic, salt, black pepper, paprika, ginger and cumin. Rub spices and garlic evenly all over meat.

Step 2
Thinly slice onions, then mince enough of them to yield ½ cup. Add minced onion to pot with lamb; reserve onion slices.

Step 3
Place pot over high heat and let cook, turning meat on all sides, until spices release their scent, about 3 minutes. You need not brown meat. Add 3 cups water to pot (it should come ¾ of the way up lamb), along with cinnamon and saffron. Bring to a simmer, then cover pot and transfer to oven. Let braise for 45 minutes.

Step 4
Turn meat, then top with onion slices. Cover pot and braise for another 45 minutes to an hour, or until lamb is very tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer meat to a bowl, leaving broth and onions in pot.

Step 5
Place pot on stove over high heat and add ¾ cup apricots and the olives. Simmer broth until it reduces by a third and thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Return lamb to pot and keep warm until serving. (Tagine can be prepared 4 days ahead; chill, then remove fat and reheat before serving.)

Step 6
To serve, chop remaining ½ cup apricot slices. In a small skillet, melt butter. Add almonds and cook until well browned and toasted, about 2 minutes. Put couscous in a serving bowl and top with almonds and butter and chopped apricots. Pile tagine in center of couscous and garnish with herbs.

[AloeVera]

1. Honestly the best meal of my life was in a little Moroccan restaurant in Vieux-Quebec

Oh about 50 years ago but never forgotten. I did not know it was a lamb tagine at the time, only that it was a miracle of taste and that it had lamb which I normally despise. Never could replicate that incredible meal. I might try this though!