Lamb Olive And Caramelised Onion Tagine Recipes

Steps:

• Make the spice mixture by stirring together the spices in a small bowl. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large, ovenproof stew pot or tagine, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Season the lamb all over with salt and pepper. Add the meat to the pot and stir to coat in the oil. Brown for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the meat browns evenly on all sides. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set it aside.
• Lower the heat to medium and add the onion, stirring to coat. Sauté for about a minute, until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and ginger and add the meat back to the pot. Stir everything together. Squeeze the orange juice into the pot and mix well. Add the tomatoes, orange peel, spice mixture, chicken broth and honey. Mix well. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer, then cover the pot and put it in the oven. Cook for 1 hour or until the meat is about half-cooked.
• Stir in the carrots and celery and return the pot to the oven. Cook for another 30 to 45 minutes, until the sauce is thick and reduced and the lamb is tender.
• While the tagine is in the oven, toast the almonds and the sesame seeds in a small pan over low heat until the nuts are golden, about 5 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure the almonds don't burn.
• About 15 minutes before the tagine is finished, make the citrus rice: Put the rice and 2 cups of water in a large pot set over high heat. Add the bay leaf, lemon zest, salt, red-pepper flakes and butter. When the water boils, lower the heat and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Continue to simmer until the liquid has been absorbed, about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the lemon juice, orange pieces and scallions and mix well. Transfer to a large bowl and serve immediately.
• Remove the garlic clove and orange peel from the tagine. Add the olives and spoon the tagine onto a large serving plate. Sprinkle the almonds and sesame seeds on top. Serve immediately, with citrus rice.

Steps:

• Cut the meat into 6 or 8 pieces, and put it into a wide pan with 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat; turn to brown the pieces all over. Add the chopped onion and barely cover with water. Stir in salt and pepper, ginger, cinnamon, and saffron, and simmer, covered, over a low heat for 1 1/2 hours, turning the pieces over a few times.
• To peel the onions or shallots, blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes and, when cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and trim the roots. Sauté them in a skillet in 2 tablespoons oil over a low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, shaking the pan, until the onions have slightly colored. Then add them to the meat and cook for a further 30 minutes, until the meat is very tender and the baby onions are so soft that, as they say in Morocco, "you can crush them with your tongue." Toward the end of the cooking time, cook uncovered to reduce the sauce. There should be only a small amount of liquid remaining.
• Wash the pears. Quarter and core them but do not peel them. Sauté them in a large skillet in a mixture of butter and the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium heat until their cut sides are slightly brown and caramelized. If they have not softened right through (that depends on their size and degree of ripeness), put them into the pan over the meat, skin side up, and continue to cook, covered, until they are very tender. It could be 15 minutes, but you must watch them as they can quickly fall apart.
• Serve the meat with the pears, arranged skin side up, on top.
• variations
• Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of clear honey when you put in the pears, and adjust the seasoning so that there is enough salt and plenty of pepper to mitigate the sweetness.
• Add 1/2 cup blanched almonds to the meat at the start. They will soften during the cooking.
• Instead of pears, sharp green apples, such as Granny Smiths, may be used.
• Use veal instead of lamb.