Posts tagged moroccan

Moroccan Lamb Steaks with Pistachios and Feta

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I can never pin down my favourite cuisine when asked. However….one which I always seem to default to if I feel like a speedy, tasty meal which requires enough attention and time to satisfy my creative kitchen energy but not enough to have me slaving after a long day at work is Moroccan. I love this style of food. I nearly ventured to Marrakesh for a long weekend last year but sadly without success I cannot say this is totally authentic based on experience but the flavours are along the lines of those used.

I created these dishes as a (candidly) selfish means of using some of my favourite ingredients together in one final meal of 2013. This is all about assembly really….get all your components chopped or toasted or diced or chilled as per the ingredients list before you start and its a doddle. Simply a case of chucking everything together in a Jamie style approach at the last minute will guarantee to keep everything as fresh and crisp as possible!

Serves 4

Lamb

  • 4 lamb leg steaks
  • 2 tbsp spice mix (toast 1tsp of each fennel, cumin, coriander and fenugreek seed, mustard seed with 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamon pods and 1 star anise in a dry frying pan until hot, fragrant and beginning to pop, remove and grind in a pestle and mortar until fine) If you don’t want to make one then use a good tbsp of Ras el Hanout which will also be delicious
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Large handful pistachio nuts (crushed finely in a pestle and mortar)
  • 60g feta, crumbled
  • ½ pomegranate- seeds picked
  • 100g plain yoghurt
  • 1 lime, juice and zest

Jeweled Rice Salad

  • 6 oz wild or brown rice
  • Handful of flaked almonds
  • Handful of dried cranberries
  • 1 orange, juice only
  • Bunch coriander, chopped
  • 3 spring onions, sliced

Salad

  • 2 x red chicory
  • 2 baby gems lettuces
  • ½ cucumber, sliced thinly
  1. Start with the lamb. Massage with the oil, a little seasoning and the spice mix and leave to marinate at room temperature for about an hour.
  2. Next, start the rice salad. Cook your rice according to the instructions. Meanwhile, soak the dried cranberries in the juice from the orange for at least 20 minutes until they have plumped up a little (do this while the rice cooks and the lamb marinates). Chop your spring onions into slithers and toast your flaked almonds in a dry hot frying pan if you haven’t done so already.
  3. Once the rice has cooked, drain and tip back into the warm saucepan. Tip over the soaked cranberries and the remaining orange juice and keep warm with the lid on while you finish the rest of the components.
  4. Assemble the salad by tossing together the chicory leaves, lettuce leaves and the cucumber.
  5. Heat a frying pan until hot. Cook the lamb steaks for about 2 minutes on each side based on a thickness of about 2cm for medium. Once cooked, transfer to a sheet of foil, wrap tightly and leave to rest while you finish the salads.image
  6. Mix the yoghurt with the lime juice and zest and place in a bowl on a serving platter.
  7. Mix the warm rice with the chopped coriander and spring onions in a serving dish and scatter over the toasted flaked almonds.
  8. When you are nearly ready to serve, dress the salad leaves lightly with a little fresh lemon juice and some olive oil and season lightly.
  9. Finally, once ready to serve, slice the lamb into finger width strips.  Scatter the crushed pistachios on plate and coat the lamb strips in the nut crumbs. Arrange the lamb on a serving platter and drizzle over any resting juices. Scatter over the crumbed feta, the pomegranate seeds a few flecks of coriander and serve alongside the yoghurt.

Serve the salad, lamb and rice all together at room temperature straight away and devour immediately with a warm cup of peppermint tea if you like!

Moroccan Slow-cooked, Shredded Lamb Tagine and a Tuscan Red

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Moroccan Slow-cooked, Shredded Lamb Tagine and a Tuscan Red

 

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Warming, spicy, comforting. Undertones of festive cinnamon and some punchy chilli. Sweet prunes, melting succulent slow cooked lamb and the freshness of lime all make this tagine one of my absolute favourites dishes! I once made this recipe when I catered for a 30th Birthday party for 70 people….needless to say, after repeatedly cooking up around 12 batches, my once favourite tagine recipe became a little hard to face again. However, enough time has passed and I couldn’t resist its tempting taste for my New Years Eve celebrations!

I give credit to the wonderfully wholesome and flavour laden style of Skye Gyngell for this recipe with a little adaptation from myself. I often serve mine, as recommended, simply scattered with fresh coriander on a creamy sweet potato puree. However, New Years Eve called for a glimmering jeweled rice salad and a tangy lime yoghurt.

NOTE: I’ve always used diced lamb shoulder for this recipe but this time I used a whole shoulder of lamb and cooked it on the bone for longer and shredded the juicy meat into the tagine sauce before serving. I highly recommend this if you’re willing to add a little more effort. If not, diced lamb shoulder works perfectly too!

Serves 6

  • 1 small shoulder of lamb, or about 1kg diced lamb shoulder
  • 3 red onions, chopped roughly
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3cm knob ginger, grated
  • Bunch of coriander, stems chopped, leaves picked for garnish
  • 1-2 red chillis (depending on their heat) finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp spice mix (made by toasting 1tbsp of each fennel, cumin, coriander, fenugreek and mustard seed with 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamon pods and 1 star anise in a dry frying pan until hot, fragrant and beginning to pop. Grind in a pestle and mortar until fine).
  • 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1- 1.5 litres chicken stock
  • 1 lime, juice only
  • 200g prunes
  • Optional- Skye suggests adding a splash of maple syrup (about 70ml) and100ml of tamari at the end of cooking. However, I never had these to hand on my first attempt so I left them out- it still tastes delicious without so feel free to experiment. For my tastes, I think the prunes add enough sweetness as it is without the need for syrup!
  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. In a large heavy bottomed casserole dish, heat a splash of oil. Season the lamb and brown the shoulder/pieces well in the pan for about 10 minutes or so before setting aside to rest.
  3. In the remaining oil and lamb juices, fry the onion for about 5 minutes until soft.
  4. Add the chopped garlic, chilli and ginger and cook for a further few minutes.
  5. Add the spice mix, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and cook out for a few minutes. Finally, add the chopped coriander stems and season.image
  6. Add the tomatoes and bring to the simmer. Add the lamb back in at this stage either in diced pieces or the whole shoulder.
  7. Cover with about 1 litre of the stock or enough to cover. I find the amount of stock varies and can be topped up during cooking for a thicker tagine once it has reduced
  8. Cover and place in the oven.If using a whole shoulder cook for about 2 hours. If using diced lamb, cook for 45 minutes.
  9. After this cooking time, add the prunes and remove the lid. Cook for a further 1 hour for the shoulder or 30 minutes or so for the diced lamb. This really cannot be overcooked so allow to cook away for longer on a lower heat if you like. Just keep checking/adding more stock if it gets too thick. (Essentially, cook until the lamb is tender and the sauce has reduced to the desired consistency. Add more stock is to thick (I usually top it up as it cooks) or remove the lid to brown and reduce if too thin)
  10. Once ready, add the lime juice and (if using the whole shoulder) shred the lamb meat into the sauce.
  11. Scatter with the coriander and serve!

I served mine with:

Lime yoghurt– ½ lime, juice and zest, and some seasoning per 150g plain yoghurt)

Jeweled Rice – Cooked wild rice, diced spring onions, chopped coriander, salted cashews and pomegranate seeds (or see here for similar recipe)

WINE: In terms of a wine to drink with this tagine, all I had to hand was this (below) delicious bottle from Italy that I received as a gift that I have been too tempted to open for some time! A Tuscan wine made from a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Sangiovese. Lamb and the typical dried fruits in this tagine went really well with the juicy Merlot flavours as would perhaps a Rioja of sorts.

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Moroccan Lamb

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Moroccan Lamb

This is a knock out way to cook a leg of lamb. If you buy a good quality piece from a good butchers it will so tender and cut like butter every time. Served with some beautiful jeweled cous cous scattered with pomegranate seeds and toasted almonds, a fresh green avocado salad dressed with lemon and olive oil and some oiled and grilled pitta breads dusted in spicy sumac, it really is a fantastic exchange for a Sunday roast in the summer when the weather lets you down. However, preferably if the sun is out, this lamb is amazing on the BBQ where it gets that priceless charred outside!

Moroccan Lamb (Serves 8)

  • (2kg) Leg of lamb, boned and butterflied
  • 2 lemons, juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Bunch of coriander, chopped
  • 1 red chilli, chopped
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp Ras El Hanout
  1. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl adding Ras El Hanout to taste (the strength will depend on the brand you buy so add as much as you like). Massage the marinade into the butterflied lamb and then place into a large dish in the fridge overnight to tenderise.
  2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°C . Place the lamb in a baking tray or grill rack over a tray and cook for 45 minutes (medium) or 1 hour (well done). Leave to rest for at LEAST 20 minutes wrapped tightly in foil so that you can collect all the lovely juices and use them for pouring over the carved meat.
  3. Once rested, carve into thick slices and serve with the juices. I also made a minted oil as a nice dressing by blitzing a bunch of mint leaves with some olive oil and seasoning in a processor.

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Jeweled Bulgar Wheat Salad (Serves 4)

  • 120g bulgar wheat
  • 1 litre light vegetable stock
  • 1 pomegranate, seeds removed
  • 50g pistachios/flaked almonds
  • Bunch spring onions, chopped
  • 1 cucumber, diced
  • Small handful of chopped dried apricots
  • Large handful each of coriander, flat-leaf parsley, mint (and/or any other herbs you like)
  • 1 lime, zest and juice
  • 1 large or 2 small onions
  • 1 tsp ground cumin/ras el hanout
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  1. Simmer the bulgar wheat in the stock for about 10 minutes or so to loose its crunch. Drain and set aside to cool.
  2. In a dry frying pan or warm oven, toast the pistachios or flaked almonds for a few minutes. If using pistachios, chop roughly keeping fairly coarse.
  3. Cut the onion into half moons and fry in a little oil over a medium heat until softened and golden brown coloured and beginning to crisp. Season with salt, stir in the ground cumin/ras el hanout and remove from the heat. Stir into the wheat along with the lime zest and juice and season.
  4. Add the diced cucumber, spring onions and chopped apricots to the cooled bulgar wheat along with the chopped herbs (make sure the herbs are added when wheat has cooled to prevent them turning black). Add the nuts and pomegranate seeds but save a handful to scatter over the top for garnish.

This recipe could also be done with couscous and using any herbs, nuts or dried fruits etc that complement your other dishes! Serve with some grilled pitta breads if you like (recipe here)

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