Great Moroccan Lamb Dish...and Easy!

In Moroccan cuisine, the word “tajine” refers both to a cooking vessel, and to the stew cooked in it. The vessels are typically made from earthenware, with a domed top so the cooking vapors will condense on the inside and fall back into the dish. It simply has to be seasoned by first soaking in water, then filling with water and heating in the oven.  Then the unglazed areas are rubbed with a little olive oil and it's ready to go!

                I’d been wanting one for a while, and finally my husband got me one as a gift. Quite lovely, it can go right onto the stove top with a diffuser, and I’ve used it several times. I love the way it looks on the table, and in fact have it sitting on a shelf in the kitchen when I'm not using it, so all my friends can admire and covet it.

                Recently we had out of town guests coming and I wanted something interesting that wouldn’t take a lot of time.  Going through my files, I found one for a lamb meatball tajine that had those qualities.

                I served it with rice, but a more typical side dish would be couscous. You can find a pre-seasoned mix for that in any grocery, and it would cut down on prep time, since it’s ready in about five minutes. With a salad and some crusty bread for sopping up the juices, you can have a great meal for your guests in about 45 minutes.

Moroccan Lamb Meatball Tajine

Meatballs:

2 lbs. ground lamb

2 large onions, very finely chopped, divided

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cardamom

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

Stew:

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 tbsp. peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger

1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and veins removed, very finely chopped

1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, finely chopped

Juice and finely grated zest of two large lemons

2 cups beef stock

2 lemons, washed and quartered, for garnish

Additional cilantro leaves, for garnish.

                Preheat oven to 350^o. Mix the lamb, half the onion and remaining meatball ingredients together well.  Form into 1” balls and place in one layer on a foil-lined baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Reserve.

                Meanwhile, in your cooking pan of choice, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the remaining onion, the ginger and the jalapeño and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and zest and the beef stock.  Season lightly with salt. Add the meatballs carefully, with any juices that have accumulated on the baking pan. Bring just barely to a simmer.  Lower the heat a bit, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.  Serve garnished with cilantro and lemon quarters. Serves 6 to 8.

NOTE #1:  If you don’t have a tajine (and most people probably don’t), a heavy lidded Dutch oven would work equally well.

Note #2: If you like a spicier dish, leave the seeds and veins in the pepper. If you have an asbestos palate, use two or more jalapeño peppers.

 Note #3: This reheats beautifully so if you like, you can make it a day ahead.

A delicious end to a Moroccan dinner!

 

Our church, Immanuel Lutheran, has a system of connection groups, with the purpose of getting folks together who might otherwise just say "hi" on Sunday mornings. Of course there are Bible study groups, and mission groups, but there are also lots of interest groups: golf, theatre, walking, gardening, and the one I'm part of, a gourmet cooking group.

Last night we met and the culinary focus was North African. The food is rich and spicy so, in my opinion, needs a light dessert. I set out to do an orange dessert but found some blood oranges as well. Which I found odd because in my mind I thought the blood orange season was in the winter. But I still had to have them. It made a beautiful dessert.  I tossed slices of regular and blood oranges with dates and a typical Moroccan seasoning, ras el hanout. This is sort of like the Indian curry spice blend, in that no two folks make it the same way, or maybe even the same way twice.

It's easy enough to mix it up. I'll give you a suggested starting point and then you can fiddle with it a bit if you want. It's great on lamb or chicken. Actually it's also great on pork but you'd be less likely find that in Moroccan cuisine. I think you'll find all kinds of uses for it: sprinkle on apple pie filling before baking. Or cut fresh peaches in half and remove the seeds. Put a spoonful of butter in the center, sprinkle with ras el hanout and bake in a hot oven for about fifteen minutes. Serve with a spoonful of whipped cream or a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream. Or sprinkle on the foam on a cup of cappuccino, or just stir a pinch into your regular breakfast coffee.

Orange flower water adds a wonderful exotic flavor to this. Although still quite tasty without it, it's easy enough to find in middle eastern markets most anywhere, or although more expensively, in Fresh Market or Whole Foods.

This will be equally tasty the next day but I don't think that's a problem you'll have to deal with!

ORANGES WITH RAS EL HANOUT

For the dessert:

8 large juice navel oranges
2 tbsp orange flower or rose water
2 tbsp sugar
6 sprigs fresh mint
1/2 lb pitted dates, diced
Pinches of ras el hanout
Powdered sugar

Peel oranges, removing all membrane. Cut in half vertically, then into half-moon slices. Put into a serving bowl and add orange-flower water or rose water and sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. When ready to serve, shred the mint leaves and chop the dates. Scatter over the oranges with big pinches of ras el hanout. Dust with powdered sugar and serve shortly. Serves 8.

Ras el hanout:

3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cardamom1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Keep in a tightly capped jar.