Week 15: New Year's Reunion with Beef Tagine

Original recipe: Lamb Tagine
This is a nonbrowned stew. Use bone-in lamb for the most delicious results, as the bones help keep the meat moist during cooking and impart flavour and texture. The pieces should be simiar in size so they cook at the same rate. The recipe here contains dried apricots, but prunes, raisins and dates are also common. Lamb tagine is often served with couscous in France, or flatbread in Morocco.

For aromatics:
2 pinches saffron
3.5 c water
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped (about 1.5 c)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped (1 tbsp)
2 tbsp minced, peeled fresh ginger (from about a 2 inch section)
3 tbsp sunflower or other neutral-tasting oil
coarse salt
1 dried bay leaf
2 pieces (each 1 inch) cinnamon stick
few pinches of red pepper flakes

For stew:
2.5 lbs lamb stew meat (preferably bone-in lamb from the neck or shoulder, cut into 2-3 inch pieces)
6 oz dried apricots, preferably Turkish

For serving:
fresh flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 c sliced almonds, toasted (optional)
harissa (optional)

Harissa: (Makes about 3/4 cup)

• Paprika -- 1/4 cup 
• Cayenne pepper -- 1-2 tablespoons 
• Ground cumin -- 1-2 tablespoons 
• Ground caraway (optional) -- 1 tablespoon 
• Ground coriander (optional) -- 1 tablespoons 
• Salt -- 2 teaspoons 
• Olive oil -- 1/2 cup 

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl to form a paste. Will keep fresh for 2-3 months if stored refrigerated.

Main dish directions:
Prepare aromatics. Heat the oven to 350F. Stir the saffron into water in a small saucepan and set aside for 10 minutes, then heat to just a simmer (saffron is not soluble in oil, so you must soak it in water first to release the flavour). Mix together the onion, garlic, ginger, oil, and 1 tsp salt, then transfer mixture to a Dutch oven, spreading to form an even layer. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and red pepper flakes, then pour in the simmering saffron water.

Cook stew. Add the lamb, and season with more salt. Cover and cook in the oven until lamb is almost tender (it should meet slight resistance when prodded with a fork), about 1 hour and 30 minutes. About halfway through, skim the fat from the surface and turn the lamb pieces over so they'll cook more evenly.

Finish stew. Add the apricots to the pot, submerging them in the liquid, then continue cooking (covered) until the fruit is almost falling apart and the sauce has thickened. This will take 30-40 minutes, so start checking after about 25 minutes or so; if the liquid doesn't seem to be thickening by this point, remove the lid for the rest of the cooking time. (You can also mash some of the apricots into the sauce to help it thicken.) Discard bay leaf and cinnamon sticks. Taste and season with more salt, as needed.

Serve. The stew can go right on the table from the oven; pass the parsley and toasted almonds and harissa, if desired, in individual bowls on the side. Or, spoon the stew into serving bowls and sprinkle the garnishes on top.


Modifications
There was no suitable lamb at the Farmer's Market, so we settled for stewing beef. We also used canola oil, cayenne pepper instead of red pepper flakes, and raisins instead of apricots. Since we didn't have a tagine, we cooked it in a large oven-safe pot.

For the harissa, we omitted caraway seeds.

Preparation
Yi-yi-yi! Preparation started at 5:30pm and we ate at 9pm. The beef was not tender after 1.5 hours, nor after another half hour. The sauce did not thicken and after 2.5 hours, we uncovered the pot and cooked it on the burner to reduce the liquid. We also added some homemade chicken stock.

Verdict
It seemed odd that the meat was not floured and browned at the beginning to seal in the moisture and thicken the sauce. Elsewhere in the cookbook, it explains that this method of nonbrowned stews is borrowed from French cuisine (blanquette de veau). The meat ended up rather tough and I think the switch of meats was the main problem, especially the lack of bones (we used bone-in chicken for the curry which also cooked for a long time). Otherwise, the flavours were enjoyable and the harissa really added a nice touch to the meal. I was expecting the meat to be even tougher than it was, so it was better than I expected. I MAY try this again sometime, but only with the recommended cut of lamb. The West Coasters shall have to give their own verdict in the comments section, as I suspect it is much less favourable.

The couscous was tasty and festive, with red pepper, pomegranate seeds, parsley, salt and pepper. We cooked it in homemade chicken stock for more flavour. The flatbread and Baden Gewurztraminer were also good accompaniments.