Lamb Tagine with Preserved Lemon
WordPress bloggers have the instantaneous ability to check reader stats just by logging in.The first page we see on the “back end”–the dashboard–is a graph of blue bars whose relative heights indicate how many people hang around on a given day. So far I’ve managed to avoid constant checking, a behavior I feel will only have negative consequences.
Nevertheless, when I logged in just now, the blue “hits” bar gave me a start. IK readership has reached all-time high.
Thank you for being here.
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In Raymond Carver’s famous short story “A Small, Good Thing”, a little boy is struck and killed by a car on his eighth birthday. When his stunned parents forget about the birthday cake, the angry baker, thinking himself ripped off, begins prank calling the child’s mother. The outraged parents confront the baker, who apologizes. Seating them at a small table, he begins plying them with warm baked goods. “Eating is a small, good thing at a time like this,” he says.
A couple days ago I suggested people preserve lemons, promising to follow up with a recipe where you’d actually use them. Oh, hell, I hear you saying, I didn’t bother. Maybe you haven’t had the time. Or your lemons are still finding themselves. That’s okay. Lamb tagine is delicious with fresh lemons, too. In fact, you could probably get away with eliminating the lemons entirely, for this recipe is kind and flexible.
As the same cannot always be said of life, or of some of our fellow citizens, we are well-advised to recall Raymond Carver’s baker. Eating is a small, good thing at a time like this.
Lamb Tagine with Preserved Lemon
Adapted from Claudia Roden’s The New Book Of Middle Eastern Food
Serves: 2-3 people
Preparation time: approximately 2 1/2 hours
1 1/2 -2 pounds lamb shank, shoulder, or stew (see notes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced (see notes)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 to 1teaspoon ground ginger (to taste)
pinch chili flakes (optional)
water
2 cups frozen peas
1 pint canned roma tomatoes
peel of one preserved lemon, minced finely, or juice of one small fresh lemon
12 green olives, pitted
Taking a cue from Judy Rodgers, author of the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, I presalt all meat and poultry at least a day ahead of cooking. This optional step deepens flavor and means you’ll need far less salt while cooking and at table. This is a simple, low effort way to improve all your cooking. I urge you to try it.
Rodgers suggests about a teaspoon of Kosher or sea salt per pound of meat. I do this by eye. Don’t frost the meat with salt–just sprinkle. Meats can be pre-salted 1-3 days ahead of cooking (inherently photogenic they aren’t).
If you prefer not to pre-salt, jump right into making the tagine. Tagines are both the dish itself, exquisite clay vessels with conical tops, and the stews one prepares within them. Unfortunately, I do not possess a tagine. For now, I happily use a 4-quart enameled cast-iron Dutch oven made by Lodge.
Remove the lamb from the refrigerator, allowing it to come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Tagines are traditionally prepared stovetop, but I find it easier to calibrate heat using the oven.
Pour the olive oil into the pot. Add the lamb, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger, and chili flakes, if using. Add enough water to cover the meat. Cover the pot and place in the oven (still not looking too pretty).
Braise until the lamb is fork-tender. If it’s on the bone, it should be pulling away. Depending on the cut used, this could take anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 1/2 hours (improving).
Stir in the peas, preserved or fresh lemon, the jar of tomatoes, and the olives. Leaving the lid off, return pot to the oven for another 20 minutes or so, just until everything heats through and the liquid reduces slightly. This final step can be done stovetop, but remember the pot is hot (finally, prettier).
Serve with pita bread, couscous, rice, and a big green salad.
Notes: I’ve made this with lamb chops, cubed lamb, and shanks. All are good. If you want to make this quickly, chops cook in an hour.
But like all braised dishes, lamb tagine improves with time. A night in the fridge is a small, good thing here.
We like a lot of garlic; use less if you don’t.
The original recipe calls for the full teaspoon of ground ginger. I prefer a half teaspoon.
