Spicy Mutton Tagine

This was a fantastic recipe for mutton , but you could use lamb shoulder . It had real depths of flavour the mutton can definitely hold its own against the strong flavours

The key flavour here is an arabic spice blend , Ras el-hanout , thought a bought this pre-mixed blend I was tempted to make my own a ground mix of roasted spices, cardamom clove, cinnamon,parpika coriander, cumin, tumeric and rose petal .

The other key ingredient is  preserved lemon thse I did preserve myself , one of the last few from a jar made more than year ago .

The lemons and dried apricots for a fruity spiced sauce

Spicy Mutton Tagine

250g mutton, cut into small chunks
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 tbsp Ras el-hanout
500-600ml vegetable stock
75g dried apricots, chopped
1/2 preserved lemon, chopped
1 tsp clear honey

Serves 2

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180degC
2. Heat the oil in a large  cast-iron casserole and cook the meat until browned all over.
3. Add the onion , garlic, ginger, spice blend  fry for a few minutes until fragrant and the mutton is coated in the mixture.
4. Pour in enough stock to cover add the apricots and honey , bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.
5. Place in the oven for 1.5 hours
6. Serve with cous cous

Saffrom scented Cauliflower and Cous cous

Few strands of saffrom
200g of cauliflower
100g of dried cous cous
500ml of boiling water
2 tbsps of fresh coriander
Juice of half a lemon

1. Pour the boiling water over the saffron in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil
2. Add the cauliflower and simmer for a few minutes
3. Turn of the heat pour in the cous cous
4. Cover and leave for 5 minutes
5. Stir in the coriander and lemon juice