I am officially delving into the cuisine of a new continent, one to which I have not (yet) traveled. In honor of my coworker's upcoming trip, I have officially experimented with Moroccan and North African cuisine. This is a big step for me--I don't think I have ever cooked a legitimate Moroccan dish. And I guess I didn't legitimately cook a Moroccan dish this time either because I don't own a tagine.
According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, "The traditional tagine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts: a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. With the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving."
Okay, I have to admit that it would be super-cool to own a tagine (kind of like it would be super-cool to own a huge wood-burning oven to cook pizza or, let's say, Peking duck). But where would I fit it? Not in my 844 square foot apartment, that's for sure. The dilemma resulted in the use of an All Clad 4-quart sauté pan. Hardly authentic, but it would have to do.
Moroccan lamb dishes are unbelievably tasty. I am partial to lamb, in general, so I chose it for my North African endeavor. I also elected to cook up two other traditional North African ingredients: okra and chickpeas. As they say in Arabic, استمتع
Ingredients (Serves 4 People):
Lamb Tagine:
- 4 lamb shoulder chops
- Minced garlic (4 tsp. or 4 cloves)
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. ground coriander
- 2 tbs. parsley (dried or fresh)
- 1 onion
- 2 1/2 cups beef stock (or lamb stock if available)
- 1 cup shredded almonds
- 2 tsp. sugar
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Chickpea Okra Fry:
- 1 lb. okra
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 2 vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 green chili pepper, minced
- 1-inch piece of root ginger. minced
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 15-ounce can of chickpeas
- 1 tbs. butter
- 2 tbs. vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper
I highly recommend serving this dish with long grain white rice. I just cooked a couple of cups in my rice cooker--super easy! Also, you will only see two chops in my photographs because we cooked the next two the following night. But this recipe should work perfectly for four people!
A few hours in advance (or the night before), you will need to prepare the marinade for the lamb. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, and a bit of salt and pepper.
Finely chop up the onion. Grab two gallon-sized baggies. Rub the lamb shoulders with the garlic-spice mixture and then place two of the chops in each bag.
Add a tbs. of parsley and half of the chopped onion into each bag. Seal the bags and shake them up to make sure that the ingredients evenly coat the lamb chops. Put the bags in the fridge until you plan to start cooking.
Now that the lamb has marinated for at least a few hours (or overnight), you are ready to start cooking. Heat up a few tbs. of olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the lamb chops and the contents of the bags into the pan. Fry each side of the lamb chops for 2-3 minutes.
Add the beef (or lamb) stock and lightly simmer for 30 minutes. This will cook the lamb to a perfect medium/medium-rare (depending on the thickness of the cut).
While the lamb is cooking, start chopping. Focus first on the onion and ginger, then on the tomato, chili, and okra. The okra should be sliced at a slant.
First add the vegetable oil and butter to a large frying pan over medium heat. Melt the butter and then add the garlic, ginger, and onion. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onion starts to soften and slightly brown. Then add the tomatoes and the chili and give it a quick stir.
Now add the okra, cumin, coriander, and some salt and pepper. Give it a stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
After the 5 minutes are up, add the chickpeas and cook for another 5 minutes.
At this point, the 30 minutes of cooking the lamb should be up. Remove the lamb chops and cover with foil to keep them warm.
Now let the sauce reduce a bit more (for about 5 minutes or so).
While the chickpea okra fry is finishing up and the sauce is reducing, pull out a small frying pan and brown the almonds over medium-low heat. This is not an exact science--keep a watchful eye and remove the almonds once some of them start to brown (should be around 5 minutes).
At this point, everything should be done! As I mentioned earlier, I cooked some long-grain rice in my rice cooker. Yummy AND easy!
And your chickpea okra fry should look deliciously like this:
Grab a plate and serve it up! Make sure to top with sauce and almonds.
Credits: My Lamb Tagine and Chickpea Okra Fry recipes are adapted from the cookbook, Around the World in 450 Recipes. The photos are of our cooking process.
No comments:
Post a Comment