Lamb Tagine with Olives

This Moroccan tagine recipe calls for argan oil, a light, nutty oil which is exclusive to Morocco. While the argan oil imparts a unique flavor, olive oil or walnut oil can also be used. Beef or goat meat may be substituted for the lamb.

Tagine of Lamb and Olives is best prepared in a traditional Moroccan tagine (use a diffuser if cooking stovetop), but good results can be achieved by slow-cooking in a heavy-bottomed pot. Avoid high heat when cooking with argan or walnut oil.

Scoop up the tagine with Moroccan bread, and try serving it with Belgian French Fries heaped on top.

Serves four.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs. (about 1 kg) lamb, cut into 2" to 3" pieces

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, chopped medium

1 tablespoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled

1/3 cup culinary argan oil

small hanful of cilantro sprigs, tied together

1/2 cup green olives with pits

1 cup water

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 210 minutes

Total Time: 220 minutes

PREPARATION

Layer the sliced onions on the bottom of a tagine. In a bowl, mix the meat with the chopped onion and spices, and add the mixture to the tagine along with the water, argan oil and olives. Place the cilantro bouquet on top of the meat.

Cover the tagine, and place it on a diffuser over medium-low heat. It will take some time for the tagine to reach a simmer, but once it does, leave the tagine undisturbed for about three hours, using the lowest heat necessary to maintain the simmer.

There's no need to open the tagine unless you smell something burning. In that case, the heat was likely too high and a little water will need to be added to prevent scorching.

After the tagine has cooked for three hours, check on the meat. It should be very tender and easy to break apart with your fingers. If necessary, cook longer. When the meat is tender, reduce any excess liquid, and serve.

It's Moroccan tradition to serve the dish directly from the tagine in which it was cooked. It's best scooped up with crusty bread, with each person eating from his own side of the dish.

By Christine Benlafquih

Moroccan Food Expert.

Moroccan Lamb or Beef Tagine

Moroccan Lamb or Beef Tagine with Carrots, Olives and Preserved Lemon

This easy Moroccan recipe was taught to me by my mother-in-law, who served it as a family meal with Moroccan bread for scooping everything up. Olives and preserved lemons impart a unique, tangy flavor. If you like things spicy, add a little cayenne pepper or Ras el Hanout to the Moroccan seasoning of ginger, turmeric and cinnamon. Harissa can be offered as a condiment on the side.

Use beef, lamb or goat meat cut into 3" pieces.

Cooking time is for a pressure cooker. Allow double this time if preparing in a conventional pot, and triple this time if cooking in a clay or ceramic tagine.

Serves 4 to 6.

INGREDIENTS

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. (500 to 700g) beef, lamb or goat meat

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ras el Hanout (optional)

cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

1/3 cup Argan oil

----------------------------------------------------

2 lbs. (1 kg) carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise

1/2 cup red or green olives

1 preserved lemon, cut into quarters and seeds removed

1 teaspoon butter

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 70 minutes

Total Time: 85 minutes

PREPARATION

Mix the meat with onion, garlic, cilantro or parsley, spices and Argan oil in a Dutch oven or pot. Brown the meat, uncovered, over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 cups of water, cover, and simmer the meat for about 1 hour if using beef, and about 1 1/2 hours if using lamb or goat meat. Occasionally check on the level of the broth, and add more water if necessary during the cooking.

Add the carrots and enough water so that the broth almost reaches the top of the carrots. Cover and simmer the carrots until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add the olives, preserved lemon and the teaspoon of butter, and continue simmering, uncovered, to reduce the sauce until it is quite thick.

Mix the meat with onion, garlic, cilantro or parsley, spices and olive oil in a Dutch oven or pot. Brown the meat, uncovered, over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 cups of water, cover, and simmer the meat for about 1 hour if using beef, and about 1 1/2 hours if using lamb or goat meat. Occasionally check on the level of the broth, and add more water if necessary during the cooking.

Add the carrots and enough water so that the broth almost reaches the top of the carrots. Cover and simmer the carrots until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add the olives, preserved lemon and the teaspoon of butter, and continue simmering, uncovered, to reduce the sauce until it is quite thick.

By Christine Benlafquih
Moroccan Food Expert.

Smooth mushroom soup with brick stuffed of dried meat and onions

For 4 people

• 1 kg cep mushrooms (Porcini) 
• 1 sheet malsouka brik pastry (filo or puff pastry) 
• 150 g onions 
• 250 g parsley 
• 1 sprig thyme 
• 1 sheet gelatin vegetable stock 
• 1 egg yolk 60 g khlii (or thick sliced raw ham) 
• 1⁄4 liter cooking cream 35 g butter 
• 1⁄2 liter peanut oil, 
• 2 tablespoons argan oil coarse and fine salt, pepper

Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour

Brik pastry is a light pastry used in Arab and North African cuisine for both savory recipes (made with meat, vegetables, tuna etc) and sweet ones. You can prepare it using the recipe on p. 35 or replace it with filo or a normal rolled pastry. Khlii is a method of preserving meat, usually lamb. After seasoning with garlic, spices, oil, vinegar and salt, Moroccan women hang it for up to seven days in the sun to dry. They then cook it for about two hours in lamb fat and water until the water has all evaporated. If dry meat is not available, you can use thickly sliced raw ham. Cook the onions and thyme in 10 grams of butter for a few minutes on low heat. Add the mushrooms and brown them well. Moisten with the vegetable stock, season and cook for 20 minutes. Blanch the parsley in salt water. Cool with ice and blend to a purée in a mixer. Combine the gelatin sheet with the parsley. Moisten in cold water, transfer into glasses and allow to stand. Cut the pastry sheet into 5 cm squares, place some of the onions and khlii on top and fold to form a triangle. When the soup has cooked, blend in the mixer and add the rest of the butter and argan oil, with salt and pepper to taste. For serving, heat the mushroom soup in one pan and the peanut oil in another, bringing it to a high temperature to fry the pastry triangles which will be added to the soup. Finally garnish with the parsley.

source: 33 Moroccan recipes based on argan oil

Couscous

The word kuskus (couscous in French and English) is used to both describe a variety of durum wheat semolina obtained after various phases of processing, and also the many recipes   – with sweet or savory seasoning, with meat, fish or vegetables – which are based on it. With the spread of ethnic cuisines, people in Europe have become familiar with this product. It is frequently offered on restaurant menus and is readily available on the market, often in canned semi-processed form. In the past, however, couscous was only known and cooked in a few coastal areas of Italy and Spain. Here they were more accustomed to foreign practices than elsewhere, or were more likely to have adopted them due to historical circumstances. They assimilated them into their own customs, and reinterpreted them in local fashion. With the continuous flow of commercial and cultural influences from the Maghreb and Near East, couscous has for a long time been a popular dish in Sardinia (where it is generally called cascà), on the Livorno coast, in the north west corner of Sicily (cùscusu) and in the old kingdom of Al Andalus, in Spain. But the exact chronological and geographical origins of this food, associated with the Arab world, are uncertain. One of the first references to a dish based on a starchy food similar to couscous appears in an anonymous Hispano-Muslim text dating back to the 13th century, where a recipe is described as well-known throughout the world. In addition to other recipes of related origin, a similar food is cited as noble in a poem by the qadi (magistrate) of Granada, Abu ’Abd Allaah bin Al-Azrak, confirming its spread among the aristocratic classes. But attributing its invention to the Arab communities in Spain does not seem a persuasive argument since, as is frequently the case, the written documents are not a proof of actual origin. The documents merely indicate that in the 13th century the product had traveled beyond its national boundaries. As far as etymology is concerned, the word is probably linked to the Berber k’seksu (hence Arabic kaskasa, “to reduce to powder, to pound”), and would suggest a Maghreb origin to preparation of the food. This origin seems to be confirmed by the fact that in Eastern Arab regions a type of couscous is called maghribbiyya (product of the Maghreb). Apart from linguistic associations, there is also archeological evidence: in the Medieval layer of the Algerian city of Chellala, vessels of uncertain date have been found which strongly resemble present day couscous pots. In the past couscous was, and is still today, one of the basic Maghreb foods both for daily family consumption and for religious use. For example, it was distributed as an offering to the poor for sadaqa (charity) and considered a part of baraka (divine benediction): while preparing the food women had to recite incantations to drive away evil omens. When preparing couscous it is necessary to follow the traditions and use suitable utensils. The first thing needed is a large terracotta container where the semolina is washed by hand until it forms grains. The second is the traditional couscous pot, composed of two stacked containers: the lower one holds water with seasoning or stock to boil with meat and vegetables; the upper one, with a perforated bottom, holds the semolina which is slowly cooked in the steam.

Couscous with vegetables and meat 

For 6-8 people

• 1 kg small grain couscous 
• 1 kg stewing veal 
• 150 g carrots, 150 g tomatoes, 
• 150 g leeks, 
• 150 g turnips, 
• 100 g onions 
• 2 small cups argan oil 
• 1 teaspoon salt,
•  1 teaspoon pepper, 
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ginger

Preparation and cooking time: for the couscous, 1 1⁄4 hours, plus standing time;

 for the seasoning, 1 1⁄4 hours

Use the meat to prepare the stock for steaming the couscous. Put the semolina to cook in the top part of the couscous pot. The top part of the pot has a perforated base and the bottom part holds the seasoning. Put a large wide dish on the table. Tip the couscous (already cooked for a while) onto it and mix by hand as though kneading. Do this twice more and the third time add a small cup of argan oil and a pinch of salt. Put the pieces of meat in the bottom of the couscous pot. Add finely sliced onions, the rest of the salt, the pepper and the ginger. Pour in part of the stock and add the carrots, tomatoes, turnips and leeks, which were earlier cleaned and chopped. When cooking has finished add the other small cup of argan oil. When everything is cooked (the couscous cooks in the steam of the stock) put the couscous in a large serving platter with seasoning in the center. Soak with the remaining stock and serve.

This dish is cooked on Friday, the Muslim day of collective prayer (juma’a): it is eaten for lunch after returning from the mosque.

source: 33 Moroccan recipes based on argan oil