... even if a little late!

I've always wanted to start a blog, if anything so i can look back and read things to jog my memory.
I'm a huge fan of cooking so i thoughts I'd write down the recipe for the dish I'll be cooking for this evenings menu!

Lamb tagine (ish, its kind of made up!)
This recipe was given to me by my MIL (mother in law).
Preheat your oven to 150 degrees c.

You will need:
  • Lamb, I've used a leg of lamb, or chops, or 4 lamb steaks chopped into bite size chunks ANY LAMB!
  • Onions x 2 diced
  • Garlic x 2 cloves crushed
  • Dried apricots, a handful chopped (optional)
  • Ground almonds x 100g (i wont be using this tonight as i ran out!)
  • Ground Cumin, about 1 tbsp
  • Ground Coriander seeds, about 1 tbsp
  • Tomato puree, about 1 tbsp
  • Vegetables. This is up to you really, i just use whatever i have around.
  • Butternut squash or sweet potato x 1 chopped
  • Courgettes x 2 chopped
  • Carrots x 2 chopped
  • Cous Cous
  • Glug of red wine
  • Lamb stock cube
So, lets start!

Brown the meat in your casserole dish in a little oil. With the leg of lamb i made sure I'd browned all sides. Take it out once done and pop on a plate. This shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes.

Then, soften the onions with the crushed garlic in the same casserole dish, you might need to add a little more oil so it doesn't stick, this is only for a couple of minutes then add your spices with a little more oil, cook this off for a little bit as i think that cooking the spices really releases all their loveliness!

Add the ground almonds (if you remembered to buy them unlike me!) and the apricots with a good glug of red wine. This is a great excuse to open a bottle and poor yourself a glass once you've added the glug! By "glug" i mean about 100ml or so, maybe a little extra or a little less if your not a wine person (shame on you!).
Add the stock cube crumbled up, the tomato puree and a splash of hot water from the kettle, again about 100ml or so. I never measure and I'm pretty sure it would be difficult to mess it up by adding too much or too little. If you want a lot of sauce then add more, if you want a think coating of sauce add less! Pop the meat back in the pot and simmer on the hob on a relatively medium/low heat for about 10 minutes to make sure its all mixed well.

Now, pop it in the oven on a low heat for an hour and half. Whilst its in the oven, bubbling away, you have the chance to peel and chop your veggies.

These need to be added after and hour and a half and will be in the oven for an hour. In total this pot will be in the oven for 2 & 1/2 hours. Give it a good stir when you get it out to add the veggies, and again after half an hour, its always good to check it in case it needs topping up with a bit more water or the edges are burning! Its also a good excuse to have a taste too. Mmmm Yum.

When its ready, take it out the oven and pop it on the side to rest. Make up your cous cous according to the packet instructions. A cous cous tip from me here is to use vegetable stock instead of plain hot water. It gives it a nice flavour. A little squeeze of lemon makes it a bit more refreshing too, but its up to you!

Plate up and enjoy!
I know i will!