Moroccan Lamb, Potato & Aubergine Stew

Although I've never been to Morocco, I adore Moroccan cuisine. My first taste of Morocco was in a small little family run restaurant in the heart of Paris; and I've been hooked ever since. I love slow cooked meats, and I love one pot wonders even more!!! This dish actually tastes better if made a day ahead of needing it. Moroccan dining is my way of eating, its about being social and sharing; lots of accompaniments and everyone just digging in. Super casual. it's not fussy nor posh.

I entered a Lamb Tagine recipe in a Kerrygold Recipe Book competition a few years back and my recipe was selected to be published in the recipe book. This Lamb, Potato and Aubergine stew is a twist on my traditional Tagine recipe Serena's Moroccan Lamb Tagine

This recipe is perfect to feed a crowd and can be easily doubled or trebled, and just supply more pittas and yogurt for scooping up the yummy sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 lbs diced lamb
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp of maldon sea salt
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 diced onion
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 carrots thickly sliced on diagonal
• 3 potatoes,peeled and quartered
• 1 aubergine, diced
• 2 tbsp runny honey

Cous cous to Serve

• 100g cous cous
• 1 tsp of turmeric
• Generous handful chopped Coriander/flat leaf parsley
• 50g of flaked almonds
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 1 250g tub Greek yogurt (to serve)
• 4 mini pitta breads (to serve)

Method

1. Combine all the spices, garlic and onion and rub into the meat
2. Leave to marinate, preferably overnight, although an hour should be sufficient.
3. In a lidded oven proof casserole dish, add the olive oil on a medium heat. Brown the meat, in batches if necessary.

4. Add all the meat back into the casserole dish, adding the carrots, tinned tomatoes, potato & aubergine.
5. Bring up to the boil and put lid on the dish and put in a preheated oven for 1.5 hours at 180 degrees.
6. Meanwhile, put cous cous in a bowl, add the olive oil and the turmeric and mix well; season with salt and pepper and pour over 180mls of boiling water. Cover for ten mins.
7. Fluff with a fork, adding half the chopped coriander or flat leaf parsley.
8. Put the flaked almonds on a baking tray and toast in the oven, keeping an eye on them as they can burn in matter of seconds. Once toasted add to the cous cous.
10. Remove the casserole dish from the oven and add the runny honey.
11. Return the dish (uncovered) to the oven for a final 20 mins to brown.
12. Put the pittas in the oven to warm through.
13. Remove the dish from the oven and present to the table in the dish adding the chopped coriander/flat leaf parsley.
14. Put the cous cous, yogurt and pittas in bowls on the table and let your guests help themselves, Moroccan style! Enjoy.

Easy Aromatic Chicken Tagine

For those of you who know me, I'm a big fan of middle eastern/african/asian food! The aromatics and tastes are quite like no other cuisines. Back in Sept my Lamb Tagine was selected by Kerrygold and Rachel Allen for Rachel's Kerrygold Community E-recipe book. To say I was chuffed was a huge understatement!!!!!

Today I've recreated the tagine recipe, substituting the lamb for chicken and adding chickpeas also.

Serves 6


Ingredients

• 10-12 chicken thighs, on the bone
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp of maldon sea salt
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• one diced onion
• 4 carrots thickly sliced on diagonal
• 4 tbsp of apricots
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 1 tin of rinsed chickpeas
• 100g cous cous
• 2 lemons
• 500mls of chicken stock with 4 strands of saffron mixed into it.
• Generous handful chopped Corriander
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 1 250g tub Greek yogurt (to serve)
• 4 mini pitta breads (to serve)
• lemon wedges (to serve)

Method

1. Combine all the spices, garlic and onion and rub into the meat
2. Leave to marinate, preferably overnight, although an hour should be sufficient.
2. In a lidded oven proof casserole dish, add olive oil on a medium heat.
3. Brown the meat, in batches if necessary.
4. Add all the meat back into the casserole dish, adding the carrots, stock with saffron and salt and pepper.
5. Bring up to the boil and put lid on the dish and put in a preheated oven for 1.5 hours at 180 degrees.
6. Meanwhile, put cous cous in a bowl, add butter, rind of lemon, season with salt and pepper and pour over 150 mls of boiling water and cover for ten mins.
7. Fluff with a fork, adding half the chopped coriander.
8. Put apricots in a jug of boiling water and leave for 5-10 mins for them to rehydrate a little and get nice and juicy, then cut in half. Remove the casserole dish from the oven.
9. Add the tin of chickpeas and allow for them to heat through
10. Add the apricots and runny honey.
11. Return the dish (uncovered) to the oven for a final 10 mins to brown.
12. Put the pittas in the oven to warm through.
13. Remove the dish from the oven and present to the table in the dish adding the chopped coriander.
14. Put the cous cous, yogurt and pittas in bowls on the table and let your guests help themselves, Moroccan style! Enjoy.

To download the E-recipe Book for free click http://www.facebook.com/KerrygoldUK/app_177120139004947

Harissa Spiked Vegetables with Quinoa, Feta & Almonds

Harrisa is a hot smoky red pepper paste used in North African cooking to flavour meat and stews. Here I’m using it as a marinade diluted with lemon juice to give a wonderfully smoky heat to roast vegetables. This is a low fat supper which keeps well for lunch the next day also. However this a great marinade on meat and poultry as it really tenderises the meat , keeping it moist and succulent.

Serves 2

Ingredients

·         2 small sweet potatoes, diced

·         100g quinoa

·         1 red pepper, cut into chunks

·         1 yellow pepper, cut into chunks

·         2 red onions, peeled and quartered

·         8 mushrooms, halved

·         4 tomatoes, deseeded and quartered

·         1 lemon juice

·         2 tsp of harrisa paste

·         3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

·         60g of low fat feta cheese, cubed

·         2 tbsp of toasted flaked almonds

Method

1.       Preheat oven to 200 degrees

2.       In a jug, mix the lemon juice and harrisa paste

3.       Add the chopped vegetables to an oven dish, spreading them out in one even layer

4.       Pour over the marinade and mix to ensure each and every piece of vegetable is cooked

5.       Roast for 30 minutes, turning halfway.

6.       Meanwhile, cook 100g of quinoa according to packet, drain and allow to steam dry.

7.       Add the quinoa, feta, almonds and coriander to the roasting dish to combine all the flavours and serve.

Healthy Mince & Lentil Ragu - African Style

I’d no idea what to actually call this dish, I just wanted to make something completely different with low fat mince. So I added flavours as I went and this is what I came up with. My favorite type of cooking is making things up as you go along, its so organic, esp for someone who has a hard time following recipes (me). Granted, it sometimes leads to embarrassing disasters that I'd rather forget, but a lot of the time, it leads to discovering new ways with old ingredients. It makes cooking interesting, making life in the kitchen interesting.

This is Swahili style ragu, using garam masala, low fat turkey mince and lentils, making it a real one pot wonder. This is a wonderful dish for a midweek supper for anyone who is trying to follow a low carb high protein diet.

 The fragrance of the garam masala and the colour of the turmeric help make this quick and simple dish seem really exotic, helping to brighten up mid week suppers

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of oil
• 450g turkey mince
• 4 chopped tomatoes
• 6 sliced mushrooms
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 grated ginger piece
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 red chili, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tbsp of garam masala
• 1 tsp of turmeric
• 200 ml boiling water
• 1 can of green lentils, rinsed
• 2 tbsp of chopped coriander

Method

1.  Get a wok/wide pan on the hob, add the oil and the mince.
2. Fry until the mince is fully coloured, and add the spices, garlic and ginger.
3. Fry off the spices and add the chili.
4. Add the mushroom, tomatoes and yellow pepper and fry off.
5. Pour the hot water over the mixture, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
6. Add the lentils and allow them to warm through and scatter over the coriander.