This was a big hit with TF. The Kidlet and I also liked it, but TF was especially enamored of it. Even though I wasn't able to get the proper boneless lamb shoulder and ended up using some discount loin chops instead. I think the only change I'd make in the future would be to double the olives (and maybe add a bit more preserved lemon).

Lamb Tagine with Olives and Preserved Lemon

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp. saffron threads
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1kg boneless lamb shoulder, cubed
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 12-24 pitted green olives
• 1 preserved lemon, flesh discarded and peel minced
• 1-2 Tbsp. chickpea flour (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Heat the chicken stock until steaming.
2. Stir in the saffron and set aside to steep.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat (preferably in a tagine).
4. Season the lamb with the salt and pepper.
5. Add the lamb to the tagine and sear on all sides.
6. Transfer the lamb to a plate and set aside.
7. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil to the tagine.
8. Add the onion and cook until softened (5-10 minutes).
9. Add the ginger, paprika, cumin, and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
10. Return the lamb to the tagine.
11. Add the bay leaf and the stock and bring to a boil.
12. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 90 minutes.
13. Transfer lamb to a serving platter.
14. Increase heat to medium and stir in olives, preserved lemon, and chickpea flour (if using).
15. Cook until sauce thickens slightly.
16. Pour sauce over lamb, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.

This tagine smelled amazing! The herbs... the lemon... the garlic... the saffron! It all makes a great combination. And the chicken did come out nice and tender. I feel like it smelled better than it tasted though. It's not that it was bad -- it was nice. But it just wasn't as nice as I'd hoped based on smelling it during cooking.

I only used 1/3 of the oil called for in the recipe and I still found the sauce/broth to be excessively fatty. I would have preferred a thicker, leaner sauce. This produced a very brothy dish with a thick layer of fat on top.

I think, next time, I'll skin whatever chicken parts I'm using first. The recipe specifically calls for skin-on bone-in thighs, but I might want to try it with a whole chicken that's been skinned and jointed. I figure I could just reserve the back and wings for making stock and use the legs, thighs and breasts for the tagine. I might need to split the breasts since they're pretty bulky and take longer to cook, but I think that a mix of skinless parts would probably produce a better result than the fatty, skin-on thighs did.

I'd also get a different variety of olives next time. The recipe didn't specify a type beyond "green". And normally that would be fine. I'd just go out and get a generic jar of green olives and call it a day. But since they were one of the key components of this dish and since the recipe called for such a large quantity of them, I went out to look for nice imported olives. I ended up picking up a jar of Cerignola olives as they most closely resembed what was shown in the photo of the finished dish. Having now tried them, they're not my favourite olive, but I like them well enough¹. But TF really isn't a fan. I figure maybe I can look for some high-quality Manzanilla olives or go to the Halal grocery store downtown and see what types they have available. (Maybe it would make a good excuse to finally get a jar of those little grilled olives that they have!)

Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 tsp. saffron threads
• 2 Tbsp. hot water
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 c. fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 c. lemon juice, divided
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 small chicken (1-1.5kg), skinned and jointed
• 2 preserved lemons, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. whole green olives

Directions

1. Pour the hot water over the saffron threads and allow to steep for 5-10 minutes.
2. Combine the onions, cilantro, parsley, 2 Tbsp. of the lemon juice, cumin, ginger, turmeric, salt, garlic, 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil, and saffron (together with its soaking liquid) in a blender or food processor and blend into a pulply purée.
3. Place the chicken legs, thighs, and breasts in a bowl and pour the marinade over them, tossing to coat. Reserve the back and wings for another use.
4. Cover and chill for 8-24 hours.
5. The next day, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the lemon slices and sear on both sides until browned (~2 minutes per side).
7. Remove the lemon slices from the pan and set aside.
8. Warm a tagine over medium heat. (If you don't have one, use a Dutch oven instead).
9. Add the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes.
10. Add the chicken broth along with any residual marinade from the chicken and bring to a boil.
11. Once the sauce is boiling, cover the tagine, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through (~40 minutes).
12. Meanwhile, put the olives in a small pot with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil.
13. Reduce the heat (under the olives) to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
14. Drain the olives and set them aside until the chicken is cooked.
15. Once the chicken is no longer pink inside, add the olives and stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice.
16. Add the seared lemon slices to the tagine as well.
17. Cover and continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is very tender (~15 minutes longer).
18. Garnish with additional parsley and/or cilantro if desired.
19. Serve with roasted veggies and/or your preferred starch.

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¹ After they'd been boiled. I tried one straight out of the jar and it was nearly inedible, both gustatorially and physically. The flesh was hard and did not want to come away from the pit! After boiling, they'd softened considerably, the flavour was nicer, and the pit separated from the flesh much more easily. TF still wasn't a fan though. Hence the search for a different type of green olive for next time. ¹

Wolfert talks up purslane a lot. She describes it as a "great-tasting weed" and advises seeking it out if at all possible.

Well, I had access to it, so I decided to give this recipe a try. I was pretty good. But I doubt I'll make it again, even so. It's not that I was unhappy with the results. It's just too much effort for too little reward.

The purslane I got was mostly stem. And this recipe only uses the leaves. Combine that with how much volume you use after cooking and how long it takes to pick all the leaves from the stems and... I don't feel like it's a winning combination even for a fairly tasty dish. It wasn't bad. But it would've had to have been phenomenal to make it worthwhile for me.

I'm still glad I tried it though. It meant I got to try a new vegetable and see what it was like. And it lets me check off another recipe in the book.

Purslane Salad

Slighlty adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 4 c. stemmed purslane leaves, rinsed well
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 preserved lemon
• 12 midway olives, rinsed and pitted

Directions

1. Set up a steamer and steam the purslane leaves, covered, for 12 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, uncover, and allow to cool.
3. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess moisture and set aside.
4. With a mortar and pestle, molcajete, or similar, pound the garlic and salt to a paste.
5. Add the chopped herbs to the garlic paste and pound them to a paste as well.
6. Heat 2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-low heat.
7. Add the herb paste and cook for 1-2 minutes.
8. Add the purslane and sauté slowly until most of the moisture is gone (~5 minutes).
9. Empty the pan onto a chopping board and finely chop the salad.
10. Mix in the paprika, cumin, and cayenne.
11. Place in a serving dish and allow to cool.
12. Remove and discard the pulp from the preserved lemon.
13. Thoroughly rinse the rind and cut it into thin slivers.
14. Mix the lemon juice and the remaining 1 Tbsp. of olive oil into the salad just before serving.
15. Adjust salt and lemon juice to taste.
16. Garnish with olives and preserved lemon rind.

I made this as a vegetable side to go with the beef and nectarine tagine. I'm not a big fan of cauliflower most of the time, but this was pretty good.

Marak of Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Olives

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 medium cauliflower¹, cut into florets (~4 c.)
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/2 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. hot water
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 a preserved lemon², pulp removed, rind rinsed and julienned
• 12 pitted green, midway, or red olives

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
2. Add the cauliflower and sugar and cover with a crumpled sheet of parchemnt paper followed by a tight-fitting lid.
3. Cook for 10 minutes.
4. Increase heat to medium and continue cooking, uncovered, until the moisture has evaporated and cauliflower begins to brown.
5. Add the tomatoes and paprika and cook, uncovered, for another 5 minutes.
6. Combine the garlic, cumin, and salt and crush to a paste³.
7. Add the garlic-cumin paste to the pan along with the water.
8. Cook, uncovered, until the moisture has evaporated (~20 minutes).
9. Add the parsley and lemon juice and toss to coat.
10. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
11. Garnish with preserved lemon and olives and serve.

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¹ My cauliflower was huge so I only ended up using half of it for this recipe. ^Back
2 I didn't feel like getting out a preserved lemon for this, so I just omitted it. I'm sure the lemon would've added a nice extra element, but it was still fine without it. ^Back
3 I just used garlic paste and ground the salt with the cumin separately for this. Next time I'd like to trying mashing them all together with my molcajete though. I think the garlic flavour would be a little more concentrated that way since garlic paste normally has water added. ^Back

TM brought over some tomatoes and bell peppers when she came over for dinner the other night. I turned some of that into a bell pepper salad. But there was still a bit leftover (plus some tomatoes that I'd bought), so I decided to make this tomato and caper salad.

I love capers, so I was really looking forward to that element. Sadly, we seem to be all out of capers. We always have capers! It didn't even occur to me to check because we just always have them. But, since neither of us wanted to run out to the grocery store just for capers, we decided to go ahead with the salad and substitute chopped olives for the capers. It's not the same. But it's still a nice salad. Definitely make it with capers if you have them though!

Fresh Tomato and Caper Salad

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 900g very ripe tomatoes, diced¹
• 1/2 c. minced red onion
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced²
• 1/2 a preserved lemon, pulp removed, rinsed, and minced
• 2-3 Tbsp. capers, drained
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions

1. Combine the tomatoes, onion, celery, bell pepper, preserved lemon, and capers and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cobine the salt, pepper, oil, and lemon juice and mix well.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
4. Cover and chill for 30-60 minutes before serving.

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¹ As usual, Wolfert specifies that the tomatoes should be peeled and seeded before dicing them. I didn't want to do that, so I just diced my tomatoes -- skin, seeds, and all! Presumably that's why my salad looks so juicy/watery. ^Back
2 Once again here, she calls for peeling, coring, and seeding the bell pepper. Obviously I cored/seeded it. But I didn't bother trying to peel it before dicing. She also specifically calls for a green bell pepper, but I only had a yellow on hand (and I prefer them anyway), so I just used that. ^Back

I love kefta. Any time I've gotten them at a restaurant around here though, they're always served dry. And they're usually formed into small patties rather than balls as well. So I thought it was quite interesting that Crocker describes kefta as "minced meat [...] formed into balls and poached in a tangy sauce". I quite enjoyed this version with the sauce. I'd also be interested in trying other versions as well though. I quite like the dry patties that I've tried before, so I'd love to learn how to do those ones too.

Spiced Kefta in Tomato Sauce

Slightly adapted from 150 Best Tagine Recipes by Pat Crocker

Ingredients

Kefta¹

• 450g lean ground beef
• 1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. berbere
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Tomato Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 onions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 fresh red Thai chile, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 375-400mL tinned diced tomatoes
• juice of 1 lemon
• flesh and rind of 1 very small or 1/2 large preserved lemon
• 2 c. frozen chopped spinach

Directions

1. Combine all kefta ingredients and mix well.
2. Form into 2-Tbsp. balls and set on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Kefta can be set aside until sauce is ready or, if not making sauce immediately, place tray in freezer. Once meatballs are frozen, remove from tray and place in a bag in the freezer.
3. Heat oil over medium heat.
4. Add onion and ras el hanout and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add garlic, chile, and ginger paste and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Add tomatoes, lemon juice, and preserved lemon and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
8. Add spinach and simmer for 5 minutes.
9. Gently nestle keftas into the sauce, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking.
10. Once keftas are cooked through, serve in the sauce alongside crusty bread and/or rice.

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¹ If you don't feel like making the kefta from scratch, you can simply simmer a ready-made meatball of your choice in the tomato sauce. ^Back

Spiced Honey Lemon Beef Tagine

This tagine sounded really promising. The onions were excellent. But, overall, I found the dish a little bland. A generous dollop of harissa on top perked it up nicely though.

Honey Lemon Beef Tagine

Slightly adapted from 150 Best Tagine Recipes by Pat Crocker

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. pomegranate molasses
• 4 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
• 450g stewing beef
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, cut into eighths
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 c. beef broth
• juice of 1 lemon
• flesh and rind of 1 very small preserved lemon (or 1/2 large preserved lemon), chopped
• 1 very large (or 3 small) parsnips, chopped
• Harissa, to serve

Directions

1. Combine honey, sesame oil, pomegranate molasses, garlic paste, and ras el hanout to make a marinade.
2. Toss beef with marinade, cover, and chill for up to 24 hours.
3. After meat has had at least half and hour to marinate, heat oil over medium heat and add onion and bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add broth, lemon juice, and preserved lemon and bring to a boil.
5. Stir in parsnips, beef, and marinade.
6. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.
7. Serve over couscous with harissa.