I purchased a tajine from Oxfam in December 2005 and stared at it for months and months. Before use it had to be:
1. Soaked in water for 24 hours
2. Rubbed in olive oil
3. Fired at 170 degrees celsius for two hours
4. Left to cool
It seeems easy but every time I went to use it I was running 24 hours late.
So it wasn't until late September that I finally got my act together. The first step was reading through the little book that was left inside the tajine. The book told me that "This terracotta odd shaped utensil the Moroccan call a cooking tajine produces delicious meat, chicken or fish dishes like no other". Surely not.
After cleaning the beauty of my non-industrial product was indeed enhanced. And so I tried a "Tajine of Lamb with Almond and Hard Boiled Eggs". It was spectacular. The pitted prunes added towards the end were incredibly flavoursome.
And so I tried Lamb Tajine with Preserved Lemon.
At 3pm 1 added all of the ingredients except for the lemon, lemon juice and coriander and brought to the boil in the tajine on a high heat. Immediately after boiling I lowered the termperature to the lowest possible heat and placed the lid upon the tajine. Pretending to forget about dinner I made myself busy for 3 hours while the lamb became increasingly tender.
At 6pm it was time for the preserved lemon. I had preserved it 12 months ago and have been waiting for the right moment. 2 pieaces of preserved lemon, diced, were added to the tajine and it was left to stew for another 45 minutes.
Finally at 6.45 the tajine and cous cous were ready and dinner was on the table.
The lamb was trim and disintergrated at will.
Recipe
• 1kg lamb stewing meat
• 1 spanish onion
• Fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt pepper
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 Preserved Lemons
• Fresh coriander as a garnish
Serves 6
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