Leftover Lamb Tagine

The Recycled Cook

Leftover Lamb Tagine  

Having had a slow cooked lamb joint at the weekend there was still quite a lot of meat left over left over on the half leg so I decided to recycle it into a Moroccan lamb Tagine.

As the lamb was still on the bone the first task was to take the meat off the bone and discard any gristle.

The meat I then roughly tore  and added to the remaining ingredients. 

I find tearing the meat rather than chopping into cubes gives a more pleasing looking result.

Having stripped the meat the next thing to do is to change the flavours into those of a traditional Moroccan Tagine. The easiest way would be to add Ras Al Hanout spice (meaning top of the shop or the best blend) but I had none left so had to improvise.

Instead I added a generous amount of cumin, ground coriander and dried coriander leaves, Black pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, ground ginger, Cayenne pepper and ground cinnamon. 

A Tagine wouldn't be that without dried fruit, luckily I had some dried apricots and figs as well as raisins and sultanas but add whatever you have. 

The juice and zest of a lime and a few garlic cloves to your taste crushed nd chopped add to the authenticity.

Another must for any Tagine (provided you don't have an allergy of course) is almonds. You can add whole almonds but they will take time to soften or, as I did, flaked almonds. You can also add some sprinkled on top to serve with fresh coriander leaves.

Depending on how much liquid was left over you might need to add some additional stock to lose up the mixture as you will need to simmer this for a reasonable aunt of time for the flavours to develop. 

If you really want the flavours to come out put the grind spices in a small saucepan and heat gently until they become fragrant before adding to the Tagine.

I served this with a coriander, lime and garlic cos cos  Just use vegetable stock and add dried coriander leaf, lime juice and garlic pure (if you have it) if not finely chopped crushed garlic. 

Now the weather is good  what better way to transport yourself to the exotic location of Morocco than by eating al fresco if you can.

Taking a meal and changing it to another completely different flavour experience is extremely satisfying.

An alternative serving suggestion is to have this with some toasted flatbread.

Disclaimer: The suggestions and tips on these blog pages are meant to be used in conjunction with common sense. Keeping your family healthy is the priority. Do not use food that is unfit for human consumption and always follow sensible food hygiene guidelines.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/food-leftovers-safety.aspx

Always be careful in the kitchen, we accept no responsibility for any accidents caused as a direct or indirect result of preparing any of these dishes.