Beef Tagine

Beef Tagine  by Jamie Oliver

Slow-cooked with squash, sticky prunes and chickpeas

 "Spicy, fragrant and sweet, the perfect beef tagine doesn't need any special equipment, just time"

Serves 4-6

3h 40m (plus marinating time)

Super easy

Ingredients:

600 g quality stewing beef

olive oil

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 small bunch of fresh coriander

400 g tinned chickpeas, drained

400 g tinned chopped tomatoes

800 ml organic vegetable stock

1 small squash, approximately 800g, deseeded and cut into 5cm chunks

100 g prunes, stoned and roughly torn

2 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted

For the spice rub:

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 level tablespoon ras el hanout spice mix

1 level tablespoon ground cumin

1 level tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 level tablespoon ground ginger

1 level tablespoon sweet paprika

Method

I like to think of a tagine as a sort of stew with attitude. It's really all about the spices and the slow cooking, giving all the wonderful flavours time to develop. What's great is that you don't need an authentic Moroccan tagine in order to recreate this beautiful food – a saucepan will still give you great results. Having been to Marrakesh and learnt all the principles, I now feel I'll be able to rustle up an endless variety of tagines at home. Give this one a try and you'll see what I mean.

Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Put the beef into a large bowl, massage it with the spice rub, then cover with cling film and put into the fridge for a couple of hours – ideally overnight - that way the spices really penetrate and flavour the meat.

When you're ready to cook, heat a generous lug of olive oil in a tagine or casserole– type pan and fry the meat over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add your chopped onion and coriander stalks and fry for another 5 minutes. Tip in the chickpeas and tomatoes, then pour in 400ml of stock and stir. Bring to the boil, then put the lid on the pan or cover with foil and reduce to a simmer for 1½ hours.

At this point, add your squash, the prunes and the rest of the stock. Give everything a gentle stir, then pop the lid back on the pan and continue cooking for another 1½ hours. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks too dry.

Once the time is up, take the lid off and check the consistency. If it seems a bit too runny, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, more with the lid off. The beef should be really tender and flaking apart now, so have a taste and season with a pinch or two of salt. Scatter the coriander leaves over the tagine along with the toasted almonds, then take it straight to the table with a big bowl of lightly seasoned couscous and dive in.

*Ras el hanout (Arabic for "top of the shop") is a blend of the best spices a vendor has in his shop. The mixture varies depending on who is selling it, but can be a combination of anywhere from 10 to 100 spices. It usually includes nutmeg, cinnamon, mace, aniseed, turmeric, cayenne, peppercorns, dried galangal, ginger, cloves, cardamom, chilli, allspice and orris root.

Beef tagine, Aisha Ibnou Al Kadi

For 4-6 people

• 1 kg beef (shoulder) 250 g onions 
• 1 glass argan oil 
• 1 tablespoon ginger 
• a pinch of saffron salt, pepper

Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Pour the argan oil into the terracotta pot. Add the meat cut into pieces and brown in the oil for five minutes. Add previously cleaned and cut onion, a pinch of salt, the ginger, saffron and a pinch of pepper. As the meat gradually cooks at low heat, add water: the tajine is the typical Moroccan meat stew. The recipe can be enhanced by adding green olives, boiled peeled almonds (200 g) or prunes.

Tajin, tajine or tagine

Tajin, tajine or tagine (the word is Berber and Arab dialect) is a meat stew typical of North African and particularly Moroccan cuisine, which takes its name from the distinctive pot it is cooked in. The traditional pot is made entirely of terracotta, often enameled or decorated, and consists of two parts: a flat and circular base part with low sides, and a conical top part which rests on the other during cooking. The shape of the top is designed to help condensing liquid return to the bottom and has a knob to enable it to be easily held. The base is used to serve the food at the table. If you do not have a tajine pot it is also possible to use a pressure cooker, though the taste will not be as good. However, due to the significant migration from North Africa to Europe, it is now much easier to find tajine pots in ethnic and Moroccan shops. The pot is traditionally heated on a coal or wood-fired brazier called a bajmar. To use a tajine in a modern kitchen you need to place a metal mesh between the pot and the flame. The most well-known tajine dishes are mqualli (chicken with lemon and olives), kefta (meatballs and tomatoes) and mrouzia (lamb with plums and almonds). Other ingredients used are tuna, sardines, caramelized quince and vegetables. Sauces and spices (cinnamon, saffron, turmeric, ginger, garlic and pepper) are added to the main ingredients to enhance the flavor. It is then all cooked together on a low flame so the meat is tender and full-flavored

Meat and vegetable tajine

Meat and vegetable tajine
Khaltuma Zitouni

For 5 people:

1 kg meat (chicken, goat or lamb) or fish
1 onion, 300 g carrots, 300 g potatoes
300 g tomatoes
2 handfuls green olives
a pinch of saffron
1 small cup argan oil
salt, pepper
Preparation and cooking time:
1 hour and 40 minutes

Heat the argan oil in the tajine pot. Add the meat or fish and brown with half an onion, the pepper, salt and saffron. Leave on a low flame for a quarter of an hour for the first stage of cooking. Mix the meat and add the restof the onion. Clean and dice the carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. Add all the vegetables to the meat which is continuing to cook and is occasionally topped up with water. Add the green olives and increase the flame. Leave to cook for another hour. At the end you can add a little raw argan oil.
Serve in the terracotta tajine pot with Arab bread.

Lamb Tagine Recipe with Argan oil

*  ½ cup dried apricots (need to cut in half and soak in water overnight if possible)
* 2 tbsp Culinary Argan oil 
* 1 large onion chapped
* 2 lb boneless of lamb stew meat (preferably shoulder of leg)
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* ½ tsp Ras el Hanout (optional)
* 1 tsp ground coriander
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 3 bay leaves
* grated rind and juice of ½ orange
* 1 tsp saffron strands (10 strands)
* 1 tbsp ground almonds
* 1 ¼ cup of chicken stock
* 1 tbsp of Moroccan sesame seeds
* salt and ground pepper to taste
* Fresh parsley.
In a large saucepan heat the oil and add onions, bay leaves and meat (and garlic granulated optional). Cook until onions are soft.
Add the cumin, ras el hanout (optional), coriander and cinnamon (salt and pepper to taste). Cook and stir for 5 minutes.
Add the apricots and their soaking juice, orange rind and juice, saffron, ground almonds and enough stock to cover. Cook over low heat for 45 minutes or util meat is tender. Don’t forget to stir once in a while and add water if necessary.
Gently dry-fry the sesame seeds in a frying pan until golden.
To serve, garnish with sesame seed and fresh parsley. Eat with French bread or over steamed couscous.
By: Zamouri Spices