Lamb Tagine

This is the second time I have blogged Lamb Tagine, but as I am hooked on the Hairy Dieters cook book this week as opposed to the Good Housekeeping one last week I wanted to try their version of it. I preferred my version, (http://goodfoodandredshoes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/lamb-tangine-with-cous-cous.html) without the chick peas and sweet potato, although adding them did mean I didn't need to cook anything to go with it. I unnecessarily served nan breads with it. I cooked the Tagine for longer than the recipe stated and I don't think I added enough water as it was quite dry. Also the sweet potatoes were very mushy and I couldn't taste the apricots at all. The kids didn't particularly enjoy it, Rachel refused to eat it at all and James picked out the lamb and left everything else. However saying all that, Steve and I really enjoyed the very tender lamb and the exotic flavours.

Ingredients
750g lean lamb meat (or steaks)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp hot chilli powder1 tbsp oil
400g can chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp runny honey

2 onions, halved and sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 medium sweet potato, (about 250g) Chopped into rough chunks

75g no-soak dried apricots, halved

2 garlic cloves, chopped
500ml water
lamb stock cube
flat leaf parsley or coriander and finely grated lemon zest to serve (optional)

Method
Set oven for 180ºC. Trim the lamb of any fat and cut into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Mix the cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chilli powder in a small bowl. Heat oil in a casserole dish, add the seasoned lamb, onion and garlic and stir fry for 1 minute until lightly coloured. Sprinkle over the cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chili, cook for a further 2 minutes, remove from heat as soon as the spices begin to give off a strong aroma.
Tip in the tomatoes and water, honey and chickpeas. Crumble the stock cube over the top and stir well. Bring to a simmer on the hob, then cover and cook in oven for 1 hour. After an hour, stir in the sweet potato and apricots and return to the oven for a further 45 mins or until the lamb is tender.
Serve with some chopped parsley and a little grated lemon zest, which will add a little extra spark of flavour.

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