Sunday 6 June 2010

Mad Moroccan Lamb

Another reason why I love the weekend is I got the time to try some recipes from Jamie's book that are time-consuming. On the menu for dinner tonight was Mad Moroccan Lamb. I like lamb stews or roast lamb, and I like the idea of making a dish that looks different or maybe a bit mad.

When I saw this recipe for the first time, I thought it was weird and I was hesitant to try it. I'm not sure with idea of roasting a shoulder of lamb for a couple of hours and then burying it with couscous and then bake again for another hour... Jamie says this may seem a bit of a palaver, but actually it's a pretty easy dish to make. Yes, the lamb took about three hours to cook, but I didn't have to do anything while it roasts in the oven. And the result was meltingly tender lamb... yum.

So this is what I've done... First, I scored the whole shoulder of lamb in criss-crosses and then I rubbed the meat all over with freshly ground up cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, black peppercorns, dried chilli and sea salt before pushing some fresh rosemary leaves into the cuts. The lamb then went to a hot oven for two hours.

In the meantime, I fried some sliced red onions, cinnamon, thyme and chickpeas with a pinch of salt and pepper until softened. Then add some water and balsamic vinegar to the softened onions and let it simmer until the mixture is nice and thick.

In another pan, I boiled some stock and I added some raisins and dried apricots. Simmer for about five minutes, by which the fruit will have plumped up. Add a glug of olive oil and then the couscous. Remove from the heat to allow the couscous to soak up all the liquid. When no liquid is left, I poured the couscous to a large baking tray and I drizzled it with some olive oil.

After a couple of hours, the lamb will be nice and golden. I took the lamb out and I turned the oven down a bit as Jamie mentioned. In an oiled snug fitting roasting tray, I used my le creuset shallow casserole pot which was perfect, spoon some of the couscous and then topped with the chickpeas and then the lamb on top. And then, here comes the 'mad' bit I think. Completely cover the lamb with the rest of the couscous, put four lemon halves around the sides and then cover the pot with a wet and oiled greaseproof paper and aluminium foil before baking it for another hour.


I think Jamie didn't use any dried fruits in the couscous looking at the picture in the book, or at least any that's noticeable. But I liked mine with some specs of black and yellow.

Oh, and another thing, Jamie says the couscous crust (couscous is a funny word, isn't it?) should be lightly crispy and can be cracked open. But it wasn't a problem for me. It's just a little different.

And then it was time for my friends and I to eat. To serve, I shredded the meat and added a good dollop of yoghurt and sprinkled over some aromatic coriander leaves and sliced red chilli. Yum!


And for dessert, I made floating islands. It's basically meringues that are poached in hot milk and then served floating on a sea of custard and topped with spun sugar. Again this is another recipe that is time-consuming to make but not at all difficult to make. My favourite bit was making the spun sugar which I thought was a lot of fun. This is my 137th recipe and I have 27 left to try.


Anyway, I can hear my bed calling me now.

Have a great weekend everyone.

13 comments:

  1. Most impressive! Not only the recipes, but how few you have left to do!
    I love the spun sugar!

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  2. I know. I can't believe it. However, I still have to prepare and cook live lobsters. It's coming soon.

    The spun sugar was fun. :)
    Have a good weekend Joy.

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    1. Nice blog. Really well put together. Just gotta ask, why would you want to cook anything alive? Seriously. Don't you think that's incredibly cruel?

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  3. I've never seen it prepared this way before, but I've come to trust you, Michael. If you say it's good, I know it is. It is a very pretty dish as well. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  4. Your cooking concept is similar to what Julie Powell did in her blog Julie & Julia. The cooking book of Julia Child (her idol) was her guide. You better watch the movie.

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  5. I've never had lamb before, but I'd love to try it sometime. This looks and sounds super good.

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  6. I've watched Julie and Julia and I have also read the book. I think it's inspiring. I love cooking and I want to make myself a better cook.

    Hi Adventures in Domestic Cooking. Welcome to the blog. You should try lamb sometime. Do let me know what you think. :)

    Have a nice day.

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  7. yum yum, there's something good around here!Particularly love the cannelloni!!!
    Great work,
    Annalisa

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  8. Thank you Annalisa. The cannelloni was delicious. :)

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  9. I love your blog. This is one of your truly amazing meals. Looking at these pictures almost makes me want to propose marriage to you just so I can have a permanent seat at your dinner table (If you are ever looking for a wife with a good appetite, just say the word and I will come running)...LOL

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  10. Anonymous, thank you for your comment. I am absolutely flattered. If you are around, I'd be more than happy to have you around for dinner. I hope you come back and visit the blog again sometime.

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  11. This post is eerily similar to the Mad Moroccan Lamb post at Kathryn Cooks With Jamie blog.

    Michael Toa's post (2010): "Jamie says this may seem a bit of a palaver, but actually it's a pretty easy dish to make. Yes, the lamb took about three hours to cook, but I didn't have to do anything while it roasts in the oven. And the result was meltingly tender lamb... yum.
    So this is what I've done... First, I scored the whole shoulder of lamb in criss-crosses and then I rubbed the meat all over with freshly ground up cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, black peppercorns, dried chilli and sea salt before pushing some fresh rosemary leaves into the cuts. The lamb then went to a hot oven for two hours."

    Kathryn's post (2006): "Jamie describes this dish as 'a bit of a palaver' - but worth it. I didn't find it that much of a palaver, because it was easy.
    First, I scored the shoulder of lamb in criss-crosses, then ground up cumin, fennel and coriander seeds with black peppercorns, dried chillies and salt, and rubbed the mix into the lamb, before pushing rosemary leaves into the slits and roasting in a conventional roasting tray for 2 hours."

    There are more similar paragraphs throughout both posts.

    http://kathryncookswithjamie.blogspot.com/2006/11/mad-moroccan-lamb.html

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  12. Hi Fia. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I did wonder during the project if there's anyone else doing the same thing or had done the same thing, but never bothered to search and I'm glad I didn't otherwise it'll be a distraction to my learning process.

    Now that the project is done, I can freely look around and thank you for introducing me to Kathryn's blog.

    During the project I commented a lot to the sub-headings or stories that accompany the recipes. I often didn't include measurements because readers can find them from the book; and just simplified the cooking instructions.

    I also used to have a bad habit (sometimes still re-occurring) of comparing what I cooked to the pictures in the book. I know I shouldn't because I could never compete with professional photographers and food stylists.

    When I made this Moroccan lamb, the first thing that I noticed and Kathryn did too is the missing dried fruits in Jamie's pictures.
    Strange I thought. But this is not the only pictures in the book that look different to the recipes I can tell you :)

    I hope you make this Lamb because it's utterly delicious. I've made it twice now and I added smoked paprika to the couscous for an extra flavour. I might make this again for Easter.

    Have a nice day and I hope you stop by again.

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