StovetopMiddle Eastern
Lamb shoulder tagine
A low braise with cumin, ginger, and dried fruit. The one-pot pin that makes a cheap shoulder eat like a feast.
Made it?
3 hr 30 min · 30 min hands-on · pull 203°F · rest 15 min
Ingredients
8 lb on the fire · ~4.4 lb to the table · 9 plates at 8 oz
- lamb shoulder, in 2-inch chunks8 lb
- kosher salt2 tsp
- cumin2 tsp
- ginger1 tsp
- cinnamon1 tsp
- onion, sliced1
- garlic cloves3
- stock or water1 cup
- dried apricots or prunes1/2 cup
- chickpeas, drained (optional)1 can
Method
- 1
Salt and spice the lamb. Brown in a Dutch oven in batches.
- 2
Onion and garlic in the fat. Stock, scrape, return the lamb. Cover.
- 3
Simmer or 325°F oven until the lamb yields, 2½–3 hours. Add fruit and chickpeas for the last 30 minutes.
- 4
Rest 15. The sauce should be spoonable, not soup — reduce uncovered if it is thin.
If you don’t have it
- Shoulder → Lamb neck or shanks. Shanks need closer to 3½ hours. Neck is excellent.
- Apricots → Prunes or dates. Sweeter. Cut the cinnamon a pinch if you use dates.
Same cook, different day
With olives
A saltier pot. Green olives in the last 20 minutes. Skip extra salt until you taste.
Couscous night
The usual table. Steam couscous with a knob of butter. Spoon the sauce over.
No fruit
You want it savory only. Skip the dried fruit. Add a spoon of tomato paste with the onions.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making pinto beans.
Start when a packer wraps, or at the beginning of a shoulder. Soaked beans, smoked hock, onion, chili. Simmer until creamy. Salt late.
2 hr 30 min
- With this dish, try making pot liquor collards.
On with a shoulder or a ham. They want time, not a grate. Strip the stems, simmer with a hock until the leaves give and the pot liquor is the sauce.
1 hr 30 min
- With this dish, try making petite roasted potatoes.
Same pan as a roast or chicken. Or a sheet next to chops. Halve, oil, salt, rosemary. 425°F cut-side down until the faces brown. Toss in the meat drippings at the end.
40 min