Algeria

Algeria was a great meal, especially because I decided to do a Tagine dish, and I love Tagine dishes. A dear family friend once cooked us a delicious Moroccan meal with a Tagine and the rest, as they say, was history. Anyways, I found the recipe on this blog called La Petite Paniere, which I need to investigate further as it seems like a great blog. The recipe was for a ‘Lamb with Peas and Artichoke Tagine’, and it pleasantly surprised me. Since finding decent lamb where I live is about as easy as nailing Jell-O to a wall, I used a cheap but actually quite nice cut of beef instead. 

I will direct you with great pleasure to the recipe linked below, with the suggestion to use less water than directed and to be liberal with the spices. At one point in the cooking, around 20 minutes in, I lifted the lid of my Tagine to find a watery broth that tasted vaguely of chicken noodle soup, for reasons unfathomable to me since it contained neither chicken nor noodles and was not meant to be a soup. I turned up the heat, added more Rag el Hanouk and threw in an eye-watering dose of cayenne for good measure. Things improved radically after that. Also, I didn’t add the peas and artichoke until halfway through the meat’s cooking time, instead of at the start, partly because my mother suggested it and she is always right about these things, and also because my Tagine would have overflowed (dramatically) if I did. As it was, there was hasty use of a turkey baster. Fun times!

I served this Tagine with buttery couscous (yum) and a smashingly flavorful eggplant recipe that can be found in a subsequent post. It was a pretty decent meal, though I do say so myself!

Up next: Andorra! (Drumroll please….)

Lamb Tajine with Artichoke and Green Peas:
http://lapetitepaniere.com/2014/11/08/lamb-tajine-with-artichoke-and-green-peas/