LAMB LOAF COOKED IN CIDER

This is one of those super-easy but really fragrant recipes to impress your date on Valentine's Day.

My apologies for the quietness lately. I've had other things on my mind but now I'm back to my usual self and I'm dying to try new things.






LAMB LOAF COOKED IN CIDER

1 000g minced lamb
2 eggs
a few tablespoons ground almonds
2 tsp salt
dried thyme
pepper
pint can of dry apple cider, divided


400g swede (or more if you want to make it a one-dish meal but add more cider as well)
1-2 apples


Mix all the dry ingredients, meat and eggs. Add 100ml of cider and mix in. Knead until the mixture starts to firm up.




Cut the apples and swede and place them around the loaf. Pour the rest of the cider over the food. I've suddenly forgotten how to revert pictures but you get the point.




Bake in 200°C for about an hour.

Wow the smell is bad! The alcohol evaporates during cooking but all the good aromas will still be left.

LAMB TAGINE

I never liked lamb until I tried this tagine and I can tell you that getting all those spices is really worth it. I've made this just a tad spicier than in the original recipe because I only wanted to use enough meat to make four servings. You can add chickpeas, augergines, tomatoes and whatever vegetables you like about halfway through cooking if you'd like to have a one-dish meal.

Serves 4.

Spice mix:
oil
2tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp salt
small piece crystallised or fresh ginger (about the size of a medium or large grape)
pinch of saffron
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp ground coriander

225g carrots
large onion
300ml chicken stock
550g lamb, separate some of the fat
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tomato puré
t tsp sugar
6-8 dried apricots


Cut the lamb the night before and leave to marinate in the spice mix. Remember to keep the excess fat for later.




Cut the onions, carrots and apricots and chop the garlic.




Fry the lamb fat until about half of it has melted and the solid bits are brown.




Add the onions, garlic and carrots and sauté until the onions are slightly transparent.




Add the sugar, lemon juice, chicken stock and tomato puré. Also stir in the apricots.



Mix this in with the meat and bake with a lid on in 100°C for 3 hours and an extra hour in 80°C if desired.

Before:


After:


Serve with couscous or boiled green lentils fried in plenty of butter until nicely crispy. Merlot goes well with this dish if you like wine.




Original:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lamb-Tagine/Detail.aspx