Lamb and Butternut Tagine

A tagine  is a North African stew that is named for the traditional pot that is used for cooking. We altered our chicken version to take advantage of some lamb that we had in the freezer.

Lamb and Butternut Tagine - serves 4 (500mg sodium per serving)

~1.5 lb lamb stew meat, cubed
1 T canola oil
1 medium onion
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T harissa
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/4 t salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
3 c low sodium organic beef broth
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into cubes
2 c golden raisins
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 350F.

Brown the lamb in oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat, then remove meat from pan, cover and set aside. Saute the onion until softened, then add garlic and cook another minute or so until fragrant. Return the lamb to the pot and add enough broth to cover the contents. Cover the pot and braise the lamb in the oven for 1.5 to 2 hrs. Add broth as necessary to keep the lamb covered.

Return the pot to the stovetop. Add all remaining ingredients except chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the chickpeas and cook for about 5 more minutes.

Serve alone, or with couscous.

Lamb Vindaloo

Lamb Vindaloo (serves 6-8)

Whole spices:
4 dried Arbol chiles, seeded and cut into coarse shreds
2 T coriander seed
2 T cumin seed
1 T peppercorns
1 T cloves
1 T mustard seed
1 stick cinnamon, cut into 1-inch lengths

Dry Spices:
1 T turmeric
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T cardamon
(If you can get your hands on whole cardamom pods, grind that with the whole spices.)

1 cup yogurt
1 T sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 t salt (or salt substitute)
2 lb lamb sirloin, cut into cubes

1 potato
1 onion
3-6  finger hot (serrano) peppers (how hot do you like it?)
~10 cloves garlic
~equal amount minced ginger root
14oz can diced tomatoesoil
chopped cilantro for garnish

Dry saute whole spices to toast, then grind. Add powdered spices. Mix with yogurt, half of lemon juice, vinegar,  sugar, and salt. Marinate the lamb pieces in this mixture for at least 1-2 hours (overnight if you can).

Dice potatoes and lightly fry in oil, set aside to drain. Remove about 1/2 - 1/3 of lamb from marinade, scraping off excess liquid, and brown in batches in a large Dutch oven or heavy stockpot (goal is to build up a good fond); set aside.

Add onion and hot peppers and saute for about five minutes, or until onion begins to brown. Add garlic and ginger, saute one minute more. Add tomatoes, scraping up fond to incorporate with liquids. Add potatoes and all of the lamb, and bring to a simmer.  Cook 30-45 minutes until liquids reduce.

Remove from heat, and stir in remaining lemon juice.

Garnish with cilantro and serve over rice.

Less than 300 mg sodium per serving.