Tagine dream

I love a good tagine. It was my friend Nicky who taught me that you don't necessarily need an upside-down funnel concoction to create the perfect tagine when she put together a chicken and olive feast (i believe it was adapted from this Hairy Bikers recipe) for me a couple of years ago. By her own admission, this is the one dish which proves to her that sweet and savoury can work well together (coming from the girl who insists that cranberry sauce with turkey is like having jam with your beef). 

But my ultimate tagine experience (so far) was during a lamb-themed evening (yes, you heard right) with my best bud Amy. She'd thrown all her efforts into an incredible tomato-based lamb recipe by Anthony Worrall Thompson, which simmered for hours in a huge stockpot. Now when I say lamb-themed evening, I'm clutching at straws. Having had a highly anticipated gig cancelled last minute, our plans changed and Amy was dead set on a night in drowning our sorrows watching Silence of the Lambs with copious amounts of red wine (unfortunately not Chianti on this occasion). 

The tagine to end all tagines tied together this so called lamb theme... Packed with gorgeous lean lamb steaks, apricots, dates, raisins, flaked almonds and perfectly combined spices, topped off with flat leaf parsley and coriander, and served with minted yoghurt and lemon cous cous, this feast might even interest Hannibal the Cannibal's mouth (it was in a red sauce after all). 

Since I've been embarrassing Amy with tales of her cheffing prowess, she handed over the gauntlet to me this Christmas in the form of a huge shiny stockpot. So, last night, I took on the challenge and made my own... in the words of the late turkey monster Bernard Matthews, it was booootiful. Thanks Amy, you big chef you.