As tempting as it was to use up the rest of my bag of dates by making more cake, I decided instead to challenge myself!
I LOVE spicy food, Moroccan, Turkish, Thai, Indian, Mexican all of it, unfortunately it doesn’t like me! I have an intolerance to Chilies, so have to avoid these restaurants and generally stick with Mustard or Horseradish to add a kick to my food.
My challenge was to create something with the Moroccan/Persian flavour without the Chilies and I had to trust my judgement and sense of smell on this. The second challenge was that two of my children don’t eat Rice, so I had to replace that too!
The result was wonderful and for the first time in months I put a meal in front of my family that the ALL enjoyed – Moroccan inspired Lamb, Roasted New Potatoes with shaved Garlic and Red Onion and from the November Issue of BBC Good Food Magazine Persian Menu Shirazi Salad, Cucumber & Mint Yogurt and and Aubergine & Yogurt dish.
Here is my recipe for Moroccan Inspired Lamb –
Ingredients
700g Lamb (fat removed and cubed)
300g Shallots (peeled and halved)
150g Dried Dates (chopped)
3 cloves Garlic
2 tbsp Hibiscus & Rose Nectar (My Secret Kitchen)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp All spice
500ml gravy (I made a thin gravy using onion Bisto)
1) Preheat oven to 200oC.
2) Into a Deep Covered Baker place chopped Shallots, then using a garlic slicer (or if you are good with a knife that would work) cover shallots with very thin slices of Garlic. Add chopped Lamb to the dish and then top with chopped dates.
3) Drizzle the Hibiscus & Rose syrup and shake the Cinnamon & allspice over the top of the Lamb, then mix up your gravy/stock and pour this over the top and put the lid on baker.
4) Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hr. Remove from oven, stir well and replace without lid for a further 30 minutes.
5) Serve with Basmati Rice or Flat Bread and Salads. (or if you don’t like rice, the roasted potatoes worked well).
Serves 4.
Things that make you go Mmmm 