Eunice Power's Crowd Pleasing Tagine

Eunice Power

This dish is a great favourite in our house with the young and old. I am constantly being asked for the recipe - so here it is. The tagine is best made the day before allowing the wonderful warming aromatic flavours to develop.

This is a wonderful dish to feed a crowd, I often serve it in bowls; hot tagine poured over cous cous at room temperature, lots of coriander, with a sprinkle of crunchy toasted almonds, and the surprise of pomegranate seeds. Stunning to both the eye and the palate.

The best results are achieved when the lamb is allowed to marinate overnight with the spices with a little olive oil.

Serves 6-8

650g boneless shoulder of lamb
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika (smoked is better)
a pinch of chilli flakes
5 tbsp olive oil
ground salt & pepper
3 medium onions chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled & crushed
1/2 tbsp plain flour
1x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1/4 pint chicken stock
2 tbsps chopped fresh coriander, reserve stalks
2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley, reserve stalks
1 bay leaf
½ cinnamon stick
150g chopped ready to eat apricots
A drizzle of honey
rind of half an orange
1x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
coriander leaves to garnish

Preheat oven to 160C

1. Cut the lamb into 4 cm cubes.

2. Marinate the lamb with the spices and some olive oil for a few hours- overnight is best.

3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy based non stick frying pan and brown the lamb in batches, using more oil if necessary.

4. Heat a little oil in a heavy based casserole and add the garlic and onions and stir over the heat for 5 minutes.

5. Return the lamb to the casserole. Stir in flour, and cook for a minute or so then add chopped tomatoes, stock, bay leaf, parsley and coriander stalks and cinnamon stick. Season with salt and pepper. Bring back to the boil, cover and cook 1¼ hours at 160°C (fan oven), stirring occasionally.

6. Discard cinnamon, parsley / coriander stalks and bay leaf. Add apricots, chopped herbs, honey, chickpeas and return to oven for 15-20 minutes.

7. Check seasoning and serve. Garnish with coriander and serve with couscous.

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More recipes from Eunice Power are available on www.eunicepower.com

Room reservations can be made on www.powersfield.com - hope to see you in Dungarvan during the year.

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Eunice Power is a professional chef with over twenty years experience in the hospitality business. She runs Powersfield House in Dungarvan County Waterford, which is our B&B of the Year for 2012 and also the winner of the Best B&B Breakfast. Her philosophy is to use fresh, seasonal, locally produced food, sourced organically where possible.

Eunice has a successful outside catering company, writes about food (she is the author of an excellent cookery book written for local company Waterford Stanley) and teaches at Paul Flynn’s Tannery Cooking School, where her enthusiasm and zest for a life filled with good food are given free rein."