Lamb Shank Tajine...cooked in a Tajine or a Tagine or a Tangine

One of the great things about visiting your parents when you're a supposed adult is not only the obvious benefit of spending time with your family, which is HUGELY important, (extra brownie points for me) but also getting to experience this strange new phenomena: leaving with more things than you arrived with.  How does that happen??? Very Twilight Zone. I think as we all get older, there is this natural inclination for us to start downsizing and reducing all of the "things"  that we have and don't really need or use much anymore. It can range from family heirlooms, to mirrors, tables, books or rarely used kitchenware.  Fortunately my parents both love to read and cook which works out so well for me. At the last visit home a few months ago, we were preparing to leave when my Dad asked if we had any interest in their tajine.  I am not one to turn down free cookware of any sort (except for more Crockpots, we have 5 already, gotta draw the line somewhere.) So the tajine was carefully wrapped and placed in our backseat for the journey home. 

Once back on our turf, we began researching what the heck to do with a tajine. Yes I have seen them before but knowing how/what/when/where to cook in them is a different matter entirely. I read about using them on the stovetop, cooking with them in the oven, needing diffusers so you don't crack the terra cotta. Some are meant more for decoration than everyday cookware.  And are they tajines or tagines or even tangines? Is it a type of cuisine or is it a pot or is it both???  It can be confusing to a tajine newbie!  Tajines (the pot) are perhaps the original form of the dutch oven/ french oven/crockpot (depending on what nationality you identify with): essentially a slow cooker. You cook low and slow.

 I settled on making a lamb shank tajine as you just can't go wrong with lamb in my humble opinion.  And it was cooked in the oven via the tajine with fingers crossed that mine was oven-safe and wouldn't crack.  I tend to be the anxious type regardless of what I'm cooking sometimes. Of course all was good and no major catastrophes occurred (at least in regards to my cooking.) And the verdict was: Delicious! Loved the flavours, the aromas, the textures, and the melt-off-the-bone lamb. Loved the sweetness of the dried apricots. I served it over couscous and topped with a lovely yogourt lemon/mint sauce and some chopped cilantro. Mmmmmm cilantro. And it was so incredibly simple to make. A beautiful and tasty meal that will be sure to impress your dinner guests, if you happen to invite any, which we didn't as we are a tad anti-social. And lamb can be expensive. And we are cheap. And we are not good at sharing. And honestly, we don't have many friends. True story.

If all else fails and you can't figure out how to use your tajine or can't decide what to make in it or if you simply want to make it multi-functional, we had friends that made theirs in to a lovely and attractive Fall floral arrangement.  Such a versatile cooking appliance. Can't do that with a Crockpot. Just sayin.

Photo courtesy of Carol Dawes

And yes, I realize the irony that I have yet another slow cooker in the house. But this is one is fancier.  And prettier. And makes us look cool and refined. And that matters. Even if it's only us that sees it. Maybe on our next trip home we can bring back that lovely Creuset pot which is currently collecting dust in the basement of my parents house???  I've been eyeing it for years, just waiting patiently,  biding my time.  I may have already taken the liberty to write my name on it...sorry Sister K and Will...you snooze you lose.

Cheers from Bistro 164!

Update November 2017: We made this recipe again and made a few revisions just to mix it up. See the latest version here!

Lamb Shank Tajine

based on a recipe by Jamie Oliver

Ingredients

2 lamb shanks (there is plenty of room for 4 shanks in there but we just bought 2 for ourselves)

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1- 28 oz can of plum tomatoes ( I also added 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved)

1 heaping tsp of ginger

3 cloves of garlic, crushed/diced

1 handful of dried apricots, sliced

1 handful of baby potatoes, diced

1-19 oz can of chickpeas 

salt and pepper

fresh cilantro, chopped, to garnish

plain yogourt (with some lemon juice and mint) to garnish

Directions

Preheat your oven to 315 F.  Combine the spices in a small bowl and mix well. Season the lamb shanks with salt, pepper, and the spices. Add the tomatoes, ginger, apricots, chickpeas and potatoes to the tajine.  Mix the veg together and add more seasoning if required (I ended up adding a few more pinches of salt, pepper etc for more flavour.) Place the lamb shanks on top. Cover with lid and cook for 2 hours. Remove lid and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the tajne thickens slightly.  Spoon on to couscous or serve with naan bread. Garnish with cilantro and yogourt.