I haven’t been participating in the recent Slow Travel cooking theme – Sunday Slow Suppers. They have had several interesting recipes such as Jerry’s Crab and Shrimp Risotto. But this week’s recipe for Goat Tagine with Fennel and Olives won me over. It has been great reading the angst over how to get the ingredients for the recipe. Goat is starting to become more available in many cities. I’ve seen it at the Seattle Farmers Markets from Toboton Creek Boers and there are several middle eastern or Mexican stores that also sell it. Some cooks were able to find it. Deborah had quite the story on her purchase.

I want to try it but I noticed at the last minute that my local supermarket had lamb shanks on sale. Sold! I decided to make the recipe with lamb instead. My other challenge was finding preserved lemons. No luck. I didn’t want to run around either so I made these quick preserved lemons from Cooking Light. I think they added the right amount of tart and saltiness to the dish but they were a little to bitter to eat.

But the biggest issue I ended up having was my pan was too small. I tried to brown the shanks in my cast iron pan that I use for meat but it didn’t do a good job. I did get the meaty tops browned so I went with that. They fortunately fit into an Emil Henri gratin pan that I had.

The recipe is from Figments blog. She adapted the original lamb recipe from Paula Wolfert. I’ve been interested in trying Moroccan dishes and the spices sounded so interesting. I was a little leery of the amount of ginger and the honey but they both really brought the dish together. I am going to get a copy of the original recipe book – Couscous and other Good Food from Morocco to try more tagines. I’m also thinking of making this Fish Tagine with similar ingredients which G will eat.

I had the lamb for lunch today and it was excellent. I really liked the flavors. I want to thank Deborah for challenging us and opening us up to the cuisine of Morocco.

Pictures after the break (vegetarians beware!)

Main ingredients

Spices used; Fennel, Cumin, Coriander, Cinnamon, Ginger

Ready for the oven.