Moroccan Lamb with mint, apricots, almonds and dates

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours
Serves approx 4

600 g of lean lamb meat diced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
700 ml of lamb or chicken stock
1 cinnamon stick (if you desire this flavour) - note take this out after one hour
one teaspoon of zest of orange and juice of one orange
1 tablespoon of fresh mint chopped
50 g almonds flaked
200 g read to eat dried apricots
1 tablespoon of honey
handful of dates pitted cut in half
Salt and pepper to your taste
12 broccoli florets

Heat a little oil in a large casserole pot to cook on stove top.  Add lamb and cook until brown, set aside.

In the same casserole pot add a little more oil and the onion and garlic.  Cook until opaque then add the lamb and the stock and stir through.  Then you can add the zest of orange, honey, orange juice, cinnamon stick (only for an hour in this casserole) and also add a little salt and pepper.  Bring this to the boil carefully slowly and cook for an hour covered.

After an hour add the apricots, almonds, dates and the mint.  This can be cooked slowly for another hour and served with either Cous cous or rice.

Lamb and date Tagine

Serves approx 4-6 people
Cooking Time: 2-3 hours

1kg Lamb diced
1 teaspoon of oil
1 small red onion chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
2 large tablespoons of honey
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
400g sweet potato peeled and diced up
1 cinnamon stick
3 cups of beef
8 fresh dates pitted and halved
Couscous make as per pack instruction
Coriander leaves




Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook lamb meat in two batches until brown and set aside.

In a saucepan cook the onion for two minutes til softened.  Add paprika, cumin and a dash of honey.  Add the sweet potato and cook for another five minutes slowly then add the stock with the cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil and add dates.

Slowly add the lamb meat and then transfer into a 1.5 litre tagine on stove top on a slow simmering heat or you can cook in a casserole dish covered with foil or a lid and placed in an oven at temperature 160 degrees celcius.  Check the water level is always over the meat for the first hour in oven. Remove the cinnamon stick after the first hour.

Cook for 2-3 hours slowly and then serve with the cous cous and top with coriander leaves.

You can always top with almond flakes if you desire.