I have to admit it feels good to be home… BUT I didn’t like the cleaning and vacuuming and the washing, as for the cooking.. I don’t mind it as much, hehe. It does feel good to cook up food that makes my kitchen smell good.
First night back, I was too lazy to cook anything fancy since we only just got home at 4.00pm and spent the afternoon opening Christmas presents, making a mess, and then I had to tidy up the mess. So I whipped up some fettucine with pasta sauce (not even meat or anything since my pantry / freezer was pretty much empty!) and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top. That was it. We filled our tummies and went to bed.
The next day though, it felt good to sleep in (we are on holidays until the 9th of Jan) and slowly do other house chores and edit more photos and slowly make my way to the supermarkets to do grocery shopping. My first stop was the butcher – stocked up on all the meat I can carry, haha. Then off to Coles to pick up some ingredients I needed to use my new “toy” – a Christmas present I got from our Kris Kringle – a brand new Scanpan Tagine!!
First dish that came to mind was this Morrocan Lamb dish. Served with cous cous! My mouth was watering… I had to cook it. It was delicious. The flavors are amazingly absorbed into the lamb in such a short cooking time. Also, this dish must be served with cous cous. It will not taste the same with rice. The flavors of cous cous and its grainy texture compliments the lamb tagine beautifully.
Ingredients:
Spice Mix
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp ground paprika
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Spice Paste
1 1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 large brown onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp chilli paste
Stalks from a bunch of coriander, finely chopped
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Lamb Tagine
1kg lamb chump chops, diced
3 tbsp olive oil
450g carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, sliced
1 cup of frozen green peas
1 red capsicum, sliced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
4 baby potatoes, peeled and diced
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
75g dried apricots
2 tbsp honey
3/4 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
Method:
Heat olive oil in large tagine and cook lamb until just browning. Season well with salt and pepper. Remove from tagine and set aside.
Cook spice paste in the remaining juices in the tagine from the lamb for 1-2 minutes. Add spice mix and return lamb into tagine. Stir lamb into spice paste and spice mix thoroughly until meat is well covered.
Add carrots, onion, peas, capsicum, sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes and dried apricots into the tagine. Stirfry for approx. 5-7 mins. Add honey and chicken stock and season well with salt and pepper. Cover with the heavy ceramic tagine lid and let it simmer. Open lid and stir every 10 minutes. Cook for approx. 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook cous cous according to packet directions.
Serve lamb tagine while still hot, garnish with coriander leaves.
CRUISE HOLIDAY PHOTOS:
Photos from my recent cruise trip have been uploaded on my Flickr account. Check out the photos here.
Kimba's Living 
The lamb tagine looks and sounds amazing. I need to make one soon!Glad you had a good time on the cruise and hope you had a great holiday!Nisrine
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Hey,Glad you have a great time on yhe cruise!!The lamb tagine looks amazing…:)Dr.Sameena@http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com/
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Those ingredients sound to die for. Also, those photos make me ENVIOUS! I'm so eager for a vacation!
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Looks good, although I don't eat meat. I bought a nice tagine while I was in Morocco over the summer and I haven't even used it yet. I better get right on that!
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Hi Kim-Welcome back from your holiday cruise! Amazing photos…been browsing thru them. So glad you had a wonderful Christmas holiday, on a huge ship, with all the fun, and delicious foods.Can't get over how ambitious you are to make a beautiful lamb dish, just when you have arrived back.Love the recipe, and photos!
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I am envious of that lovely tagine – and you are obviously putting it to good use with that gorgeous lamb dish. It sounds like your holiday was a great source of inspiration.
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What a lovely meal – and a great present from Santa!! Kate @ kateiscooking
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Beautiful! Sounds so so yummy!
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delicious tagine and pictures looks fabulous
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Hi Kim. Welcome back! What a nice present from Santa and you make such great use of it. The tagine looks excellent. What a lovely meal.
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Kim,Your cruise pictures are amazing, one photo more beautiful than the next. What a wonderful way to spend a Christmas holiday.I had never seen a tangine, but now I have. Your lamb looks so good.Welcome Back!
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This looks so homey and delicious. I think it's a perfect comfort food recipe for this wet and icky weather we're having in San Francisco. A must try.
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Hey Kim, thks for sharing these wonderful holiday pix! Great shots!!What a nice Xmas meal u've got here! I'm drooling 🙂
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How was your Christmas?Salute you..come back from travel still have the energy to cook 😀
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Looks like somebody had helluva wonderful time! Glad to see u back! Hope u had a lovely Christmas.I love lamb and this tangine simply rocks.Your trip pictures are wonderful!
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Are you going to blog about your cruise? please do!
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Welcome back and Merry Christmas 🙂
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That is the coolest tagine-cooking thing! I have just decided I need to get one of those.And that is the best-looking tagine I have ever seen. Honestly.
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Hi, nice to see you back, look like you had a fun trip. This dish look so delicious, I guess serve with a plate of steamed white rice must be good too, must make one day. Happy New Year to you and all at home.
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WOW, seems U had a blast there!!! That lamb dish is calling me!!! :DThanks for sharing those pics! 😀
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What a fantastic Christmas gift and what a beautiful way to inaugurate it! The tagine looks divine. I loved looking at your cruise pictures as well. I hope we'll be able to do the same some day.
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What a great gift. I always ask for kitchen supplies for the holidays. It looks like it is getting some good use.
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The lamb looks delicious, Kimba. Now I need to look for a tagine! Welcome back – looks like you had a great holiday.
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