An Impatient Evening

Let me tell you a story about what happens when a girl takes on too much on a Tuesday night! I came home from work yesterday and immediately left again for the local Whole Foods. With my list in hand, I entered the store and began to collect my items. Along the way, I ran into a friend, had trouble finding an ingredient, and got side-tracked by the Ben and Jerry's in the freezer aisle. Needless to say, I got home later than expected.

I knew the lamb was going to take awhile to cook...but I took the time to read all three recipes listed for this meal anyway. This meal comes from Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys. The "appetizer" of Savory Baked Eggs in Filo dish looks amazing, but unfortunately, my filo dough was fresh from the freezer section of the grocery store, so there was no way it would thaw in time to use it appropriately! Maybe I can make it for breakfast this weekend or something!

Moving on to the main course of Fragrant Lamb with Prunes and Almonds, I prepped my lamb according to the instructions. I added some thickly sliced onion to a pan with some butter and saffron, and allowed it to stew for the next five minutes. While that was cooking, I gathered the spices that would be added to the pan next! A cinnamon stick, some coriander and cumin seeds, chopped garlic, slivered fresh ginger, some powdered ginger, and a bunch of cayenne pepper! After all of that was incorporated into the onions, I threw some golden raisins and pitted prunes into the mix. I placed the lamb in an oven-safe dish and covered it with the onion mixture. I finally added a cup of tomato puree and poured a bunch of chicken broth on top, covering everything in the pan with the liquid. 

Into the oven it went. Covered with foil...but for how long? I used half the amount of meat so I cut the time in half, assuming that an hour would be long enough. Nope, it wasn't! I upped the temperature from 325 to 350 and gave it another 15 minutes. Was it done yet? Nope...my husband and I were both getting impatient! It was now 8pm, and we were hungry! I raised the temperature by another 25 degrees and gave it another 15 minutes, leaving it uncovered this time, to get a nice browning on the meat. Ok, now we're getting somewhere.

I could have probably let this dish cook for another 1/2 hour, allowing it to reach the fork-tender consistency that the recipe boasts, but the lamb was cooked through, and it already tasted really good (or was I just THAT hungry?). Instead, I removed it from the oven and distributed it to plates for serving. It was a spicy, homey, rustic stew and it was delicious! We may have had to use a knife to cut our lamb, but the heartiness of this dish shone through. I definitely got a feel for the Moroccan cuisine that this recipe was styled after! (I forgot the almond garnish too...eek!)

While we were waiting impatiently for our meal to be completed, I could have focused my energy on the dessert: Blood Oranges and Pomegranate in Orange Flower Water, but the store had no blood oranges. I contemplated replacing the ingredient with regular oranges but the flavor profiles of these two fruits are different, and I didn't think it would make the same impact using plain, old navel oranges. Instead, we finished our meal with ice cream, and that was just fine by us!