Moroccan Lamb with Prunes, in a harissa spiced squash with pomegrante bulgur and mint yogurt

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Cheffactor Entry

Here it is! In all it's glory, what I have strangely decided to call my signature dish, though I've never cooked it before. I'm delighted with how it's turned out, I just hope that enough people vote me though so I can get to cook it for the judges in the final...... Fingers crossed! If you're not familiar with Cheffactor, Cully and Sully are offering the winner a 12 week cookery course at Ballymaloe Cookery School - so if you haven't voted yet click here and give me your seal of approval. Thanks - I really appreciate it.

A big thanks to the lovely and talented Des Moriarty for taking these pictures. Head on over here to see some more of his work.

So I have no idea where I came up with this recipe from - possibly an amalgamation of many things - Tagine, Halloween, squashes and the season that's in it.

Serves 6-8

For the meat

1.5 lbs of fresh minced Irish lamb - I use FX Buckley's on Moore Street

6 shallots - finely sliced

3 cloves of garlic - minced

thumb sized piece of ginger grated

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of coriander seed

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

2 teaspoon of cinnamon

3 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts

small bunch coriander - chopped

1 tin of tomatoes

2 tablespoons of of tomato puree

2 handfuls of prunes - roughly chopped

For the squash

2 butternut squashes - halved - seeds removed

Harissa paste - 1/2 teaspoon for each half

For the bulgur wheat

2 cup of bulgur

4 cups chicken stock

1 red onion - finely chopped

7/8 stamens of saffron

A big pinch of sumac

2 big pinches of turmeric

2 teaspoons of mustard seeds (I used black)

1 pomegranate - seeds removed

For the dressing

6 tablespoons of plain yogurt (I used Glenisk - cause it's gorgeous and Irish!)

1 big handful of fresh mint leaves

First half and de-seed the squashes. Retain the seeds if you want to make a tasty snack by roasting them in the over - recipe to follow. Rub a little olive oil over them and pop into a pre-heated oven at Gas mark 7.

Put the saffron seeds into a bowl with a teaspoon of bowling water -  crush gentle to release the flavour and colour. Bring 2 cups of stock to the boil. Add the bulghur wheat to the saffron and combine. Next pour over the stock. Cover with cling film and allow to sit for 30 minutes to cook.

Then dry fry the cumin and coriander in a hot pan until you start to release their flavours - you'll smell it! Then remove to a pestle and mortar and give them good bash. Then fry the shallots in a little olive oil, after a few minutes add in the garlic, after another few minutes add in the minced ginger and cook until soft. Stir in the cumin and coriander. Then add in the meat. Cook this until it's browned. Stir in the paprika, cinnamon, tomato puree and tin of tomatoes. Give a good stir, then add in the prunes and pine nuts. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook covered for 25 minutes.

Remove squashes from the oven when the meat is ready. Remove a scoop or two of the flesh to make the hole bigger. Smear over the cut side - the harissa paste. Stir the coriander into the meat and then pop into the squash. Put this in the oven and bake at gas mark 5 for approx 20 minutes. Until the top of the squash is becoming a rich deep brown.

While this is in the oven prepare the bulgur wheat. Fry the onion in a little oil until soft. Stir in the turmeric, mustard seeds, and sumac. Then stir in the cook bulgur wheat, and gently heat it through.

Remove squashes form the oven. Just before you serve - remove from bulgur from the heat and stir in the pomegranate seeds, they'll loose their nice jewel colour with heat. I used a small coffee cup to make this into pretty mounds, and served alongside the cooked squash and drizzled yogurt sauce. Serve some more of the dressing in a side dish should anyone want more.

Thanks for reading and for voting, I really appreciate everyone's help on this. I lost my job last week so this would just be an amazing opportunity to become and amazingly accomplished chef (that last bit is called the sob-factor!)

Lucy xx

Lamb Tagine

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Cinnamon girls

Never really having been a fan of cinnamon with meat/savory things, I had never cooked a Tagine. Now I see the error of my ways. Cinnamon and meat can be truly amazing as long as you are not too heavy handed with the spice rack. The balance of flavors in the spices in this recipe are just perfect. I found it on this great blog, and have altered it only ever so slightly.

Cook it for three hours and it becomes melty, savory, sweet and delicious. I really want to make this again soon, it was so the perfect supper for a cold Sunday. The kind of thing that makes me say 'MMmmmmmm' repeatedly and at an inappropriately loud level.

Ingredients
Serves 4

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp plain flour

600g diced lamb shoulder

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp grated ginger

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed

12 cherry tomatoes

12 dried apricots

2 tbsp sultanas

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 tbsps natural yogurt

Pre heat your oven to 160c. Mix together the flour and the turmeric, paprika and cayenne, then use this to coat your lamb chunks. In a large casserole (one that has a tight fitting lid) heat some olive oil and fry off the meat until it has browned. Remove from the casserole and set aside

In the same casserole, sweat the onions and garlic until they are soft and translucent. Then add the rest of the spices, and stir, followed by the rest of the ingredients and the browned meat.

Add in hot water until you have nearly but not quite covered the meat. Stir everything around to get all the meat juices and flour at the bottom of the pan to dissolve into the water.

Cover the casserole with the lid (or some tin foil if you have no lid) and bake in the oven for 2 hours and 30 mins (or longer if you like).

Check the Tagine, give it a stir and if its too liquid, place back in the oven with the lid off for about 20 mins. Taste and add salt and pepper to season if necessary. Stir in the yogurt before serving to give it a bit of extra richness and a lovely creamy texture

Delicious served with cous cous or bulghar wheat