A very studious slow roasted lamb

  

Wednesday is study day.  A Masters of Gastronomy just won't study itself, which means there's no getting out of infinite hours in front of the computer researching various things from the history of Thai fish sauce to the 'Psychosociology of Contemporary Food Consumption' (that particular article was actually quite interesting despite the nerdy title).  Apart from devouring a stack of reading as big as a 40kg wheel of parmesan, Wednesday's are the day I take the time to study another passion of mine - slow cooking. 

Forcing myself to remain cooped up in the house for an entire day does have benefits.  It's the perfect time to make stock, meat braises, sourdough bread, puff pastry and other similar time-sucking preparations.  So in the pursuit of academic excellence, I decided to devote a Wednesday to the study of slow roasted lamb. 

My 'Very Studious Slow Roasted Lamb' is adapted from a recipe in Saveur magazine, which actually called for a Romertopf roaster (a clay cooker based on an ancient Etruscan design).  Given that my kitchen cupboards contain everything but an ancient clay cooking contraption, I decided to roast the lamb in my tagine.  Any heavy-based casserole dish with a lid will also do the trick.

Mograbiah has replaced buttery mash as my side of choice lately.  It has a texture similar to al dente pasta - soft on the outside and a firm, slightly chalky centre.  Adding dried sour cherries in with the mograbiah was inspired by a Fig and Cherry recipe, which used conventional cous cous.  Dried rose petals add a perfumed layer that works beautifully with the slightly tart dried cherries and sweet studs of red onion.

     

A Very Studious Slow Roasted Lamb

 

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4 cloves garlic

1 small onion, roughly chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger

1/4 cup blanched almonds

1/4 cup raisins

2 tbsp garam masala

1 tbsp brown sugar

small pinch of saffron strands

2 long red chillies, seeded and chopped

1 cup natural yoghurt

1.5 kg leg of lamb, boned

2 large onions, sliced

Blend garlic, 1 onion, ginger, almonds, raisins, garam masala, sugar, saffron, chillies and yoghurt.  Season lamb leg and rub with the yoghurt mixture.  Roll back into a log shape and secure with kitchen twine.  Marinate for about 1 hour at room temperature.

 

Lay out sliced onion on the bottom of a casserole dish or tagine and place lamb leg on top.  Put into a cold oven and turn temperature to 160°C.  Bake for 3 1/2 hours.  Baste with juices from the bottom of the baking dish every hour or so.  After 3 1/2 hours, uncover and bake for a further 30 minutes to brown the outside of the lamb.  You should have a nice brown crust of yoghurt on the top of the meat. 

 

While you rest the lamb before serving, pour the juices and onions from the bottom of the dish into a saucepan and reduce for a couple of minutes.  Serve thick slices of lamb with giant cous cous and generous spoonfuls of the reduced onion sauce.

 

 

Rose Petal Mograbiah

 

2 cups Mograbiah (Pearl cous cous)

1 small red onion, finely chopped

A handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1/4 cup dried sour cherries, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, grated

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tpsp dried rose petals (I used the Herbies brand)

1/4 tsp sumac

1/4 cup olive oil

 

Cook the Mograbiah in plenty of boiling water until just cooked.  About 10-15 minutes should do it.  Keep testing the cous cous like you would when cooking pasta.  You want it to have that same al dente texture.

 

To make the dressing, whisk together the garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, rose petals, sumac and olive oil.

 

When the Mograbiah is cooked, drain and toss with dressing.  Sprinkle over coriander leaves.

Comments

[lili - pikelet & pie]

Looks so good! I have never had Mograbiah, but I would love to cook some. I've been looking out for it in the shops, and haven't seen any. If I finally find some, this looks like the perfect dish to try :)

[Jackie Singh]

Fantastic Marion. Love your pages too. Guess what I'm having on the weekend? Let you know how it went.

[Christie]

Wow, you got my recipe and totally took it to the next level! Such a wonderful adaptation.

Plus I adore lamb - and slow cooked it's heaven!

I'm jealous you have a whole day each week to 'study' - if only :)

[nick]

I've been looking for an excuse to buy a tagine for some time now... so, thanks! :)

I love lamb, I started buying a whole one right from the farm last year. Your post is making me want to make a follow-up phone call right now.

[Hedonistic Hostess]

Hi Nick - I use my tagine all the time...definitely worth the investment. Re: lamb, I'm thinking of buying direct myself. In fact I should put my order in tomorrow.

Hi Christie - I'm glad you like the adaption. I'm always guilty of fiddling with recipes...not always for the better :)

Jackie darling - I hope you and the family enjoy it. We must catch up soon.

Hi Lili - I hope you can track some down...it's worth the effort.

[Debbie Blombery]

Looks divine!

Quick question -- what do you do with the red onion and dried cherries in the mograbiah salad? Do they get cooked at all?

Thanks!
Debbie