Ingredients
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3 lbs organic beef, trimmed of fat & cubed
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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1 lb onion, peeled & quartered
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4 -6 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped finely
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9 ounces canned tomatoes
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4 ounces dates, pitted but kept whole
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6 ounces prunes, pitted but kept whole
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2 tablespoons honey
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1/2 pint beef stock
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1 cinnamon stick
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6 teaspoons ras el hanout spice mix (or 2 teaspoons cumin powder, 2 teaspoons coriander powder, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1 teaspoon turmeric)
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salt & pepper
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2 ounces toasted sliced almonds
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2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
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1 lb carrot, peeled & cut into chunks
Instructions
- Par-boil the carrots in boiling water for about 3 -5 minutes.
- Preheat the electric Tagine or crock pot to High.
- Heat up half of the olive oil in a large frying pan and quickly brown the onion quarters over a fairly high heat until charred & coloured well. Tip them into the crock pot.
- Add the chopped garlic & par-boiled carrots to the onions in the crock pot.
- Make up 1/2 pint of stock with a beef stock cube. Add the honey to the the stock & ALL the dried spices. Tip the honey & spiced stock into the crock pot & mix well. Add the cinnamon stick.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, dates & prunes to the crock pot - mix well.
- Heat up the remaining olive oil and brown the beef cubes in small batches to sear & seal them. As you finish browning them, add the beef to the crock pot.
- When you have finished browning all the beef, give the whole mixture a good stir & season with salt & pepper.
- Cook on high for between 6 & 10 hours depending on your crock pot's wattage & settings.
- Serve the beef tagine with fluffy couscous and garnish with the chopped fresh coriander & toasted flaked almonds. It also works well with rice too.
- P.S. Watch out for the cinnamon stick! We sometimes award the lucky winner of the cinnamon stick with an extra glass of wine!
- P.P.S. You can use dates & prunes which have not been pitted, they do tend to hold their shape better too, just warn your guests that they must look out for the stones!