This dish is a wonderful mix of sweet and a little savory.  The spices blend with the sweet fruit for a delectable mix of new!  It also happens to be a fairly easy dish and I had all the ingredients on hand…but don’t let the easy part stop you from trying this dish!

Muruziyab:

Tajine Lamb and Sweet Plums

Translation:

One and half ratls of meat, four uiqiyahs of prunes, a half ratl of onions, the weight of half and a quarter dirhams of saffron, and two and a half uqiyahs of raisins, and four uqiyahs of good quality wine vinegar in a pot large enough.  Boil the meat without spices.  When it is done, add the measure of a ratl and a half of water.  When the water boils, wash the onions cut them….Add them to this meat and leave to boil, letting the onions cook part way.  Then add to the pot the prunes which were soaked in water; raisins and jubjubes done in the same manner.  Leave to cook until the prunes and raisins sweeten.  If you wish, add three uqiyahs of sugar to the mixture after it comes to a boil. Dilute the saffron and add it.  When it comes to a hard boil, throw mint in it and atraf al-tib and lower the heat. (Kanz al-Fawd’id fi Tanwi al-Mawa’id/Salloum, pp. 49)

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs lamb (or beef or chicken)

1 onion

1 pinch saffron

½ C dried prunes

1 Tbs jujubes

½ C raisons

4 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 Tbs dried mint

½ C honey or sugar.

Redaction:

Gather everything together.

Soak the raisons and prunes in warm water or a sweet wine.

Add the meat to water.  Don’t drown the meat.  Use just enough water to cover.  Here I’ve used lamb neck bones.  I get a slightly fatty meat with excellent marrow.  This is not a standard cut of meat but one that should be tried occasionally for tender and very tasty!

Next boil the meat until done and the water had reduced by half.  Add the chopped onions.

And a little of the vinegar.

Next, while the onions are cooking with the meat, drain the prunes, raisons and jujubes.

Her you can see I have each ingredient in it’s own bowl covered in water.  Drain the plums and raisins but hold the jujubes back for a moment.

A close up of the jujubes.  Either before or after you’ve soaked them, squish the jujubes a little.  Don’t turn them into paste but do flatten them enough the skin breaks and they are no longer round.

Add the prunes, raisons and squished jujubes to the pot.

Next add the spices and saffron.

Here is a good picture pre-cooking.

Add in the basalmic vinegar and saffron.  Taste.  If the taste is a bit sour add sugar or honey till it is a just sweet enough.

Yeah…I added a bit…of honey to the lamb.  I like mine sweet!  Don’t judge.  If salt is needed add a pinch.

This is fork tender and so very very tasty.  You can serve this with rice or carrots or cabbage and you wouldn’t be wrong.  You may want to make a slightly larger pot then intended as this dish goes fast!

With cold weather setting in once again, (funny how the seasons work and all that!) I thought now would be the time to add a warm sweet dish that is redolent of spices fruit and meat.

Mishmish Yabis

(Meat with Dried Apricots)

Translations:

Chop meat in small pieces and boil.  Put the broth aside.  Cook the onions, fresh coriander, and spices until limp and until the meat browns and changes color and the onions have shrunk.  Then take dried sweet-kernelled apricots and wash them in hot water for a while just until the pits can be easily removed with out damaging the apricots.  Arrange them on the fried meat and add enough broth to cover them.  Turn over every once in a while in order that the apricots are cooked very well.  When they are cooked, add honey and lemon juice.  If sour grape juice is available it is better then lemon juice because its aftertaste is distinct and sweet.  Cook it until its broth has dried up.  Add to it mint and fresh coriander.  If lemon juice is not used then replace it with the sour grape juice to make it more potent.  Add finely pounded spices, mint, fresh coriander and onions.  Cook, simmer, and spoon into a serving bowl and sprinkle on its both dried and chopped fresh coriander.  If dry apricot paste is available, the king made in Byzantium or in Medina, this is better then (sweet-kernelled) apricots.  (Ibn al-‘Adim, Kitab al-Wuslah ila al-Habib fi Wasf al-Tayyibat wa al-Tib/Salloum, pp. 80-81)

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken (beef or lamb)   3-4 C broth (enough to cover)    2 tbs olive oil

1 onion    ½ C honey   2 tbs coriander   1 pinch saffron  1 tsp cumin  1 tsp ginger  2 tbs mint

¼ C lemon juice  2/3 C apricots

Optional:

1 C sweet wine (red or white)

Redaction:

First things first, gather up all your ingredients.

Set your apricots in warm water (or wine) until they are soft and pliable.

Next take your meat of preference, here I used chicken thighs, pour the broth into a pot and add the meat  Then boil for 10 minutes, just enough to lock in juices.

As you can see this is not broth but a sweet red wine.  I was feeling very Persian when I was cooking this.

Drain the meat form the broth and set the broth to the side.

In a pan, add olive oil, chopped onion, spices and meat.

Here I used dried coriander as fresh was not available.  If you have, fresh used that, if not dried will work.

Let the meat brown.

While the meat, onions and spices are browning, drain your apricots and add them to the pan.

Then add the lemon juice, honey and 1 C off the reserved broth.

Allow these to simmer until the broth is mostly cooked away.  Towards the end (before all the broth has simmered away) add in more mint and coriander.  Take a taste.  If you need a little more honey add a spoonful or two.  If you need a pinch of salt don’t hesitate to add just a touch.  This is to your taste.  Make it good!

This is a great dish either own it’s own or over cardamom rice.  Take a bite, it is soooo good!