Moroccan Lamb Devastation

My friend Sarah had asked me to teach her how to cook lamb after I mentioned the Moroccan Lamb with Shiraz Honey Glaze I made a couple months ago. She finally took me up on my offer of lamb education, but somehow, it turned into a small dinner party where we ate the equivalent of an entire lamb's ribs. But you cannot go wrong with Moroccan Lamb with Honey Shiraz Glaze atop a bed of Moroccan Couscous when you entertain.


The meat counter at Whole Paycheck nearly gave me a heart attack when I looked in display and ... gasp ... no rack of lamb. On a whim, I asked at the counter if they had racks of lamb by some miracle in the back, and they did. Ask and ye shall receive. Given that I was feeding two boys on top of Sarah, I decided to get two racks, which was just barely enough.

I did most of the slicing and dicing earlier to make the whole process a little easier. Sometimes my dinners become this crazy explosion in the kitchen and my life is twenty times more sane when I do all my prep first, and then cook later. I also enjoy the fruits of my labor more because I don't feel like I've been in the kitchen all day. Anyway, Sarah came over early to help cook, all giddy and nervous about her first lamb excursion. We oohed and aahed over the raw lamb, each taking control of one rack. We trimmed off a little bit of the fat so as to assuage the little voice in our heads. Then, we lovingly rubbed Ras El Hanout (doubled the recipe for two racks), a magical Moroccan spice blend all over the lamb while a cast iron skillet heated to medium high heat. This was much better than using high heat like I did the first time because it reduced smoking, still provided a nice sear, but made everything much more manageable.


Then placed these babies on baking sheet (with edges!) lined with tin foil and a rack and let them roast to perfection for 30 minutes at 400. No meat thermometer for us, we just trusted that 30 minutes was right and then took them out and let the juices rest while we made the shiraz honey glaze.


For some reason, the shiraz honey glaze didn't work as well this time. Its just a cup of shiraz with 1/3 cup of raw honey and the drippings from the pan. The glaze, well, didn't get glazy. I think we got impatient and should have let it reduce more. Looking back at my pictures from my first try, I must have had more patience because the glaze was thicker. But, it tasted good, so that's all that really matters.

Then, we sliced into the lamb. Like the dorks that all of us food lovers are, everything gathered around to take pictures. It was perfectly medium rare in most parts, some were a little closer to medium, but that was fine since Ali "El Oso" preferred those. I cannot begin to tell you how tender and succulent the lamb was. The sliced rib meat soaked up the glaze beautifully. Sarah found a perfect mellow Malbec that stood up to the lamb wonderfully and we all gorged.


The Moroccan Couscous blows all other couscous out of the water. It was amazingly easy to make. Place a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in the about 1 tbsp of leftover Ras El Hanout and gently toast until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 red onion (cut in half and very thinly sliced) and cook until softened. Stir in 1 diced orange bell pepper and 2 diced zucchinis. Cook a couple minutes until half done. Add 1/2 cup golden raisins, 1 tsp sea salt, and 1 can of garbanzos (the recipe also called for orange zest, but I didn't want there to be an overly citrusy taste). Immediately pour in 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth (I always prefer the broth out of the boxes since the cans leave a wierd tinny taste sometimes) and 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (valencias were on sale at Whole Paycheck and were perfect). Turn the heat all the way up and bring to a boil. Then stir in 1 1/2 cups french couscous (not the bigger israeli kind), remove from the heat, cover and let stand until you are ready to eat it. Now the recipe called for 3 tbsp fresh chopped mint which I think would have been awesome, but there was none to be found at the store. Sooooo, I sprinkled 1 tsp dried mint and toasted about 1/2 cup of sliced almonds and folded them in right before serving.

Warning! Warning! Warning! This recipe easily serves 8 very hungry people. Sarah thought the recipe risked overflowing my pot. It didn't, but I'm still eating the leftovers!

Because I am a compulsive entertainer, I also made a Moroccan inspired salad with an Orange Mint Vinaigrette to match the couscous and other flavors in the meal ... just in case there wasn't enough food. I totally made this up, but its probably one of the tastiest summer salads ever. I used a mixture of organic red and green leaf lettuce, Moroccan pistachios from Whole Paycheck (check the bulk food aisle -- there is a whole line of foreign country flavored nut mixes that are awesome) which had a little kick to them, roasted red beets, mandarin orange segments, sliced red onions, and golden raisins. Then I took some freshly squeezed orange juice, chilled brewed mint tea (this was a strong brew), red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and made a wonderful vinaigrette. It was the perfect starter.

Anyway, we polished off the night with some chocolate covered apricots and graham crackers that Sarah brought and Moroccan Mint Tea. The tea was simple, its half looseleaf green tea and half mint tea sweetened with agave nector. I used a wonderfully fragant green tea that I bought at a tea shop in Kuala Lumpur and it was the perfect ending to the feast. Sarah left clutching the magical Ras El Hanout recipe in hand and dreaming of an excuse to make this meal in the near future.