Beef Tagine Recipes

BEEF TAGINE

Steps:

• Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
• Put the beef into a large bowl, massage it with the spice rub, then cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.
• When you're ready to cook, peel and finely chop the onion, and pick the coriander leaves, finely chopping the stalks.
• Heat a generous lug of oil in a tagine or casserole pan over a medium heat, add the meat and fry for 5 minutes to seal. Add the onion and coriander stalks and fry for a further 5 minutes.
• Drain and tip in the chickpeas, followed by the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon, then pour in 400ml of stock and stir well. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce to a low heat for 1½ hours.
• Meanwhile, deseed and chop the squash into 5cm chunks, then destone and roughly tear the prunes. Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until lightly golden, then tip into a bowl.
• When the time's up, add the squash, prunes and remaining stock. Give everything a gentle stir, then pop the lid back on and continue cooking for another 1½ hours. Keep an eye on it, adding splashes of water, if needed.
• At this stage, remove the lid and check the consistency. If it seems a bit too runny, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, more with the lid off - the beef should be really tender and flaking apart now, so have a taste and season to taste.
• Scatter the coriander leaves over the tagine along with the toasted almonds. Serve with a big bowl of lightly seasoned couscous and dive in.

MOROCCAN TAGINE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the lamb meat to the pan, and fry until just browned on the outside. Season with cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Pour just enough water into the pot to cover the meat. Cover, and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is tender and the mixture is stew-like. Displace lid a little after an hour if there appears to be too much liquid.
• Add the pears, golden raisins and almonds to the stew, and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the pears are soft. Serve with rice.

BEEF TAGINE

Steps:

• Serving suggestion: Lightly seasoned couscous.
• To make the spice rub: Mix the ras el hanout, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, paprika, salt, and black pepper together in a small bowl. Put the beef into a large bowl, massage it with the spice rub, then cover with plastic wrap or clingfilm and put into the refrigerator for a couple of hours-ideally overnight. That way the spices really penetrate and flavour the meat. When you're ready to cook, heat a generous lug of olive oil in a tagine or casserole-type pan and fry the meat over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the chopped onion and coriander (cilantro) stalks and fry for another 5 minutes. Tip in the chickpeas and tomatoes, then pour in 1 3/4 cups/400 ml stock and stir. Bring to the boil, then put the lid on the pan or cover with foil and reduce to a simmer for 1 1/2 hours. At this point add your squash, the prunes and the rest of the stock. Give everything a gentle stir, then pop the lid back on the pan and continue cooking for another 1 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks too dry. Once the time is up, take the lid off and check the consistency. If it seems a bit too runny, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more with the lid off. The beef should be really tender and flaking apart now, so have a taste and season with a pinch or 2 of salt. Scatter the coriander (cilantro) leaves over the tagine along with the toasted almonds, then take it straight to the table with a big bowl of lightly seasoned couscous and dive in.

BEEF TAGINE (MOROCCAN BEEF STEW)

Steps:

• Coat beef chunks with all spice rub ingredients.
• Heat olive oil in a pot over medium high heat and sear the meat for about 10 minutes, till it browns up all side. For this, leave it undisturbed for 5 minutes before flipping.
• Add in chopped onions and cook till tender, about 6-7 minutes. Next, add chopped ginger and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes.
• Add in diced canned tomatoes, beef broth and remaining spices (paprika, Spanish paprika, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, coriander). Combine well. Let it come to a boil, then reduce the temperature to medium low. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.
• Add in carrots and garbanzo beans continue cooking, covered, for 30 minutes.
• Stir in apricots and raisins and cook with the lid on. Every now and then, stir the pot. If you feel the sauce is getting too thick, add in extra water (I added an extra 1 cup). Cook till meat is tender and melts in your mouth, about another 2 hours, depending on the size of the chunks.
• Add in potatoes in the last 25 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.

HOW TO MAKE TAGINE

Steps:

• Tagine isn't part of the codified French cuisine, nor is it something you'll find at traditional French restaurants, either in France or abroad.But given the estimated five million people of North African descent who live in France, and the excellence of the dish - soft chunks of meat, vegetables or a combination, deeply scented with spices and often lightly sweetened with fruit - it is no surprise that tagine has taken hold. A centerpiece of the chicest dinner parties, the dish exemplifies a modern wave of French home cooking, one that is exploring a host of diverse influences beyond the country's usual repertoire. Perhaps one reason the tagine has taken hold in France is that the dish is very similar to a French ragout, a slowly simmered stew of meat and vegetables. But while a ragout nearly always calls for a significant amount of wine (and often broth), to help braise the meat, a tagine needs very little additional liquid. This is because of the pot - also called a tagine - used to prepare the dish. With its tightfitting, cone-shaped lid, a tagine steams the stew as it cooks, catching the rising, aromatic vapor and allowing it to drip back over the ingredients, thereby bathing them in their own juices. (A Dutch oven with a tightfitting lid will accomplish nearly the same thing.)The intensity of the spicing also sets the tagine apart from a ragout, which tends to use aromatics rather than ground spices for flavor. But a heady mix of spices, called ras el hanout, is at the heart of a good tagine. In North Africa, each cook traditionally makes his or her own often highly complex spice blend. In our tagine recipe, we use a very simple mixture of spices that are easy to find.Cooks preparing a tagine usually strive for a balance of sweet and savory. That is why you see spices like ginger, cinnamon or clove used to bring out the sweetness of the meat, alongside braised fruit (apricots, prunes or raisins) and savory seasonings (parsley, pepper or saffron). The dish is usually served with flatbread for dipping in the complex and fragrant sauce.
• The tagine is a Moroccan dish, though it is common throughout the North African region known as the Maghreb, which also includes Algeria and Tunisia. The earliest versions, recorded in the 10th century, represent the intersection of two cultures: those of the native Berbers and of the Muslim Arabs of the conquest. When the spices of the Middle East met the stews of the indigenous Berber cuisine, the tagine was born.Those spices and tastes had entered Middle Eastern cuisine with the spread of Islam across the broader region, which absorbed the flavors of its expanding territories. In the seventh century, as the capital of the Muslim Caliphate moved from Mecca to Damascus, Muslims met Greeks and Romans, Egyptians, Persians and Franks across the Arabian desert. Cinnamon and cardamom were added to the pantry. In the eighth century, the capital moved again, this time to Baghdad, and by the ninth century, the cuisine had become saturated with spices and full of elaborate and highly embellished dishes. It was common among the wealthy to use at least two dozen different spices and half a dozen herbs in one dish, not to mention dried fruit, nuts, honey, flowers and perfumed essences, like orange blossom water.Those ingredients gradually found their way to the Maghreb, heavily influencing the local cuisine, including what would become the tagine. Although contemporary North African cooking is somewhat stripped down from its ornate past, many of those perfumed, spiced and honeyed flavors remain.Food from the Maghreb first surfaced in France in the mid-19th century, after France conquered Algeria in 1830, later annexing Tunisia and Morocco. French domination of the region lasted until 1955, when Morocco gained independence, followed by Tunisia in 1956 and Algeria in 1962.The cuisine truly gained a foothold in France during the immigration surge of the 1970s, when the French government admitted large numbers of North Africans, who settled in subsidized housing in banlieues (suburbs). Restaurants serving tagines and couscous started popping up in and around large cities in France, particularly Paris and Marseille. And the spicy lamb sausages called merguez were turned into a street food snack, stuffed into a baguette and topped with French fries (known as merguez frites).As the French developed a taste for North African food (which is called cuisine Maghrébin), chefs and cookbook authors began translating the recipes, and cooks flocked to the kitchen.Above, a man holding up a tagine at a Moroccan pottery stall in 1933.
• Tagine or Dutch oven A tagine is the traditional clay cooking vessel for the dish; it has a base that is wider than its tall, cone-shape top. But you don't need a tagine to make this recipe. Use a Dutch oven or another lidded pot instead, as long as the lid fits tightly. If it doesn't, cover the pot with foil before placing the lid on top.Tongs A tagine, like most braises, starts with the browning of the meat. A good pair of tongs will help you maneuver the lamb as you sear it in the pot.Small skillet Sliced almonds, which are used in the topping, will toast quickly and evenly in a small skillet. Choose a heavy-duty one so you won't get a hot spot, which could burn the nuts.Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has a guide to the best Dutch ovens and nonstick pans.
• Although you can make tagine with any meat, fish or vegetable, lamb adds heady flavor to this complex stew. Here, dried apricots, cinnamon, nutmeg and almonds provide sweetness, while saffron, turmeric, tomato paste and herbs make it deeply savory. The result is a stunning centerpiece of a dish, one that begs to be piled onto your most beautiful platter before serving.
• The gorgeous aromas and flavors of a tagine are what set it apart from all other stews. Choose and use your spices with care, and take time to fully brown the meat.• Fresh spices are integral to getting an intensely flavored sauce. To tell if your spices are fresh, smell them. Empty a bit into the palm of your hand; if it isn't noticeably fragrant, then it won't add noticeable flavor to the tagine. If you are pressed for time and have only stale spices, add a little more than what the recipe calls for.• It is often more economical to shop at a spice retailer. They tend to grind the spices more frequently on site, which means that they are not only fresher when you buy them, will also last longer in your pantry.• Some recipes use ras el hanout, a North African spice mix that contains black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin, mace, paprika and turmeric, among other spices. Each mix is different and contains up to 30 different spices. Here, we make our own simplified version. Do not substitute another ras el hanout blend for our mixture; each blend is unique and can be quite different, so it may not work well in this recipe. (Most Moroccan cookbooks give their own instructions for ras el hanout, and then tailor their recipes to it.) Toasting the spices adds yet another layer of flavor.• Both ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks are used in our recipe. They have slightly different flavors and work together for a more nuanced cinnamon taste in both the meat and the sauce. • The contrast of sweet and savory is a hallmark of North African cuisine. Tagine recipes commonly include some kind of dried fruit to supply that sweetness. Here, we use apricots, which are tart as well as sweet. Raisins, prunes and dates are other options.• Taking a moment to cook the tomato paste in oil before adding liquid caramelizes the paste, enriching its flavor. It also rids the tomato paste of any metallic taste, which can be a problem with canned paste.• Adding half the herbs at the beginning of cooking and half at the end gives the tagine both depth of flavor and a pop of freshness.• Personalize this recipe to suit your tastes. Use bone-in beef instead of lamb for a less gamy and slightly sweeter flavor. (Beef can have more fat, so make the tagine a day ahead, chill it, then remove excess fat from the surface.) Swap in raisins, prunes or dates for the apricots. Chunks or slices of winter squash lend a delicate, velvety sweetness; add them during the last 45 minutes of cooking, along with a few tablespoons of water if the pot looks dry.• Bone-in lamb gives this tagine a rich sauce, thanks to the marrow content of the bones, along with plenty of soft, succulent meat. Lamb neck, if you can get it, is particularly juicy.• Salting the lamb ahead of time helps the seasoning penetrate the meat, flavoring it thoroughly. While even an hour makes a difference, if you have time, you can salt the meat up to 24 hours ahead.• Browning the meat gives the sauce a deeper flavor. Take your time doing this. Let each piece brown fully on all sides, and use tongs to hold up the meat if necessary, to brown the irregularly shaped pieces.• Tagines are generally served with flatbread for dipping in all the lovely sauce. You can use any type of flatbread - pita bread works nicely - served either at room temperature or warmed up so it is pliable. If you warm the bread, keep it wrapped in a clean cloth so it retains the heat.• You can also serve your tagine with couscous, either on the side or spread in a shallow platter with the tagine poured on top. Polenta is another good, though unorthodox, option.
• There are countless tagine variations, with cooks personalizing the recipe to suit their tastes. Feel free to come up with your own combinations. Use beef instead of lamb for a less gamy and slightly sweeter flavor. Choose bone-in cuts such as shanks or short ribs. Beef can have a higher fat content than lamb, so if you do make the substitution, cook the tagine the day before serving, then scoop off the fat from the surface before reheating.You can use any dried fruit here instead of apricots. Sweet jammy dates are a more intensely sugary substitute, and they are highly traditional. Golden raisins are a more tart option. Figs, prunes and dark raisins can also be used.Feel free to add vegetables to the tagine if you like. Chunks or slices of winter squash, either peeled or not, lend a delicate, velvety sweetness. Other options include eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. Add them to the pot during the last 45 minutes of cooking, along with a few tablespoons of water if the pot looks dry when you put them in.
• Photography Food styling: Alison Attenborough. Prop styling: Beverley Hyde. Additional photography: Karsten Moran for The New York Times. Additional styling: Jade Zimmerman. Video Food styling: Chris Barsch and Jade Zimmerman. Art direction: Alex Brannian. Prop styling: Catherine Pearson. Director of photography: James Herron. Camera operators: Tim Wu and Zack Sainz. Editing: Will Lloyd and Adam Saewitz. Additional editing: Meg Felling.
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BEEF AND PRUNE TAGINE

Steps:

• Put the butter and oil in a large saucepan.
• When the butter is melted, put in the spices, coriander and onion.
• Let fry for 30 seconds, then add the beef and stir well to coat.
• Cover the meat with a cup of water and the saffron mixture.
• The water should be just over halfway up the meat.
• Bring to the boil and then lower to a gentle simmer.
• Add half the prunes and cook for 1-1/2 hours until the meat becomes tender and juicy.
• Keep the pot mostly covered during this time -- the only time I lift the cover is for a few seconds if the heat builds too much and it starts to boil. You need to keep this dish at a very low simmer.
• Add remaining prunes along with the honey, salt and pepper.
• Simmer for another 30 minutes or until the meat is tender and the liquid has thickened and reduced.
• Serve with the sesame seeds and almonds on top.

FRUITY BEEF TAGINE FOR THE TAGINE!

Steps:

• Place onions in the tagine base with 1/2 tbsp olive oil and brown well over a high heat. Add the rest of the olive oil and the beef and cook until well browned and sealed all over. Add the garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds, before adding all the spices except the cinnamon sticks.
• Make up the beef stock my mixing 1/2 pint of boiling water with 1 beef stock cube, honey and the cinnamon sticks - Maggi or Oxo work very well! Set aside.
• Turn the heat down. Add the carrots, tomatoes, dates, prunes, raisins and stock, carefully mix together with wooden spoon and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Place lid over the tagine base and cook on a low heat for approx 4 1/2 hours. This may take a little longer or a little less cooking so check your tagine at around 3 hours of cooking to see how things are progressing.
• The tagine will be ready when the beef is 'melting' and the sauce is thick and bursting with all the flavours.
• Before serving, remove the cinnamon sticks and sprinkle the coriander over the top of the dish.
• Serve the tagine in its base with fresh baked bread or steamed cous cous.