13 October - food with friends

Today was a day for catching up with friends - out for lunch with one and another round for supper this evening. I "did lunch" with Ange at Jamie's Italian and I have to say, after our rather disappointing evening there a couple of months ago, they did much better with lunch. I had mushroom panzerotti (mushroom filled pasta) and Ange had truffle risotto and both went down really well. And it had just the vibe for a good lunchtime natter too.

Despite a rotten cold, Michelle made it round for supper this evening. With a bag of beetroot from last week's vegbox still unused, I sliced up a couple to make beetroot crisps (very finely sliced beetroot, lightly coated in oil, spread on a baking sheet and oven baked on a low heat for nearly an hour, then sprinkled with salt); a good pre-dinner nibble. Then I did the lamb tagine recipe we brought back from Morocco last year. Every time I look at the recipe with it's dodgy English and printing mistakes, it takes me right back to our morning of Moroccan cookery in Essaouira - it always comes out well too. Today, I used fresh Turkish figs instead of the dates from the original recipe and they worked really well.

• Mix together about 500g lamb neck fillet cut into cubes with a very finely chopped onion, a couple of cloves of garlic (finely chopped), 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp Ras al hanout, a pinch of saffron, some salt, a cinnamon stick and couple of tbsps olive oil. As I don't have a proper tagine, I put the whole mix into a wide heavy-bottomed pan with a lid instead.
• Cook over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes to brown the lamb and give it time to release its juices.
• Then add 750ml cold water (could have used a bit less), bring to the boil, turn low, cover and leave to simmer for an hour plus.
• Gently fry a good handful of blanched almonds in a little vegetable oil and add to the tagine towards the end.
• Crush together a juniper berry with a tiny chunk of gum Arabic (brought back from Morocco with us). Mix with a scant tsp of ground cinnamon, tbsp caster sugar and a couple of tbsps orange blossom water in a small frying pan.
• Bring this mix gently to the boil, then add the figs, cut in half, cut side down for a couple of minutes just to caramelise. Add the figs to the tagine to bubble for the last couple of minutes, then tip the sticky sauce over at the last minute before serving with couscous and today a simple grated carrot salad.

I was too busy chatting to take any pictures, but it all looked good and went down well too. The lamb was lovely and rich and flavour-packed and the freshness of the carrot offset it nicely. All round a really good evening.