Moroccan tagine lamb ribs

smokingal

While shopping for various spices and seasonings, I stumbled across a North African spice
blend called Ras el Hanout.  I've seen this around and have been meaning to give it a try, so
there's no time like the present.  It's common in Moroccan cooking and I decided to use it to
infuse some of the typical flavors of a tagine on a few racks of lamb ribs.

The following ingredients were pureed to make the marinade: Ras el Hanout, vegetable broth
olive oil, pistachio oil, apricot preserves, tomato paste, ginger, garlic, lamb demi-glace and
a sweet vidalia onion.

 

 

The marinade was very aromatic and smelled like a curried tomato soup.

 

I wasn't very happy with the lamb ribs.  They were not cut as per their label, were very lean
and required some trimming.  They were marinated overnight in a vacuum sealed bag.

 

 

After their overnight stint in the fridge, they were hit up with a rub of Ras el Hanout, garlic,
onion and pepper and placed on the Egg at 240F with hickory and cherry.

 

 

After 3.5 hours, I started spritzing the ribs with an apple cider/vegetable broth blend.

 

 

They picked up some color from the spritzing and were FTC'd while I finished preparing the
sides.

 

 

Pearl couscous cooked with vegetable broth, garlic and olive oil.

 

 

Creamed spinach seasoned with a bit of onion soup mix and pepper.

 

 

Dinner is served.

 

This particular blend of Ras el Hanout, while purporting a blend of 30 different spices, was not
spicy, but did remind me of a curry.  The ribs were juicy but I found the meat to be a little tough.
The couscous and spinach rounded out the meal.

Good eats.

bgebrent

Yes, yes, yes!  Fabulous cook.  How did you like the Ras el Hanout?

smokingal

@bgebrent The Ras el Hanout was probably the most varied spice blend I've ever tried and I really enjoyed it.  I'm definitely going to use this for some future cooks.

DoubleEgger

Inspiring 

Killit_and_Grillit

Looks fantastic!

Sea2Ski

Looks great!  I really do enjoy lamb ribs now.  Never heard of Ras el Hanout though. 

jtcBoynton

Ras el Hanout is the basic Moroccan spice blend.  It means House Blend (sort of like saying BBQ rub).  Every cook has their own secret recipe.  Often contains turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, cardamom seeds, nutmeg, black pepper, and cloves. 

Stormbringer

Fantastic cook. I've used Ras el Hanout on a few things, including lamb. But not ribs ... this will be fixed soon.

FWIW, if you like the taste ... fancy giving it a go with popcorn?

https://thecooksdigest.co.uk/2016/07/10/ras-el-hanout-and-maple-syrup-popcorn/

caliking

Great google moogly. Fantastic cook!!

your cooks make me want be your neighbor . I checked out your blog the other day, and there are quite a few things I want to try. 

Legume

I just had a tagine for the first time a couple of weeks ago, loved the flavors.  I’ve never had lamb ribs but they look great.

Foghorn

caliking said:

Great google moogly. Fantastic cook!!

your cooks make me want be your neighbor . I checked out your blog the other day, and there are quite a few things I want to try. 

I was trying to find the right words.  Great googly moogly seems to cover it.

@caliking has a way with words.

smokingal

@Stormbringer Thanks for the idea.  I will certainly try that recipe.
@caliking Thanks.  I wouldn't mind being your neighbor either.  
@Legume You should give lamb ribs a try.  They are usually pretty fatty, but if they get rendered properly, you'll even gobble up the fat.  You don't even need to remove the membrane.  In fact, not doing so allows you to leave them on longer to render more fat while keeping them juicy.

Carolina Q

Well that looks delicious! I've never tried any Moroccan food though I do have an as yet unused, unglazed (and unseasoned) terracotta tagine plus heat diffuser. So, since I know I'll never find any Ras el Hanout around here, rather than order it, I looked up the recipe. Found several, combined them and came up with this (if anyone's interested)...

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground turmeric

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander seed

1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp lavender, crushed

Had everything on hand, even lavender, so I mixed up a batch. My ginger, turmeric and cinnamon are getting a little long in the tooth, but it still smells and tastes pretty good. 

I don't have any lamb ribs, but I think I have some leg of lamb in the freezer. Bet chicken thighs would work too. Now to season the tagine and figure out how to use it! 

Thanks for the inspiration!