Local Lamb Tagine

My friend Liz gave us a great Christmas gift last year--three beautiful cuts from a whole lamb that she and her husband bought from Archer's Meats. One of the cuts was a shoulder--perfect for a cold winter's afternoon of braising in the oven. Which is just what I decided to do on Sunday.

Once again I turned to the cookbook 5 of the Best by the Valli Little, Food Editor of delicious magazine for a sensational fragrantly spiced lamb tagine made with chick peas, green olives, and some of our own canned tomatoes. The recipe, which is in the Winter Recipes Section on this site, couldn't be easier. While some might shy away from working with a tougher cut of meat such as lamb shoulder, two hours of braising in the oven made the lamb buttery soft and knives were completely unnecessary.

This is a "sit by the fire, open a bottle of wine, and relax the night away" kind of meal. It needs nothing more than some Naan to complete it and, of course, the star of the dish--some beautiful Indiana raised lamb.

Buying a whole lamb might sound a bit overwhelming especially if you're a single household, couple, or small family, but if you get a few friends to share it with you, you'll find that the pricing and amount of meat that you get is very reasonable. We did this with a side of beef this year. We went in with two other couples and shared the expenses. Then we got together and divided up the meat between the three households. It's a good way to fill your freezer and since you'll be getting some cuts you might not normally purchase individually (like a lamb shoulder or, in my case with our beef, short ribs), it's fun to see what you can come up with to turn that cut into a great meal like we did with the lamb tagine. I'm tackling the short ribs next weekend!

Archer's Meats
8655 East 166th Street
Fisher's Indiana 46038
317-849-1790