10.12.08: Lamb tagine with carrot, avo and preserved lemon salad

He rolled up His sleeves and set to work creating this winter fave of lamb tagine served over couscous. A chopped half of a preserved lemon made a special appearance in the salad along with its friends the avo and friendly carrot.

SHE SAYS: What a huge treat to come home to on a Wed. nite. I sank into my bowl like a bath. The deep mingling of spice and tomato and honey on my tongue was somehow soothing and exciting at the same time, while the lamb fell apart the minute We looked at it, let alone approached with fork. Given all this savoury bliss, I was slightly wary about the added intensity of preserved lemon lurking among the leaves and shreds, but the appropriately small bits of translucent whole lemon resulted in tastebud intrigue, not overkill. Even so, I do think my near-year-old lemon that's left is approaching ammonia level...must find new applications for the remains and start another batch.

HE SAYS: I was very pleased with the outcome of this tonight. I went strictly by the recipe for the spice quantities and, gasp, it worked out well. The lamb was so very tender and butter-like in consistency and all the dried fruit, moist and flavoursome. It's a bit of a to-do getting this one to the table but definitely worth the prep. It tastes like you should feel guilty but fear not, this is a very healthy dish. Dried fruit, tomato juice, naked couscous, no butter, just olive oil and lean lamb chunks make for an indulgent tasting, satisfying bowl.

And wow, the preserved lemons were still okay after about 9 months or so (though slightly more grey then yellow), in fact more intense tasting and so extremely salty. They were like a vegetarian anchovy addition to the salad.