Have I mentioned how much I love my slow cooker? Prep the ingredients, throw everything in the cooker, then set it and forget it. The slow cooker is the definition of convenience, particularly if you’re planning weeknight meal ideas, or tackling 20 different projects at the same time — or sometimes simply forgetful, like me, about watching a pot simmering away on the stove top. The slow cooker is perfect for long-cooked dishes: stews, chili, hearty soups. And it turns out a wonderful lamb tagine, with very little active work on your part.
This tagine is one of my favorite go-to slow cooker recipes, probably because of the reaction I receive from dinner guests when I serve it. “That came from a slow cooker?” they ask, shocked. It’s as if they think slow cooker recipes haven’t evolved since the 1970s.
I came up with the recipe while writing a story about the resurgence in popularity of slow cookers after the Great Recession hit in 2008. I’d recently taken over the Los Angeles Times’ Test Kitchen, and was inundated with emails and calls from readers desperate for meal ideas they could make at home on a busy weeknight. Many readers were turning to the slow cookers they remembered from their childhoods, but wanted updated, more modern recipe ideas.
Honestly, it’s amazing what you can make using a slow cooker (they’ve come a long way from the avocado green contraptions of your youth), and able to turn out everything from soup to dessert, such as this white chocolate bread pudding with whiskey caramel sauce.
SLOW COOKER LAMB TAGINE
40 minutes, plus cooking time (3 to 4 hours on high; 6 to 8 hours on low). Serves 6 to 8
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon finely ground chile powder
3 pounds boneless, trimmed lamb shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 large onions, cut into 1/2-inch slices lengthwise
10 shallots, peeled and left whole
4 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon honey
2 to 3 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, more as needed
1 cup pitted dates
In a large bowl, whisk together the cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper paprika and chile powder. Add the cubed lamb and toss until the pieces are evenly coated with the spice mix. Sprinkle with the flour and toss to give the lamb a light coating of flour (you may have a little flour left in the bottom of the bowl; save this to thicken the tagine).
Heat a large sauté pan or stove top-safe slow cooker insert over medium-high heat. Add the oil and butter. When the butter has melted, add the lamb pieces in a single layer (this may need to be done in more than one batch) and sear until the pieces are browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Remove the lamb with a slotted spoon back to the large bowl.
Add the onions and shallots to the pan. Sauté the onion and shallots until the onions are just softened and slightly golden, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from heat.
Place the onions and shallots in an even layer in the slow cooker insert (if not already in use). Stir in the garlic, ginger, apricots, raisins, honey, cinnamon sticks and broth. Place the lamb pieces over the onion mixture in an even layer. Gently sprinkle any remaining flour over the lamb.
Cover the insert and place it in the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to the high heat setting (if cooking on the low setting, simply double the time). After 2 hours, remove the lid and sprinkle the dates over the lamb. Replace the lid quickly (heat is lost whenever the lid is removed) and cook an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the lamb is fork-tender.
Remove the insert from the heat and briefly pop the lid open to allow the mixture to cool slightly. Gently stir the lamb with the vegetables and fruit; the apricots and dates will crush easily if stirred too hard.
Note: From Noelle Carter. Adapted from a recipe I originally wrote for a Los Angeles Times story about the resurgence of slow cookers. Serve the tagine spooned over couscous or rice. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve each portion with a wedge of lemon. This recipe requires a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. The lamb shoulder should be weighed after it is boned and trimmed.