Chef Monsta: I cook, therefore I blog

I had some lamb in the freezer and wanted to whip up a dish that was not a traditional stew. I would love to make lamb kabobs, but unfortunately don’t have a grill or broiler function on my oven in my little NYC apartment. So I decided to cook up a faux tagine [Moroccan dish]. I love the taste of ginger, and it really shines in this dish. WARNING: Your kitchen will smell like ginger!

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb cubed lamb
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb okra, trimmed
4 large beefsteak tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1 c Israeli couscous
2 c water

Heat up oil in a pot. Add lamb.

Sprinkle spices over meat [ginger, cumin, tumeric, salt and pepper]. Saute meat for 5 minutes.

Peel, de-seed, and chop tomatoes.

Add tomatoes to meat. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes. Add 1/2 c of water.

Trim both edges of okra.

Remove meat from pot and crush/mash the softened tomatoes. This thickens the sauce.

Take about a cup of sauce from the stew and put in a smaller pot to cook okra with. Add 1/2 c of water to small pot, and cook about 10 minutes.

To make the couscous, add 1 c of couscous to 1 1/4 c boiling water. Cook about 8 minutes.

Add cooked okra to meat and sauce mixture. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
Spoon the tagine over couscous and enjoy!