The Le Creuset Moroccan Tagine 

A few Septembers ago, we had some old friends from Arizona stay with
us for a few days and a memorable dinner with mutual friends.  Darn
if they didn’t present us with a tagine made by the Le Creuset people. 
Wow, one look and lift made it clear that this was not Ahmed’s clay tajin. 
The round bottom is treated cast iron, 12-inches wide and 1.5-inches deep. 
It holds a 1.5 quarts and weighs 6.5 pounds!  The top is of bright
red glazed porcelain and stands about 8-inches high. This is a serious
pot.

According to The Food Lover’s Companion  “tagine” refers to any of various Moroccan stews featuring meat or poultry gently simmered with veggies, olives, preserved lemons and spices.  It also refers to the specially designed pot used to make the dish.  This pot, usually made of clay or porcelain, consists of a bottom pan and a cone-shaped top.  The top is so designed to promote the return of all condensate to the pan.  Tagines are slow cooked at low temperatures, resulting in tender, falling-off-the-bone meat with aromatic veggies and sauce.  Wonderful. 

We are big fans of couscous and lamb, which led me to the cookbook for all manner of tagine dishes:  Paula Wolfert’s Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco.  First published in 1973 and still out in paperback, this cookbook is a classic that includes about two dozen tagine recipes. After preparing three of Wolfert’s tagine dishes and my lamb shanks, it dawned on me that the tagine is functionally a Moroccan Dutch oven . . . more precisely: a Dutch oven for two.  That is, it’s a stovetop braising pot.  

The Dutch oven (a cast iron pot with a tight lid) is usually heated
in the oven.  It can be fired on the stovetop but with inferior results. 
Dutch ovens come big and small.  We have four of them, a small, a
medium and two huge (three Le Creuset and one Lodge that doubles as our
deep fat fryer).  So, why use the tagine instead of a Dutch oven to
prepare Western dishes?  Hear me out: 

1) The tagine is the perfect size to prepare a small roast for two people
(with leftovers).  2) Le Creuset’s tagine bottom is an iron skillet
without a handle, just fine to brown the meat and sweat the onions over
high heat. 3) There is just enough room to add your favorite veggies. 4)
While simmering, the top can easily be lifted off during the simmering
process (you don’t even need a mitten), enabling the cook to inspect the
roast, add veggies, move things around, or add additional braising liquid,
if needed—all this while aromatic scents waft through the kitchen. 5) The
tagine is very attractive with its fire engine red top (they now make a
blue one, too).  6) And with the top removed, the bottom is open and
shallow for a nice presentation and easy serving at the table.

Tagine Pot Roast

Yield:  4 servings or 2 servings with leftovers

See abbreviations, if needed

  ·   2 lbs roast of pork or lamb shoulder or beef chuck 

  ·   1 T EVOO

  ·   15 oz chicken stock or canned chicken or beef broth

  ·   1 large onion, sliced medium thick

  ·   2 carrots, sliced in like-size pieces

  ·   1 garlic, pureed

  ·   8 red potatoes, small to medium size, halved

  ·   1   sprig of thyme

  ·   4  bay leaves

  ·                  
S/P

1.  Tie the roast, if necessary to hold its shape

2.  Season the roast well with S/P

3.  Place the EVOO in the iron tagine bottom, when hot,  brown all sides of the roast well, using large tongs to handle it

4.  Set the roast aside, add 1/3 cup of the stock and, using a 

     plastic spatula, loosen the residue formed
on the tagine bottom  while the roast was browned 

5.  Return the roast to the tagine bottom and add the veggies
along the sides 

6.  Spread the pureed garlic on top of the roast along with a
few of the onions

7.  Add the spices and the rest of the stock (braising liquid)
and BTB

8.  When at boiling point, reduce the heat to the lowest simmer
setting

9.  Place the cover on the tagine

10.  Braise the roast on the stovetop for about 1.5 hours or until
done 

11.  Serve the dish from the tagine bottom 

12.  Optional: To make a sauce: When the roast and veggies are
done, remove them carefully to a serving platter and keep in a warm place. Bring the braising liquid to a brisk boil and reduce the volume by about one-half,  or enough sauce for 4 servings. Taste and season as desired.

       Serve the dish with the sauce on the side

Notes:  a) If the roasts at the counter are too large,
ask the butcher to cut one in half and package them separately.  b)
All manner of veggies can be used for this dish.  Try eggplant, green
beans, zuchs, broccoli, sweet potato, whatever.  Soft veggies should
be added midway through the cooking process.  c) There will be a little
sputtering of braising liquid around the seal as the tagine simmers.

See also my Osso Bucco Tagine 
and Turkey Legs Tagine, Brisket
of Beef Tagine and Quik Chix
Tagine