Beef with Cauliflower and Preserved Lemon

Serves 4

Preptime: 20 minutes, plus min 20 mins, max overnight, to marinate. I marinated for a couple of hours.

Cooktime: 3 hours This recipe is typically prepared with lamb, but I used stewing beef (“Gravy beef”).

3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (cilantro in non-English-speaking places like the USA 😜),

divided

¼ preserved lemon, homemade or store-bought, chopped

4 garlic cloves minced

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 cups water, divided

2 tablespoons Ras-el-hanout

1 kg diced gravy beef

(or 1 kg bone-in lamb shoulder or leg, cut into 8 - 10cm pieces by yr butcher. Less olive oil is used when cooking with bone-in meat, so the taste and aroma from the meat and bone stand out.)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for greasing the tagine

2 celery stalks, cut into 5cm pieces

1 large onion, cut into 1cm slices

1 medium tomato, finely chopped, or ½ cup canned crushed tomatoes 

Boiling water

1 medium head cauliflower, broken into large florets, or 1 (300 ish gr) bag thawed frozen cauliflower

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1.In a small food processor (or using a mortar and pestle), crush 2 tablespoons of coriander, the preserved lemon, garlic, and salt.

2.In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup of water and the ras-el-hanout to make a thin paste.

3.Place the beef/lamb chunks in a large bowl and add the preserved lemon mixture and 3 tablespoons of the spice paste, tossing to coat the meat. Cover the meat and marinate in the refrigerator for min 20 minutes or max overnight. Cover the bowl with the remaining spice paste and refrigerate.

4.Grease the inside of the tagine base with olive oil and lay the celery in the base. Arrange two layers of onion slices on top. Top the onion with the tomato. Add the marinated beef/lamb, working from the centre out, leaving a 2cm border all around the edges. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the meat and vegetables and pour ½ cup of water slowly around the edges of the tagine.

5.Cover the tagine. If you have an electric hob, place it on a diffuser over medium-low heat. A gas hob doesn’t need a diffuser, use low heat. Cook for about 2 hours, checking the liquid level every hour, and adding boiling water as needed.

6.After 2 hours of cooking, pour the remaining ½ cup of water and remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the reserved ras-el-hanout mix.

7.Uncover the tagine carefully, set the cauliflower florets around the meat, and pour the spice mixture evenly over the florets, adjusting the level of water if needed. Cover the tagine and cook for ½  hour. With ½ hr to go, scatter pitted kalamata olives around the edge of the tagine. By the end of cooking time, the meat should be tender, the florets soft, and the sauce reduced by half.

8.Set the tagine on a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes.

Cooking tip: Occasionally, scoop the sauce over the cauliflower florets as they cook, so they pick up an appetising colour and the flavour of the meat sauce.

We served on couscous, but Lebanese bread to dip and wipe the bowl would be fine.

Followed by an affogato, prepared by the affogato wizard (ie not me)