Fragrant Moroccan Beef, Date, Honey and Prune Tagine - Crock Pot

French Tart's Note:

Tender chunks of beef simmered in a fragrant & fruity broth enriched with honey - a traditional Moroccan tagine at it's best! I cook mine in a traditional tagine & an electric tagine; but I realise that not everyone has one, so I have also tested this out in my crock pot; it works REALLY well and is better when cooking larger quantities. The meat becomes meltingly tender and the fruity & spicy smell transports you immediately to Morocco........on a magic carpet maybe?? Yes, I am waxing lyrical I know - but this tagine is a real winner. It's not particularly seasonal, but I do think that the colder autumn & winter months are a good time to indulge in this North African comfort dish!

• Total Time: 53 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 3 lbs organic beef, trimmed of fat & cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb onion, peeled & quartered
• 4 -6 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped finely
• 1 lb carrot, peeled & cut into chunks
• 9 ounces canned tomatoes
• 4 ounces dates, pitted but kept whole
• 6 ounces prunes, pitted but kept whole
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 pint beef stock
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 teaspoons ras el hanout spice mix (or 2 teaspoons cumin powder, 2 teaspoons coriander powder, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1 teaspoon turmeric)
• salt & pepper
• 2 ounces toasted sliced almonds
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped

Directions:

1. Par-boil the carrots in boiling water for about 3 -5 minutes.
2. Preheat the electric Tagine or crock pot to High.
3. Heat up half of the olive oil in a large frying pan and quickly brown the onion quarters over a fairly high heat until charred & coloured well. Tip them into the crock pot.
4. Add the chopped garlic & par-boiled carrots to the onions in the crock pot.
5. Make up 1/2 pint of stock with a beef stock cube. Add the honey to the the stock & ALL the dried spices. Tip the honey & spiced stock into the crock pot & mix well. Add the cinnamon stick.
6. Add the tinned tomatoes, dates & prunes to the crock pot - mix well.
7. Heat up the remaining olive oil and brown the beef cubes in small batches to sear & seal them. As you finish browning them, add the beef to the crock pot.
8. When you have finished browning all the beef, give the whole mixture a good stir & season with salt & pepper.
9. Cook on high for between 6 & 10 hours depending on your crock pot's wattage & settings.
10. Serve the beef tagine with fluffy couscous and garnish with the chopped fresh coriander & toasted flaked almonds. It also works well with rice too.
11. P.S. Watch out for the cinnamon stick! We sometimes award the lucky winner of the cinnamon stick with an extra glass of wine!
12. P.P.S. You can use dates & prunes which have not been pitted, they do tend to hold their shape better too, just warn your guests that they must look out for the stones!

Reviews

[italiansoxgirl25]

This was so delicious! My husband is Moroccan and loved it! I made some Moroccan bread (Authentic Moroccan Bread )to go with it and it was phenominal. I agree the aroma from the crockpot was making us hungry near the end! We couldn't wait to dig in! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I also used a chuck roast and came out very soft. Thanks for sharing!

[acdmix]

Really great dish! I used a la creuset pot instead of a crock pot and it worked great.

[Charmie777]

This was just spectacular!!!! I made it on the stove top and it took about 3 1/2 hours to get very tender. I used a chuck roast for the meat. The complex flavors of the sauce is unbelievable!!! Make sure you serve it with something to sop up the gravy!