Beef Marrakesh With Apricots and Lemon

Submitted by Gourmand

"I love Saturdays in the winter. It's cold outside and makes you want to stay home. So what's better than spending that time in the kitchen with a bubbling pot sending exotic smelling clouds of steam into the air? This makes a very tasty, dissolve in your mouth meal."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 lbs beef, cut into large cubes
• 2 medium onions
• 3 garlic, peeled and crushed
• 28 ounces tomatoes (canned, whole with their juice)
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 cup apricot, dried (whole)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon allspice
• 1⁄4 cup goji berry (optional, see directions)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons water

directions

1. Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Brown beef in batches and reserve. Add onion and garlic to pan and allow to soften.
2. Add the tomatoes, with their juice, and 1 cup of the orange juice. Bring to a boil. Then add the apricots and all the spices, including the salt and pepper. Add in the beef and any collected juice.
3. Cut lemon into quarters and stir into the pot.
4. Add in the goji berries if using. (They are optional, but are high in antioxidants.).
5. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Place cover on to allow some steam to escape and simmer for 2 hours. Remove lemon rinds from pot. Adjust salt.
6. Thicken sauce with cornstarch mixed with water if desired.
7. Serve over couscous.

Reviews

[flor_enojada]

A lovely hearty meal to come home to on a cold winter day! Nice blend of spices, with little mouthfuls of sweet apricot. This is going in my "make again" book - thanks!

 

[Annacia]

This really tastes like North Africa :D. I made it in a half amount and oven baked it in my tajine for about 4 hrs. This came out divine with, oh so tender and moist, beef and wonderful spices. The house was perfumed like a Marrakesh spice market. I don't have goji berry's but everything else went in with a happy hand. The fact that it's low fat doesn't hurt any either. Made for NA/ME (North Africa/ Middle East) forum's Trip to Morocco.