Foodie Friday - Break Fast edition

Aside from a whole roasting chicken, my favorite meats are the cheap cuts, the shanks and shoulders, and my favorite animal is lamb. That's not to say that I don't love a beautiful, bloody steak from time to time, a pink, delicate, rare rack of lamb, a slice of raw, salt-cured pig. I do. But cooking at its most mindful is done slowly, and the tough cuts, which are often the animal's most worked muscles, are slow to give in but ultimately give up the best rewards. Here is a recipe for lamb tagine most appropriate for this early fall. It's made with boneless lamb shoulder, a trussed, fatty, ugly cut that turns melting and tender under long, low heat. I really, strongly advise getting yourself a ceramic tagine--they're as little as $25 and are the most beautiful of cooking and serving dishes--but if you won't or can't, a dutch oven will do. The recipe calls for late tomatoes, the sugar-heavy harvest that comes when the nights have turned cold but not quite cold enough to frost.

Tagine of lamb with almonds and figs

1 3/4 lb. boneless lamb shoulder, slightly trimmed of fat, cut into 1" cubes
1 medium yellow onion, cut into 1" sections
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed with the flat side of knife
3 medium heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1" sections
10 dried figs, quartered
1 cup whole raw almonds
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tspn whole cumin
1/2 tspn whole mustard seed
1/2 tspn whole coriander
several whole allspice berries
1-2 cloves
medium coarse sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 300.

While the oven is heating, gently toast the spices in a small sauté pan over medium heat, just until they become fragrant. Grind roughly with a mortar and pestle.

Combine the lamb, onion, garlic, figs, almonds, and parsley in the tagine. Mix together. Add the spice mixture and salt generously. Pour in several tablespoons of olive oil. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Cover. Place in the oven.

Cook for the first hour at 300, then reduce the heat to 275 and cook for an additional two hours. Remove, uncover, and serve immediately. I serve this dish over a long-grain white rice.