Among the guests we’re entertained in the past few weeks was one of Constant Companion’s dear, dear college and beyond friends. While he was working in Algeria in that long ago past, she came to visit. As the years have gone by, they’ve stayed in touch. She came down for a week with another long-time friend for a much needed break from the stresses in life.

Of course, we invited them for dinner, the least I could do! I decided to prepare a North African-esque dinner in honor of their time together in Algeria. I’ve learned that no matter what ethnic food I cook, no matter how tasty it may be, it’s nowhere near the original. Yet, I still enjoy adventures in cooking, especially since Constant Companion and Daughter enjoy the results.

As usual while thinking of the meal, I foraged in my freezer and found a lovely package of goat meat. I had thought of a recipe for a lamb tagine in one of my treasured Moroccan cookbooks. The goat would make a more than adequate substitute for the lamb specified in the recipe. We live in an area with lots of immigrants from the Caribbean. One particular Spanish market regularly stocks goat. When it was on sale recently, I brought home a few pounds knowing I’d find a good use for it.

Important Note. I have found that time is a key ingredient to making a successful tagine. Taking time with all the steps leads to remarkable flavor that is fully integrated into the dish. This recipe calls for marinating the meat for 2 hours. I think I started “cooking” at about 6 am. But I’m an early riser. If you’re not, set the meat to marinate the night before, even better.

Lamb Tagine. Start with about 2 pounds of lamb shank (or goat). Marinate for 2 hours in a glass bowl with 1/2 tsp each of powdered ginger and cumin, 1 tsp cinnamon, 6 springs, each of chopped Italian (flat) parsley and cilantro.*

*Constant Companion remembers paprika in Moroccan food, so I added this to the ingredient list.

Transfer the meat and marinade to a large casserole, dutch oven, or tagine if you have one (I’ve never cooked in mine, it’s purely ornamental!). Add 6 tbsp of olive oil and saute until the lamb browned on all sides. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover meat with 1 coarsely grated red onion (yes, I grated mine, really adds to the flavor) and 3 3/4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, the simmer for 2 hours. About 20 minutes before the end of cooking you can add 3 halved, seeded, peeled tomatoes to the top of the dish (I missed that step).

In a small bowl, combine 6 tablespoons of the sauce from the healt with 1 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tsp cinnamon and 3 tbsp sugar. Mix well and drizzle over the dish. Cover and continue cooking for 20 more minutes.

Side dishes I made were Moroccan marinated carrots, a chickpea salad, and non-Moroccan fennel and celery salad. Also couscous. Our guests had never seen the rainbow carrots and were enchanted.

Dessert? None of us can remember what I made. I guess the goat was such a hit.