Wild Game from the Middle East

[merkaba93]

Some ras el hanout venison cooked in a tagine. With shallots, dates, and preserved lemon.
Middle eastern food is so great because anytime you think of using lamb just use venison.

[h20hunter]

Nice 1st post! That looks mighty fine.  Please by all means elaborate on what that thingamajig is and what all went in.

[merkaba93]

That is a tagine. (ta-jene) Historically probably the first oven ever created back in the day when humans were just cooking over a fire, liquid condenses in the top and drops back down into the meat. Slow cooking essentially. Ras el hanout is a spice blend, personally since I think more is better mine has 17 ingredients. Think coriander, black pepper, turmeric, cardamom, cumin, sumac, paprika, ginger, and saffron.

To make it you just dry rub the meat with your spice blend, sear it in the bottom of the tagine with some melted ghee (kinda like clarified butter) then sautéed some whole shallots, when those are soft add some dates, add some chicken stock until the meat is almost submerged and simmer for about 2 hours or until the venison is tender. Add preserved lemon and cilantro and you're done. I'd eat it over some couscous if you wanna be legit about it.

[pianoman9701]

Very nice. Your toolbox seems to be pretty darned full. I sell quite a few Moroccan specialties like the RAH, and Urfa peppers. Argan almond butter, desert olive oil. It's all fun stuff to work with. You know the next HuntWA get together is at your place, right? 

[merkaba93]

Yeah, Moroccan food is always good. Do you have a store that you sell these items?

[12Gauge]

I thought he was going to say Isis on a stick.

[KillerBeee]

This has me interested with the dates. I am picking up some of the Ras El Hanout spice blend and going to give this a try. Any further specifics about this recipe? How critical is the preserved lemon and how much do you use?

[merkaba93]

This has me interested with the dates. I am picking up some of the Ras El Hanout spice blend and going to give this a try. Any further specifics about this recipe? How critical is the preserved lemon and how much do you use?

To make it you just dry rub the meat with your spice blend, sear it in the bottom of the tagine with some melted ghee (kinda like clarified butter) then sautéed some whole shallots, when those are soft add some dates, add some chicken stock until the meat is almost submerged and simmer for about 2 hours or until the venison is tender. Add preserved lemon and cilantro and you're done. I'd eat it over some couscous if you wanna be legit about it.

So what cooking vessel are you using? If you have a enameled cast iron pot or dutch oven that would work great since you can sear and slow cook in the same pot. Alternatively you could sear/sautee in a pan and transfer into a slow cooker.
The preserved lemon makes the dish pretty legit. We are only talking a small handful of lemon. You just take the lemon out of the jar, a quick rinse under water to remove excess salt. And you're really only using the rind. Slice thin and spread on top at the very end. Oh, and I did forget to mention the first time that I place a cinnamon sick in the tagine with everything else before I start to simmer for the 2 hours.

[KillerBeee]

Excellent!
    I think my wife has a a Tagine in the attic. She worked for  a high end market in house wares for many years. If no tagine, I was looking at some recipes that indicated a pressure cooker might work. I have an electric pressure cooker that is easy to use and cuts down cooking times on many things.
     Thanks for sharing your stuff with all of us. Inspiration to try new things is great...

[Night goat]

I love middle eastern food, my uncle is from Iran, love me some fesan jan

[Dan-o]

Wow, that looks amazing

[KillerBeee]

So.... I cooked something like this following loosely Merkab's direction. I didn't get the preserved lemon but did use shallots, chicken stock, Ras el Hanout, and dates. Turns out I couldn't find the Tagine I thought my wife had and I was short on time so I cooked it in a pressure cooker. I used venison stew chunks and I can see why a longer cooking process will concentrate the flavors.
     Served it over cous cous and added cilantro and finely shaved lemon peel as finishing touches and my dinner party enjoyed it. Surely the leftovers will improve over time to intensify the flavor.


Cool inspiration....Thanks!   

Dave

[merkaba93]

So.... I cooked something like this following loosely Merkab's direction. I didn't get the preserved lemon but did use shallots, chicken stock, Ras el Hanout, and dates. Turns out I couldn't find the Tagine I thought my wife had and I was short on time so I cooked it in a pressure cooker. I used venison stew chunks and I can see why a longer cooking process will concentrate the flavors.
     Served it over cous cous and added cilantro and finely shaved lemon peel as finishing touches and my dinner party enjoyed it. Surely the leftovers will improve over time to intensify the flavor.


Cool inspiration....Thanks!   

Dave

Hey glad to hear it KillerBeee.

So now that you did that you should take it a step further. Do as you did before, but add 4 cloves diced garlic as you sauté the shallots, when that is done, add a 1"piece of ginger grated, and 1 tbs honey, half apricots half dates and one cinnamon stick while the dish simmers. An hour into the simmer add 1/2 cup chickpeas.
And instead of normal couscous add a pinch of saffron to your couscous.
And garnish with both cilantro and flat leaf parsley.

[Oh Mah]

Maqluba 1 of my favorites from Jordan

[KillerBeee]

So.... I cooked something like this following loosely Merkab's direction. I didn't get the preserved lemon but did use shallots, chicken stock, Ras el Hanout, and dates. Turns out I couldn't find the Tagine I thought my wife had and I was short on time so I cooked it in a pressure cooker. I used venison stew chunks and I can see why a longer cooking process will concentrate the flavors.
     Served it over cous cous and added cilantro and finely shaved lemon peel as finishing touches and my dinner party enjoyed it. Surely the leftovers will improve over time to intensify the flavor.


Cool inspiration....Thanks!   

Dave

Hey glad to hear it KillerBeee.

So now that you did that you should take it a step further. Do as you did before, but add 4 cloves diced garlic as you sauté the shallots, when that is done, add a 1"piece of ginger grated, and 1 tbs honey, half apricots half dates and one cinnamon stick while the dish simmers. An hour into the simmer add 1/2 cup chickpeas.
And instead of normal couscous add a pinch of saffron to your couscous.
And garnish with both cilantro and flat leaf parsley.

Excellent...That will be next on the list.
      Thanks Merk