I feel I’ve taken good advantage of this year’s lamb by cooking a few decent stews since last month made up lamb from FX Buckley and Paddy Jack from the Temple Bar Food Market.

Last weekend, we had a biggish gang over and I went for lamb once more, using a Mary Codogan recipe for a Lamb Tagine with Sweet Potatoes & Dates from the BBC Good Food website.  Yep! Still using the old faithful site.

I also called my Mom to ask for her Tabouleh recipe.  It’s the ultimate.

What you need for Pauline’s Tabouleh for 6 as a side

3 packets of flat leaf parsley, washed and leaves picked

1 packet of mint, washed and leaves picked

2 medium onions

3 medium ripe tomatoes

3/4 cup of fine bulgar wheat

Juice of half a lemon

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

You can make Tabouleh a good bit in advance, just be sure to add the tomatoes just before serving.

There’s a good bit of chopping in this, which can be annoying, but the end result is delicious and totally worth it.

Start off by putting your fine bulgar wheat in a bowl and pour over boiling water until the wheat is completely covered.  Immediately run through a fork to keep it from sticking together.  Leave it for another 15 minutes, fluffing with the fork every once in a while to keep it unclumpy.

Meanwhile, chop your parsely and mint leaves very, very, very fine.  Also chop your onions as tiny as you can get them.  Use this technique – it’s the best.

Once your bulgar wheat has softened up sufficiently, add your parsley, mint and onions to the bowl and mix around.  Add your lemon juice and a swig of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Adjust to your own taste – you may like a bit more lemon  juice or salt or whatever.

Add your tomatoes as you’re ready to serve – they should be cut into small cubes too.

This was a great recipe for Lamb Tagine with Sweet Potatoes and Dates which turned out very well indeed.  A few notes:

• The recipe calls for Lamb Shoulder.  Although the shoulder is very tender and quite tasty, it’s also quite fatty, leading to an ever so slightly greasy hue to the stew.  I’d say if you can afford it always go for the leg of lamb, even for stews.  There is about €15- difference in the price but certainly for a special occasion, always go for the leg.  It’s the bomb.
• I followed the recipe exactly, and in the sauce didn’t thicken as much as I’d like.  I’d say take the lid off for the last half hour, when the sweet potatoes go in, to thicken up that sauce a bit.
• I forgot about the dates – they would have been really nice.  I reckon dried apricots would be even nicer, however.
• Don’t forget to serve it with a dollop of natural yoghurt, toasted almonds and a sprinkling of freshly chopped coriander.  Made the dish.

In case you missed it the last time – here is the accompanying track for any meal involving Tabouleh:

Categories: Dinner