Lham bil Zitoun, Algerian Lamb with Olives, Viande aux Olives
I'm sure the scholars are cringing when it comes to my "sloppy" transliterations. I promise it will be more consistent in my book. But for this blog I am using more common transliterations for Algerians so that key word searches point here.
This is definitely a dish for lovers of fatty cuts of meat and briny olives. If you are hesitant about trying this dish because of the amount of olives, you can cut back the amount to your liking. Algerian cooks might not boil or soak the olives before adding them to the dish, but you can if you think adding the olives straight would be too salty for your palate.
You can use meat from the shoulder or leg. For me the fattiness of the ribs contrasts deliciously with the briny olives. Also the dish is cooked very slowly and the bones add a depth of flavor to the sauce that cubes of boneless meat cannot.
Ingredients:
1 kg of lamb ribs (beef short ribs are a great substitute if you don't like lamb)
500 grams of Spanish Olives (boiled or soaked in water to release the brine to taste)
1 cup of homemade tomato jam or tomato concasse
1 cup of water (you may need to add more if the sauce reduces too much)
Salt and pepper to taste
You can add spices to suit your taste. The amount of spices or lack of do not make most Algerian dishes any more or less authentic or traditional. Some cooks use a wide range, others rarely use any. Harissa is particularly good with this dish for a combination of fatty, briny and piquant flavors.
Method:
1) Cut the rib meat following the bones, season with salt and peeper, brown in a hot pan. Brown the meat in batches, adding too much will cause the temperature of the pan to go down resulting in "steamed" meat. You can brown the meat more than I did. Browning it more adds more brown meat flavor. Yes, I'm being a little sarcastic. But I think you get the drift. Discard the fat, you can deglaze the pan with water and add it to the crock pot. If you don't have a crock pot follow my previous directions for stews in a big pot.
2) Add the browned meat to the crock pot. I have a Rival crock pot (this is not an endorsement, my wife bought it because it was inexpensive). We have used it twice. Add the olives, tomato sauce, water and spices if like. I set it on low for 10 hours. 1 cup of water was fine, you might have to add more, depending on the crock pot you're using and the amount of water the meat you have gives off.
I prefer this dish with bread rather than couscous.
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