Lemon-Coriander Lamb Tagine

I cook in part because I love to travel.  They say the sense of smell is our most powerful sensory perception, and there is nothing like the smell of an international dish to take you to that place you would like to go.  One of my favorite countries is Morocco.  The people, the architecture, the decorative arts, it is a wonderful experience of sights, smells and sounds.   Morocco's hallmark preparation style is the tagine.  What makes tagines special is the cookware and its conical lid, which circulates the steam back into the broth of a cooking stew.  Most frequently, I cook a chicken tagine such as chicken with apricots and almonds.  Famously, a true Moroccan cook can list a hundred different ways to prepare chicken, but tonight I went with lamb instead, another Middle-Eastern favorite.  
At the same time, I love to buy cook books, and when I am thinking about menu planning, I pull out one of my cookbooks for inspiration.  Today was Bistro Laurent Tourondel, or BLT, as the small chain of French-American bistros is called.  Tourondel was raised in France, and his recipes include a number based on old family favorites, but also incorporating tastes from Asia, the Mediterranean, and North America.  His cookbook is as sumptuous as his food.  What more is needed when Eric Ripert of the famed New York City icon Le Bernadin begins his Foreward with "Laurent Tourondel is an inspired chef."
Tonight, I prepared his recipe for Lemon-Coriander Lamb Tagine.  It caught me by surprise.  Maybe that was mostly because of the way I went into the dish, with a Moroccan bent, by I came out on an even higher plane, quite possibly in Asia somewhere.  The magical place was inspired by the cumin and coriander I love, but also layered with delicate flavors of star anise and lemon.  It left me sitting back and searching my experience, reliving the different facets I tasted.  What more could one ask from a night's culinary experience? 
The recipe below is my version of the BLT dish, flavored to my preference, which is not overbearing in the anise and lemon, but those flavors still come through in these proportions.  If you love those flavors especially more, by all means make this recipe yours through your own changes.  Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 pounds boneless lamb, trimmed and cubed
salt/pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin   
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 celery stalk, chopped
1 oninon, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 cardamon pod
2 tbsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Directions:
Heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat in the bottom of tagine or Dutch oven.  Season the lamb with salt and pepper.  When the oil begins to smoke, add half of the lamb.  Brown on one side, approximately 4 minutes, stir and brown on the other side a few minutes more.  Remove the browned lamb to a plate and repeat with remaining meat, adding the remaining olive oil if necessary.
Add the spices and garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the onion, carrot and onion and soften the vegetables for 15 minutes, turning down the heat if necessary to avoid burning.  Add the vinegar and simmer until the liquid evaporates.  Add the flour, stir and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the stock and stir, scraping up the browned bits.  Add the browned lamb, tomatoes, lemon zest and cardamon pod.  Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer for 1/2 hour or more, stirring occasionally.  Prepare rice if desired, uncover and reduce liquid if further thickening is desired.  To serve, stir in cilantro, sprinkle with toasted almonds if desired, and spoon over rice.