mga440

I hope someone can help me out. I am not even sure exactly how to post on this site. In short I am not a cook or at least I have VERY little experience. I bought a tagine and am trying to prepare it to use. It is an unglazed tagine. Here are my questions: 1)To start I soak for a few hours, drain and dry and then rub with olive oil all over inside and out and then bake at 250 degrees for 10 hours... is that correct? Do I repeat this process and if so, how many times? 2)I want to use it on top of a gas stove. I have two diffuser. One is a 9" x 9" x 1/8" thick copper plate and the other one is an inexpensive round one that is made of some type of thin metal plates that have holes and are joined together with about and 1/4" air space between the two plates... which one would be best to use with my tagine which has a flat bottom? 3)Some recipes I have found talk about adding water. From some other articles I have read it seems that one should never add water to avoid cracking the tagine. Can I add water or liquid as long as it is not cold? 4)Does anyone have a simple recipe to start with that would basically require little more than dumping everything into the tagine and cooking it on the stove top? I would like something with lamb or chicken. thank you in advance, michael mga440

First I apologize for my not really knowing how this system works. In short I purchased an unglazed tagine and am trying to use it for the first time. It is a bit daunting as I have very little experience in the kitchen and no experience with a tagine. Can I make the recipe below completely in my tagine pot? Do I have to use the saucepan that you mention? If it is not too much to ask, can you tell me how I would use this same recipe but cooking it all in the tagine? thank you in advance. mga440