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Lamb shank with whatever

210 min • 4 to 6 servings •
David

210 min •     4 to 6 servings•

David

Braised lamb shank with mashed potatoes, carrots, and celery in a rich brown sauce.

When I see lamb shank on a menu, I find it hard not to choose it. I love the way the meat clings on for dear life to the bone the way the last autumn leaf perilously holds on to the tree. I love the burst of flavor that invariably explodes on your tongue with the first mouthful. I love the way it comforts me on a cold winter’s night. I even love the little strands of meat that collect in between my teeth.

Most of all though, I love the fact that you don’t need a recipe to cook a good shank. So long as you have a half-decent liquor and an oven that can cook it long and slow, you won’t fail.

So what follows is the method I used the last occasion I cooked shanks and this was determined by what I happened to have available to me at the time.

Ready

  • 1 lamb shank per person
  • Carrots
  • Onions
  • Celery
  • Coriander seeds (maybe a teaspoonful)
  • Fennel seeds (maybe a teaspoonful)
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 lime
  • Garlic
  • Bottle of red wine (full-bodied)
  • Beef stock (maybe a couple of cups)
  • Tomato paste
  • Worcester sauce
  • Olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp of brown sugar
  • Anything else that you have lying around that takes your fancy

    • Set

  • Skillet
  • Mortar and pestle
  • A heavy casserole dish
  • Saucepan

    • Go!

  • I made a rub by dry-roasting the fennel and coriander seeds in a skillet for a minute or so and crushing them using a mortar and pestle.
  • Add to this a couple of garlic cloves, some salt and pepper, a finely chopped chilli (totally optional) and the rind of the lime. Pound it to a pulp. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil. This should be enough for a couple, if not three shanks. Make more if necessary.
  • Smear this all over the shanks and leave to marinate for as long as you’ve got (a couple of hours should be fine, all day even better).
  • Heat the casserole and add a glug of oil.
  • Brown the shanks on all sides and remove.
  • To the casserole add an onion, quartered, a couple of sliced carrots and a roughly sliced celery stalk. Stir it around for a few minutes.
  • Add the wine, a dash Worcester sauce, perhaps a tablespoon of tomato paste, the stock and sugar. Season well.
  • Return the shanks to the pot. The meat should be covered by the liquor. Add water if necessary.
  • Cover and cook on a low oven for around 3 hours.
  • Once cooked, very gently remove the shanks (you don’t want the meat to fall off). Keep them warm somewhere.
  • Strain the liquor into a saucepan and reduce as far as you want to go. The sauce will thicken and become intense in flavor.
  • When it is to your liking, pour it over the lamb shanks and serve with lashings of piping hot mash potato.

    • lamb lamb shank

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