Lamb Shanks: so much better than the normal offering

Lamb Shanks: This version is so very different from the normal offering. So much better.

Have you heard of lamb shanks with mushrooms and olives and anchovies, as well as the traditional Irish spring vegetable flavours? Well you can do that. You can blend Italian and Irish. It's just very special and here it is! An award winner. A truly satisfying offering on a winter evening.

Swerdna's Lamb Shanks

Satisfies: Two like my dear wife and me. Four if you're still young and desperate. I recommend red wine.

Ingredients

Lamb shanks, trimmed, four
Brown onions, two large (four small)
Diced bacon, handful
Garlic, one bulb (eight cloves)
Carrots, sliced, two
Celery, chopped, one stick
Turnip, one, sliced, & chop the large end.
Tomatoes, one tin, chopped up a bit in the can with a sharp knife
Mushrooms, largish quantity of chopped field mushrooms (black underneath)
Beef stock, one litre
Red wine, one cup
Anchovy fillets, five chopped
Kalamata olives. 2 tablespoons full, pitted & quartered
Parsley, big lot, chopped
Sage, four fresh leaves chopped
Thyme, 1/3 teaspoon dried leaves
Rosemary, one spear, pull the leaves off against the grain, down the stem
Black pepper, freshly ground to taste

Shanks: Braise the shanks in a little olive oil in a casserole dish. Set them aside.

Spring vegetables: Braise the mixed onions, bacon, garlic, carrots, celery and turnip in a little olive in the casserole dish. Set them aside.

Stock: Braise the chopped mushrooms in a little butter in the casserole dish until they sweat. Stop mushrooms cooking by adding the tin of tomatoes, beef stock, wine, anchovies, olives, herbs and the braised spring vegetables. Bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes.

Casserole: add the shanks under the vegetables and stock mixture. Place uncovered in an oven preheated to 160C. Casserole for two hours. Check the progress after one hour and decide whether to leave the cover off for the second hour. The quest is to make the base rich and flavoursome by reduction, but only to the right degree. If you need to cover, use the lid or if there is no lid use aluminium foil. Don't be dismayed if you need to add a little liquid.

Serve: The meat should be quite loose when the shanks are done. Quality shanks should have been trimmed and fat shouldn't be a problem. You should take a little time to spoon excess fat off. If necessary you can thicken the vegetables and stock like this: remove the shanks and make a paste then a slurry of flour and gravy in a cup. Add it back and cook it through very well over 4-5 minutes. Put the shanks in a serving dish and pour over the vagetable/gravy mixture. This goes well with potatoes, vegetables, legumes, and so on.

This is a very simple and straightforward, but quite unusually flavoured variation on an old favourite. It's quick and easy, but so rewarding.

Devised for a quiet Monday dinner on a rainy day: 10 September 2007. Thankyou God for the gifts. And the joy of it all.
Cheers
Swerdna