Braised Lamb Shanks With Thyme And Rosemary
Ingredients:
Lamb:
6 lamb shanks
Mirepoix:
2 C carrots, chopped
2 C celery, chopped
1 C onion, chopped
4 T tomato paste
Deglaze:
3 C red wine
Braising Stock:
6 C lamb stock (or beef stock -- I made mine with both beef & veggie stock, cos I had no lamb stock)
Aromatic Herbs:
3 sprigs fresh thyme (may need to be adjusted, depending on quality of herbs)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary (may need to be adjusted, depending on quality of herbs)
Instructions:
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Notes:
00. When I made this recently, I sort of employed a "lazy" method of throwing ALL ingredients in at once (make sure only an equivalent amount of salt as you would want to put on the meat: if you put more, you will not get away with it -- lol -- I didn't make this mistake with the lamb; but I'd made it before with other dishes) and it still came out fantastic. One man who ate at our Passover said, "that was the best lamb I've ever had." (good news - the lazy method works!)
01. [about step 1] I didn't remove the silverskin, and it didn't seem to be a problem AT ALL: as a matter of fact, it might have added more of that elastin/gelatin to the sauce, which is what makes it have that "velvety" consistency.
02. [about step 7] I used beef and veggie stock and it still turned out great.
03. [about step 12] First of all, I didn't do this step; I just served it out of the oven-safe pan. Secondly, I made sure to get some flavors of the herbs into the meats while it was cooking. I had to use more herbs than normal -- because, usually, if you put herbs while it is cooking, the delicate flavor is largely destroyed and lost; and I had to have that rosemary and thyme flavor. Also, I think the herbs I was using weren't very flavorful; so, I added more and more (in equal amounts, so as not to throw the balance of rosemary vs. thyme off [although the thyme may have been a mis-labeled oregano, but that's another story]) until I thought it had reached an acceptable level of flavorfulness
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1. (optional) Trim all silverskin and fat from shanks (butcher can do this for you).
2. In a heavy-bottomed skillet (cast iron, preferable) sear all sides of the shanks.
3. Put them in a heavy, deep oven-proof pan.
4. In same skillet used to sear shanks, brown all vegetables, 8-10 minutes. Use a medium or medium-medium-high flame: you want a good caramelization; not a "burned" flavor. You can't get rid of that flavor.
5. Add tomato paste; let brown 5-10 minutes.
6. Deglaze with 3 C red wine, simmer to reduce until almost dry, making sure to stir to remove all the caramelization of the lamb and vegetables from the pan.
7. Add lamb stock (or what ever you're using); bring to boil.
8. Add sauce to the deep, heavy oven-proof pan where the lamb shanks are. The amount of liquid should be enough to cover; if the liquid does not rise above the lamb shanks, add water until it does.
9. Cover, and bake at 325° for 5-6 hours, (or) until meat pulls from bone (I cooked mine for nearly 2 hours, and it was already pretty good [I didn't have any more time]. You have to make sure to COVER the lamb: I covered mine 3/4 of the way with aluminum foil, so that it would act like a miniature oven; but also let it reduce, creating a thicker sauce, as it simmered away for 2 hours. Alternately, you could cook this on a range, which costs less -- and probably will take less time, because the heat element is placed directly on the pot.)
10. Remove shanks; set aside.
11. Strain sauce (remove vegetables), and discard vegetables (or, you could also save them and eat them).
12. Put the strained braising sauce in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan (or what ever kind of sauce pan you have) with the aromatic herbs.
13. Simmer on a medium flame, until thick and well-flavored.
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Here is a video of a man cooking lamb shanks, to have somewhat of an idea of what to expect, or a reference point of some sort:
Lamb Shanks Recipe Video by belucciscooking | ifood.tv
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