All hail kitchen suppers, with a low level of finesse, a
high comfort food factor, and the added bonus of knowing you can put the meal to
cook on a slow, low heat and go to the pub for an hour or two.
There’s hundreds of recipes for cooking Lamb Shanks, and I
blatantly steal this from my Sister in Law, Sue (a very fine cook), who tells
me that she stole it from somewhere else, who probably stole it from an aunt,
who found it in a classic cookery book; such is the way with the recipe
merry-go-round.
We all acknowledge that Lamb Shanks in Red Wine is a
classic, and I tend to tow the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” line with a
traditional favourite. This is my preferred method of preparation and
ingredients, because it’s incredibly tasty, homely and practically impossible
to mess up. You don’t need much more than a mound of fluffy, buttery mash and a
few vegetables to contribute to your “five a day”.
An incredibly versatile meal option, suiting every occasion
from a smart dinner party to a casual family supper and it can even be prepared
the day before and reheated, making it a great choice for the busy Christmas
holidays. You can buy the shanks fairly cheaply, even frozen if you so wish,
although for entertaining, great quality meat cannot be bettered and the local
farm shop, a superior Butcher or the super new Whole Food’s emporium in
Cheltenham would be my supplier of choice.
Ingredients
4 lamb shanks
4 tablespoons flour, well seasoned
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 carrots, chunked
2 onions, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
500 ml of hearty red wine
250 ml lamb stock
4 chopped anchovy fillets
5 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon of dried Herbes de Provence
4 sprigs of rosemary
1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly
Salt & Pepper
Method
Using a large cast iron pot (Le Crueset or similar) coat the
shanks in seasoned flour, and sear in half of the oil until browned. Remove the
shanks and set aside. Top the pot up with oil and add the garlic, onions and
carrots, and sauté for five minutes on a low to medium heat, then add the
tomatoes, wine and the lamb, and bump up the heat until boiling point. Then add
stock, herbs and anchovies and season. Pop a lid on the pot and cook in the
oven for about 2.5 hours at around 160C.
Now if there’s any red wine left, go pour yourself a
supersized glass. If not, open another bottle.
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