Lamb Shank
"this is possibly one of my favourite winter dishes , inspired by the classical French "pot au feu" and the Braised lamb with caper sauce.
All you need is a large pot and some good roots vegetables.
Ask your butcher to give you some well trimmed lamb shank; the back legs if possible.
Allow one per person.
All you need is a large pot and some good roots vegetables.
Ask your butcher to give you some well trimmed lamb shank; the back legs if possible.
Allow one per person.
Get yourself some carrots, onions, celery, turnip, parsnip etc,,,,
Place the lamb shank in a deep cooking pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil.
Remove the lamb from the pot, throw away the water and start again...this time add a whole onion pricked with some bay leaves and cloves, a couple of carrots, a head of garlic, some celery , a branch of rosemary.
Bring to the boil and simmer until the meat is cooked and comes off the bone easily. At this stage, take off the heat and leave to rest.
Pour some of the stock in a smaller pan in which you are going to cook big cubes of turnip, carrots, quarter onions, celery, and any other root vegetable you fancy as well as a couple of floury potatoes.
Cook the vegetables in the stock removing them when ready. The leeks, celery etc will be ready before the turnip and potatoes so keep an eye on them.
Once all the vegetables are cooked, remove any fat from the stock and reduce it to a liquor. You then can add some grain mustard, a pinch of horseradish, a spoon of capers and if you like some sliced gherkins.
To serve, simply place the lamb shank on the plate arrange the vegetables around it, and generously pour over the sauce...
Alternatively, you can place them in a large serving dish with the vegetables and sauce separately and place in the middle of the table for a more family style dinner...some crusty bread and butter....a good bottle of pinot noir or may be a rich buttery Chardonnay....happiness!!!
