Delicious Fall Off The Bone Tender Braised Lamb Shanks
A family favourite dinner in these parts, slow cooked lamb shanks are an incredibly satisfying dish served with a creamy herb and garlic mashed potato and honey glazed carrots.
Meat shanks make up the meat around the tibia. Lamb shanks are more often than not, cooked whole and very slowly.
Lamb shanks are a fairly inexpensive cut, compared to nearly every other cut off the animal. Cooking them requires little to no effort, just time.
When you simmer lamb shanks in a sauce that you will later serve it with, the results are special. The meat literally, just slides off the bone. Not like pork ribs, in this case you actually want the meat falling off of the bone.
Bones & Marrow Broth Co.
Today’s feature product is Bones & Marrow Broth. We use this lovely product in soups, stews and in this case, a sauce. It makes up part of the base of what will later become the sauce the lamb not only slowly simmers in, but the sauce it is also served with.
Below is an example of another way to use chicken broth. It is a picture of a wild smoked duck leg on a bed of “dirty rice.” The rice was cooked in chicken broth. It just adds a whole new layer of flavour to your dish.
Lamb shanks can be made several different ways and using a wide variety of cooking methods including, the oven , the smoker, stove top, or a slow cooker. If you have not gathered it yet, lamb shanks are meant to be cooked slowly.
Bone Broth
Broths and stocks are very versatile. They can be used in several different applications. Most people think only of soups when they hear the word broth, when in fact it can the the base to a whole host of sauces.
A lot of love goes into making a beautiful bone broth. It takes some serious time. If you do not have this time, check out buying the ready made stuff. Bones & Marrow is my favourite. They have mastered the process and have created a wonderfully unique product, second to none.
Braising Liquid
The braising liquid is made up of several key componets such as, bone broth , fresh herbs , bay leaves , tomatoes and spices.
Equipment Needed:
- Oven safe large sauce pan . I use the Ricardo Brand. I will leave a link to them on this page.
- Oven.
- Measuring cup and spoons.
Braised Lamb Shanks Ingredients List:
- 4 Lamb Shanks
- 3 Carrots – Sliced
- 1 Diced Yellow Onion
- 2 Cloves of Minced Garlic
- 2 Cups Chicken Broth
- Rosemary – a few sprigs
- 2 Cups Red Wine
- 1 Can of Tomato Paste – 369 ml
- 1 tbsp Golden Yellow Sugar
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 tsp Chipotle Chili Pepper
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Paprika
- Salt and Pepper
- Green Onions ( garnish)
Method :
- In a large oven safe sauce pan , add the canola oil and place over medium high heat. Meanwhile, season the shanks with salt and pepper and pre-heat your oven to 350ºF.
- When the oil is hot, add the shanks. If your pan is large enough to do all 4 at the same time, do so. However you do not want to crowd the pan, so do them 2 at a time if you have to.
- Brown all sides of the shanks. This takes some time. Expect roughly 8-10 minutes to brown all sides. It will be worth it in the end.
- When they are properly browned, remove the shanks and set aside.
- Add your onions and carrots to the same pot and saute until the onions are translucent.
- Now you can add the garlic. You add the garlic later because it burns a lot faster than the onions do. It is important to give the onions and carrots a head start.
- Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Be sure to get all the brown bits off of the pan as that holds a ton of flavour.
- Return the shanks to the pan and add the chicken broth.
- Add the tomato paste and incorporate
- Add the bay leaves, chili powder, onion powder, rosemary sprigs, sugar, lemon juice, paprika and a touch more salt and pepper.
- Bring the works to a slow simmer and cover.
- Place the entire thing in the oven (This is why it is important that your sauce pan is oven safe) and cook for roughly 2-2.5 hours depending on your oven.
- Keep an eye on it. You want a very slight simmer inside of the oven. Adjust your temperature accordingly if you have to. Chances are you may need to reduce the temperature a little bit.
- After 2 hours, check on your lamb shanks. The meat should just slide right off. If it does not, return it to the oven for 30 more minutes and repeat.
- Once done, remove from the oven and serve the shanks on top of some creamy herb and garlic mash. Pour the sauce over the shanks and ENJOY!
- Top with green onions. The green is great for presentation.
