Skip to main content

Braised Lamb Shanks {Local Thanksgiving}

I am not one to have turkey on my Thanksgiving table. Not that I have anything against turkeys - in fact, I drive past a rafter of turkeys every day on my way to work - but it's not my favorite fowl. So, in recent years I've served quail (in both 2010 and 2011), pheasant, duck, and chicken. This year, my parents requested lamb shanks, "just like the one in the picture from that dinner." Here's the picture.

My friends and I had attended Edible Monterey Bay's pop-up dinner at La Creme in Pacific Grove in September. You can check out my Edible Monterey Bay piece about the event. The braised lamb was only one of the magnificent courses cooked up by Chef Jon Moser. But it made an impression.

While my lamb is not locally-raised, I did pester the butcher at Whole Foods for the scoop. The lamb shanks I picked up are from New Zealand, completely grass-fed and grown without antibiotics, growth hormones, and are pasture-raised. Sounds good! Besides, it was locally-inspired by the La Creme dinner.


Ingredients

  • 6 T olive oil
  • 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
  • 2 T minced garlic
  • 2 T chopped fresh rosemary
  • 8 3/4- to 1-pound lamb shanks
  • white whole wheat flour for dredging
  • 2 1/2 C dry red wine
  • 2 1/2 C organic chicken broth
  • 1 T unsulphered molasses
  • 1 1/2 T fresh tomato sauce
  • 1 T fennel seeds
  • 5 bay leaves
  • 2 C steamed, peeled whole chestnuts
  • 2 C dried apricots
  • 2 stems of fresh sage
  • 2 stems of fresh rosemary

Procedure
Heat 3 T olive oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sliced fennel and garlic and sauté until brown.

Coat lamb shanks with flour. Heat remaining 3 T olive oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Working in batches, add lamb shanks to skillet and cook until brown on both sides, about 10 minutes per batch.


Using tongs, transfer lamb shanks to plate. Add 1 cup dry red wine to same skillet and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Pour into Dutch oven with fennel mixture. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups red wine, chicken broth, tomato sauce, molasses, and bay leaves to dutch oven. Bring to boil. Add lamb shanks, turning to coat with liquid.



Simmer for one hour. Add in the rosemary, apricots, and chestnuts.


Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lamb is almost tender, turning lamb shanks occasionally, approximately another hour. Uncover Dutch oven and boil until liquid is reduced to sauce consistency, stirring and turning lamb shanks occasionally, about 30 minutes. They should be falling-off-the-bone tender! Season with salt and pepper.To serve, spoon the sauce over the shanks.

And on another note, we actually did have turkey on our table this year. Riley and Nonna cooked it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn