Skip to main content

Earthy Braised Lamb Shanks


To go with the warm lobster salad for my dad's birthday dinner, my mom requested braised lamb shanks. I had done them for Thanksgiving last year. So, I did a variation for last night. This time - inspired by a story I'm writing - I decided to braise them in an earthy mixture of coffee, beer, and the soaking liquid from the dried mushrooms. I made a smoked paprika-cherry glaze for my dad's party; for what we ate at home, I left it as a mushroom demi-glace.

Ingredients

  • 6 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
  • eight 3/4- to 1-pound lamb shanks
  • white whole wheat flour mixed with 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom for dredging
  • 2 cups coffee
  • 2 cups beer (I used a coffee stout)
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 1 Tablespoon ginger syrup
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup dried shitake mushrooms
  • 2 cups sliced fresh oyster mushrooms
  • freshly ground sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper

Procedure

Place dried shitake mushrooms in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let soak for at least 20 minutes.

Heat 3 Tablespoons olive oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions and leeks and sauté until brown.

Coat lamb shanks with flour and cardamom. Heat remaining 3 Tablespoons 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 2 cup coffee to same skillet and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Pour into Dutch oven with onion-leek mixture. Add remaining 2 cups beer, the soaking liquid from the shitake mushrooms, the reconstituted shitake mushrooms cut into thick slices, honey and ginger syrup to Dutch oven. Bring to boil. Add lamb shanks, turning to coat with liquid.

Simmer for one hour. Add in the fresh oyster and shitake mushrooms.

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 taste. To serve, spoon the sauce over the shanks.


I wonder if you'd get the same results by following my 132 word version of this recipe. I doubt it.

Comments

Post a Comment

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