Braised Lamb Shanks

Technique is similar here to all braises, and related to stews: sear off the meat in a very hot pot, remove, add aromatics, cook, then add the meat back in and cover with stock, then cook at a very low temperature for a long time. The bones in the shanks here will help make your cooking liquid an incredibly valuable sauce – once they’re done cooking, you can remove the meat, strain the sauce, and reduce all the way down to a demi-glace if you want.

You can braise on the stove-top or in the oven. Either way, the idea is to do it gently, for a nice long time.

I add fennel to my mirepoix – you know what a mirepoix is, of course, but just to be clear, a mirepoix is a basic seasoning mixture for all manner of soups, stews, stocks, and sauces, and is, by weight, 50% onion, 25% carrot, and 25% celery. When you add fennel to this, it’s sometimes called a “white mirepoix”. Add the same amount of fennel as carrots, so technically it would be 40% onion, 20% each carrot, celery, and fennel.

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS safflower oil (or other high heat oil)
• 2 lamb shanks (about 1.5 lbs each)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 small fennel bulb, diced
• 2 carrots, halfed and rough chopped
• 2 stalks celery, halved and rough chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• ¼ cup dry white wine or vermouth
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 1 bunch parsley stems
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 TBS butter
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Film the bottom of a heavy braising pot or dutch oven with safflower oil and turn the heat to high. Lay the two lamb shanks on the cutting board and trim away any large deposits of fat. Generously season with salt and pepper, then turn over and season again.

When the pot is screaming hot (could be as much as 5 minutes on a high flame), lay the flatter of the two sides of the lamb shanks on the bottom of the pan. You’re trying to get a good sear on them, not cook them through, so don’t touch them for a good 4-5 minutes (depending on your stove and your pot). Once they have a deep sear on them, flip them over and repeat the same process.

When they have a good sear on both sides, remove the lamb shanks to a plate (collect any juices) and pour off all but a TBS or two of the rendered fat in the pot, trying as much as possible to keep any seasonings in the pot. Add the white mirepoix (onion, fennel, carrot, celery, and garlic). Continue to cook at very high heat until the vegetables are browned slightly. Stir frequently, using the liquid the vegetables give off to deglaze the pot a bit and scrape up some of the sucs.

When the vegetables are browned slightly and are leaving their own sucs on the bottom and sides of the pan, deglaze with white wine. Cook, stirring and scraping, at high heat until almost all of the wine has evaporated. At this point, lay the two lamb shanks in on top of the vegetables.

Add the chicken stock, herbs, and a few whole peppercorns. Make sure the lamb shanks are covered by at least a ½-inch of stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, skimming off the scum that rises to the surface and any large pockets of fat. You don’t have to go crazy with this.

When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a very low simmer. Cook this way, stirring gently every so often, for 3 hours. Alternatively, you can turn the oven to 375 and put it in there for three hours, but make sure that any bits of lamb that get exposed as the liquid reduces don’t get charred or dried out.

When the lamb has cooked for 3 hours or so, it should be extremely tender and you should be able to pull it apart easily with a fork (or even a spoon!). Remove the two shanks to a platter and cover with foil. Pass the sauce through a fine mesh strainer. If your shanks were very fatty, let the cooking liquid sit for a minute after straining, then skim as much fat from the liquid as possible.

Pour the liquid into a small sauce pan and turn the heat to high. This will be the very basic and delicious sauce for your lamb, and needs only to be reduced to the desired thickness. After it has done so (roughly 15 minutes at a brisk boil), mount it with the butter, evaluate and adjust seasonings, and it is done. If you’re using the lamb for another recipe (the pulled meat from these shanks is versatile), you may as well bring the sauce all the way down to a demi-glace.

I like pull the meat entirely from the bone while the sauce is reducing. Once the sauce has reduced the proper consistency, I add the meat back into it and hold at the lowest possible simmer until it’s ready to serve. Alternatively, everyone can get a full shank on their plate and you can spoon the sauce over.

Serve this with Roasted Potatoes with Lemon, Artichoke, and Feta, or reserve for this recipe, filling lamb ravioli, or anything else you can dream up.