Braised Lamb Shanks

[caleb]

Last month I had the world's greatest lamb shanks at a pub in London's west end.



Now I need to either learn to cook it or get a punch card for flights from Minneapolis to London. The two main issues with recreation are:

1) Locating quality lamb in Minnesota. Does anyone happen to know if there's a decent source in Minneapolis, or if I should just buy a whole lamb direct from a farm?

2) The braising sauce was clutch, but I don't really know what was in it. Any suggestions for a good lamb braising sauce?

[robin3mj]

veal/chicken/lamb stock. carrots, onions celery, wine, salt/pepper, splash of worcester/balsamic, bay leaves. make the rest up as you go along
go see your local butcher at 2pm on a Tuesday and talk to him. tell him what you like, etc.
even Whole Foods has good lamb, and they can order cuts for you that they don't regularly put under the glass

[Too Tall]

I'm going to guess that is a pretty straight up pan sauce using a brown roux and stock (see robin3mjs comment). Roux is equal fat and flour cooked together. Brown roux is a roux that is cooked slowy until nut colored. Use cake flour in the Roux that gives the glossy surface.
After you deglaze the pan with wine, add butter and the Roux...can't miss.
FWIIW those spuds are very special. Never seen that exact variety here.

[maunahaole]

Those look really good, but I'm sure that they are repeatable. Listen to TT on making a roux. It is a one of those fundamentals that adds bonus value in lots of dishes and TT really should start his own thread if he wants to talk about that stuff. That said, I have never made one.... My new fave lamb chops are wrapped in bacon and deep fried for 3 minutes at 350. Next up is the right sauce for that.

[rydesteel]

Yumm, Check with CPG he's got a connection in the restaurant trade to set you right in the meat dept.

Cooking time is key too short=tough and too long=falling apart at the seams/mush.

I like braising meats it brings out old school flavors ie Grandma's house that are missing in many of today's kitchens.

Good luck with this don't forget to post some pictures.

[summilux]

TT is right about the roux. Other things to make the braising "restaurant quality":

-It's important that you brown the shanks before you braise them. Brown them in oil, but before you add the meat, throw in a generous tablespoon of butter. It'll bubble, when the bubbling ceases put the shanks in. Don't crowd. An alternative to butter is to add some bacon fat to the oil.
-Put demi-glace in the sauce. There's really no substitute for this. It's PRO. Like white bar tape.
Demi-glace: Take 3lbs of chicken bones and toss them with 2 tablespoons of floor and about half a can of tomato paste. Bake in a 325 degree oven for about an hour, turning so that the bones brown evenly but don't burn. Then add a chopped onion, one chopped carrot and two chopped celery stalks. Back in the oven for one hour or so till the vegetables caramelize but do not burn. Time by the smell. It should smell GOOD. Then everything goes into a stock pot, cover with water and add a bay leaf, some parsley and some dried thyme. Let it simmer overnight. Strain, cool and skim the fat. Now, reduce one bottle of decent red wine on high heat by at least a half. Add your strained stock and let it boil away on high heat till you get a thickish liquid. If you taste the liquid now, what you are tasting is unami, a flavor that will add wow to your sauces and stews. That's demi-glace. I freeze mine in ice cube trays. You'll probably get 2-3 trays of demi glace from this. Add 1-2 cubes to your roux.

[caleb]

Wow, lots of good stuff here. Making a roux and demi-glace: real cooking. I like it.

I just called my usual butcher and they have some frozen shanks. If I can't find fresh ones I'll pick up the frozen ones before heading back to the country for the weekend. My wife has President's Day off so maybe I'll take the day off too and we can do some cooking. I'll report back after giving it a go...

[HSTFixed]

I just braised Lamb Shanks on Monday. One of my all time favorite braises. The sauce is definitely reduced braising liquid which if your officially baller you have Lamb Stock, and if you're even ballerer than that you cooked the lamb stock down to lamb-demi. I have lamb bones in the freezer but even I lack lamb stock right now. Chicken or Veal stock should work fine.

Braising broken down into the absolute basics:

Preheat oven to 300 or 325. (lower than that and it will take longer, which is ok, but you might not have 6 hrs)

1. Brown the meat. When browning something, you're not looking for beige or tan, you want BROWN. This will ensure development of a good fond.

2. Remove meat to a plate and add veggies. (onion carrot celery leek, what ever you want for the most part)

3 Sweat veggies till they're starting to soften and the onions are getting translucent.

3. Deglaze with something and scrape all the flavor off the bottom of the pan (wine, vinegar, if you've got a really good fond going water'll do in a pinch)

4. Wait till the deglazing liquid is pretty much completely gone and add your meat back to the pan, along with a few thyme sprigs and a bay leaf.

5. Pour in stock to come about half way up the shanks. Cover and put it in the oven, set a timer for 45 min or 1 hr.

6. Check it every half hour or 45 and baste baste baste baste. Basting is pretty much my favorite thing to do in life and I don't ever use a baster. A spoon works fine. Each time you baste, turn the meat and check it all over. touch it, is it done, is it close to done, is it still tough like it was an hour ago.

Ideally you baste and baste untill the meat is done and the liquid is cooked down the the appropriate level. Braising is not a set it and forget it technique. It's all about paying attention to how the meat is cooking and continually basting so the outside is as delectable as possible. Daniel Boloud says that in a successful braise one shouldn't have to cook down the sauce afterwords. He's a pro and I rarely get down that far, but it's something to strive for. If you're basting and the meat seems close but the sauce not so, then uncover it for the last hour of cooking. Let some liquid evaporate. We're trying to get the timing of the meat and the reduction of the sauce to end at the same point. It takes lots of practice.

If the meat is done and the sauce is still to thin, strain it and cook it down to the appropriate level. Before you start the whole recipe you can dredge the meat in flour before you brown, and that flour will thicken while the whole thing is working in the oven. You could also as TT said, strain it and thicken with a roux. Equal parts fat and flour cooked till it smells cooked.

Thicken 10 parts of liquid with 1 part of roux. A pint weighs a Pound. If you have 16 oz of water you need approx 1.6 oz or roux. Weigh .8 of flour and .8 of butter and you'll be good to go.

Did I mention I love Braising. I've got braised pork shoulder taco's on the menu this week. I'll be sure and post the process/results.

[Curt Goodrich]

Caleb,
Check with these folks-
Clancey's Meats and Fish in Downtown Linden Hills

Or go to the St.Paul farmers' market. Lots of meat purveyors there. Many show up with the stuff frozen but you can request fresh. Happy braising and take the time to make a real demi.

[caleb]

Thanks, Curt. I sometimes forget that the farmers' market goes all winter. I'm only in Minneapolis Tues-Thurs these days though, so I have to find meat during the week.

Clancey's has been my source for duck for a few years. I'll check out their lamb selection soon.

I picked up some frozen shanks at Everett's (38th and Cedar) last week, now I just need to cook them. Perhaps today is the day. I meant to do it on Saturday, but I got distracted with some oxtail risotto that took far longer than I expected.

In the long run I need to get organized enough to buy whole animals farmer direct, but that requires a deep freeze that I haven't yet procured.

[Christian Fox]

Looks tasty. HSTFixed is right on about the sauce. If your braising liquid is made with proper stock it will reduce and create a thick, beautiful, clear, glossy sauce like your pic. No need for a thickener; a roux will make that sauce a cloudy mess. Don't get too hung up on the lamb. Clearly a great cut is always better, but isn't as important for the slow-cooked stuff.

[maxdog]

I'll have to agree, the dish pictured does not appear to contain a roux and the potatoes look like relatively large fingerlings. Any meat will be even better if you get a freezer and buy fresh butchered, often sold in quantity such as a side, from a free range organic farm.