Those lamb shanks ....

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bobg

Über Member
I'd never had one till last week (honest) so I thought I'd give it ago. Just chucked 'em on a baking tray smeared with a bit of goose fat left over from Christmas on No3 for 90mins .... result - cooked but pretty damned tough - so how do you cook them to get the meat "falling off" the bone?? I'd prefer not to casserole them coss I want them with roasties etc??
Thanks
 

Abitrary

New Member
I've only ever had them in pubs, where they are always melt off the bone.

However, in the last witherspoons I was in, I shrewdly noticed that they weren't on its menu anymore.
 

col

Legendary Member
My wife has always dropped the temparature and doubled the cooking times,it seems the longer and slower its cooked,the more it drops off.
 

TheDoctor

Europe Endless
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
Afraid I've only ever casseroled them. If you're dead set on roasting them, I think you'd need to do it long and slow, so to speak. Which would still be no good for your roasties.
Was I you, I'd casserole your shanks (the lamb ones, obviously, not your own) and when they're done, whip the casserole out, turn the oven right up and do your roasties. Par boil them, get some goose fat on and 20 mins should do it.
 
This starts out like a casserole but ends up being roasted. It tastes....... (insert noise made by Homer Simpson here please!)

Place the shanks in a casserole pot and add a peeled and halved carrot, a peeled and halved onion a few whole peppercorns, a bunch fresh thyme
a small bunch fresh rosemary and two to three lightly smashed whole cloves of garlic.

Pour over enough red wine to cover the meat of the shanks - this is about a whole bottle and then leave overnight. This process will tenderise the meat.

The next day, place the pot, covered with a lid in a preheated hot oven at 160C/325F/Gas 3 and cook for about two hours or more. If the simmering becomes too lively during cooking, reduce the temperature slightly. The idea is to cook long and slow.
Slightly uncover the pot for the last hour so that the liquid will start to reduce.

Remove the pot from the oven but keep the oven hot. Remove the shanks from the cooking liquid and place in a roasting dish and spoon over a couple of ladles of the liquid to keep moist. Roast the shanks in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until falling off the bone.

Some of the cooking liquid will have reduced and it is perfect for gravy to serve with the shanks. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon or strain the liquid through a sieve.

Heat the cooking liquid until boiling, let it reduce to about half its volume and then add a whole small jar of redcurrant jelly to it and let it melt down. The gravy will thicken nicely. Serve with the lamb shanks, creamy mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. :sad::thumbsup::biggrin:
 

walker

New Member
Location
Bromley, Kent
There's a curry house in Herne Bay that does the best curried lamb Shank
 
U

User482

Guest
I used a very similar method to Lardyboy for cooking a venison casserole on Sunday - it tasted delicious, and because I used a cheaper braising cut of meat, was cheap too.
 
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bobg

bobg

Über Member
Splendid stuff, and very interesting, thanks all. Especially Lardyboys epistle! I will a have bash at the casserole option I think - that seems favourite Gone off my Sunday roast chicken since that prog on the box and the shops round here seem steadfastly to refuse to stock free range. I visualise little shanks frollicking round a field in the spring sunshine, then given a painless injection to put them to sleep:biggrin:
OK so it makes me feel better..........
 
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bobg

bobg

Über Member
domtyler said:
I thought a Lamb Shank was cockney rhyming slang? :sad:

Actually so did until very recently I but I didnt want to admit it here. I was sitting next to a bloke who said to the waiter " I'll have a lamb shank .... surely not I thought.... my face must have been a picture :biggrin:
 
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