Lamb shank

On Friday evening I went to Greensmith’s where there’s a great butcher. They have really good meat and it’s not over-priced. I decided to get some lamb shank and on Saturday we hade a nice roast. This is usually cooked with red wine but we didn’t have any, so I improvised. This is what I love about cooking, trying out new things, not knowing if it’ll work and when it does feeling proud of my new creation. Now I’m not saying my strange mixture is better than using red wine but it sure is a cheaper version and tastes pretty good.

What you need:
1 lamb shank per person
(the following amounts are for 2 lamb shanks)
2 sliced red onions
2 garlic cloves
4 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs red vinegar
1 tbs honey
Herbs – I used rosemary and sage
1/2 cup of beef stock
1 tsp olive oil

Heat your oven to 200C
Cut you garlic in two and make holes in the lamb and put your garlic in the holes. Do the same with some rosemary twigs (2 per lamb shank). With some string tie your herbs together – to make a bouquet garni – they will be easier to remove.

I used a normal cooking pot but if you can use anything with a lid that can go in the oven. Put the pot on the hob and add the olive oil, then add the lamb and brown every side. Then add the onions until they start to brown.

Lamb shank

Reduce the heat and add the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, beef stock and bouquet garni. Keep on the hob until the liquid boils, making sure everything is mixed well. Remove from the hob and cover with the lid and place in the oven for 2 hours (if they are large 2h30m). Check the meat half way through.

Remove your pot from the oven and remove your bouquet garni and the rosemary from the lamb. If you want your sauce to be nice and clear (a little messy) you can use a colander to drain the sauce through into a bowl, then pick out and bits of herbs then add the onions to your sauce.

We had yummy cheesy mashed potatoes with this. It all went down a treat and was really easy to make.

Place you lamb shank on some mashed potatoes and pour the sauce over it. Very yummy!

Enjoy
Mel