BRAISED LAMB SHANKS IN RED WINE

My sister and her husband will be visiting us tomorrow to celebrate her birthday so I am preparing braised lamb shanks in red wine for the main dish.

Take:

4 locally sourced lamb shanks

2 quartered onions

1 clove garlic

1 carrot chopped

2 sticks celery chopped

Chicken stock

Red wine

Freshly ground black pepper and salt

1 Bay leaf and a sprig of fresh thyme (from my garden)

Method

Heat some oil in a large pan and brown the lamb shanks one at a time then remove and set aside.

Lightly cook the onion, garlic,  carrot and celery and put in the base of a large casserole. I use a Le Creuset.

Place the browned shanks on top of the vegetables.

Pour the wine (to taste) in the pan and bring to the boil, stirring to remove the lovely juices in the base of the pan.

Add the chicken stock and seasoning. Stir.

Pour this over the shanks, adding a little more seasoning, a bay leaf and sprig of thyme.

Cover with foil and then the casserole lid.

Cook in a slow oven starting at 160C and reducing to 140C after it has reached simmering point.

Cook for two and a half hours.

I removed the shanks and used a blender to puree the vegetables with all the lovely juices to make the sauce/gravy.

Place the shanks and sauce in a clean casserole or large ovenproof dish and cover with foil.

Re heat for one hour when ready to serve.

Serve with creamed potatoes, macedoine (diced) of  root vegetables and a green vegetable in season.

Delicious.

By preparing this casserole the day before there will be very little work when my visitors arrive and also this dish benefits from being refrigerated over night to develop the flavours.

Next day.

I added some cooked cannelloni beans to the casserole before reheating and served  the lamb shank  with  macedoine of root vegetables, Brussels sprouts and creamed potatoes.  The meat was meltingly tender and the meal was a great success and enjoyed by all.
We were so busy chatting I forgot to photograph the finished dish!