Braised Lamb Shanks

Lamb shanks were on sale and I love bone-in cuts for long stewing and braising. I asked the butcher what to do with them and he got snotty with me since he wrongly thought I was a moron.  Anyway, after sweet-talking him, he split the shanks sideways (the long way) and this made the recipe turn out great.  Splitting the bones makes the marrow fall out as it cooks and dissolve into the sauce.  (Why eat marrow?)

I loosely followed the first braised lamb shanks recipe here by Alice Waters.  I peeled the garlic and cut it by half, substituted red wine for white wine, omitted the chili pepper, and omitted the gremolata topping.  I started it on the stove and then finished it in the oven for about 3.5-4 hours on 240 until the meat fell off the bone.  To make it easier to eat, I pulled all the meat off the bones, shredded it, and put it back in the sauce to serve like a thick stew.  I also put some greens in while I pulled the meat off the bones. The leftover heat in the pot cooked the greens so that they were still nicely green and not slimy.  Served with homemade sourdough bread and butter.





Why eat lamb?  First of all, like bison, it is automatically pastured.  Never from CAFOs.  Secondly, it is really yummy in certain applications. Sometimes it is kind of strong so a heavy seasoned dish like this is much better with the assertive flavors.  Beef is too bland.    Intimidated by the bone-in cuts but still want to try lamb?  Try ground lamb as a hamburger.  I make a ground lamb burger with smoked gouda in an inside pocket.  So yummy, so easy.