My first ever “foodie” experience, happened when I was 21. I was in my first ‘adult’ job, working in marketing for a motorcycle company in Sydney. As part of the role we would take a roadshow of motorcycles around the country and run demo days at dealerships, stay the night in that city and then drive out the next day.
This particular event was in Melbourne and the gentleman who owned the dealership which was hosting us, also happened to own the best restaurant in town.
It was a beautifully fancy restaurant. They type where your waiter introduces themselves with an Italian accent, ensures your crystal glass of sparkling water is never more than half empty and whenever you returned to the table, your napkin was magically refolded in the form of an exotic animal and placed on the table in front of your seat. In my case a swan and a giraffe (yeah, I know, pretty cool right?)
Our waiter, “Alessandro”, suggested we have the lamb shanks, paired with an extremely delightful red.
When my food arrived, they had arranged the meat in such a way that it stood completely upright on the plate (embedded in a delicious, fluffy mash potato). I picked up my fork, marvelling at my gravity defying meal and gently touched the meat, it immediately fell away from the bone. And the rest my friends, is history.
My love affair for lamb shanks has stayed strong since that work trip, and it was rekindled deeply, when I discovered my husband’s favourite ‘show stopper’ dish to make, is Lamb Shanks. (It may just be one of the core reasons I married him 😊 )
This recipe is SOOOOO easy, and so incredibly good. It’s an awesome dinner party winter warmer, or a fabulous lazy Sunday arvo cook.
Below is Steve’s coveted “Lamb Shank Spectacular” recipe. Be forewarned, a whole lotta “OMG, this is delicious” love will be heading your way with this one.
Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with Rosemary and Thyme
| Prep Time: 10 mins | Makes: 4 | |
| Bake Time: 3 hours | ||
| Ingredients | ||
| 4 Lamb Shanks | ||
| 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste | ||
| 2 medium halved Onions | ||
| 4 garlic cloves – peeled | ||
| 2 tablespoons of veggie stock (I make my own, but stock cubes of any description are fine too!) |
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| Around 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary & Thyme | ||
| 2/3 bottle of Red | ||
| Method | ||
| 1. Throw the lamb shanks into a pan with a touch of oil and brown them off (this helps seal all the flavour in – Steve says this is the MOST IMPORTANT step) 😊 | ||
| 2. Place the lamb shanks and all other ingredients into a baking dish with a lid. You want the shanks to be nearly covered. If need be add a bit of water to bring the level up. | ||
| 3. Bake for 3 hours at 180° Celcius (356° Farenheit) (yes, that’s a long time, but seriously, experience tells us this will give you optimum chance of the meat falling off the bone and everyone eating the meal going “OH MY GOSH” followed promptly by the sound of orgasmic devouring)
I like to check on the shanks at 1.5 hour mark to see if they need a bit more fluid, add more water or wine (dependant on whether you follow step 4.
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| 4. Finish remaining wine with partner, neighbour, or cat while the meat cooks. | ||
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Some Pointers: Mash seriously is the bees knees with this dish. I personally love sweet potato mash with some parmesan stirred through. But whatever floats your boat. Seriously, don’t bawk at browning the meat off, it’s the ‘magic’ step (and really the only actual ‘cooking’ part of this dish. 😊
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