In Cooking, Blokes & Artichokes: A Modern Man’s Kitchen Handbook chef, and now author, Brendan Collings provides guidance to all men. Including the kitchen-challenged. This lovely recipe is typical of the ones lacing the pages of the book. Colorful, flavorful, and really easily done.
Imagine bringing this platter to the table and saying to your family, “I did this.” You can. This is quite the dish for a weekend meal where people have the time to sit, savor, and share appreciation for your cooking efforts.
There is spice here: cinnamon, star anise, cumin, corriance, and chile flakes. The heat of this dish comes from both those spices and the out-of-the-Dutch-oven temperature.
There are some page references below in the recipes. That’s a hint to get our own copy of this book and have all the recipes at hand.
Spiced Lamb Shanks
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 4 lamb shanks
- 3 onions, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, crushed
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed
- Pinch of chile flakes
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
- 4 ounces dates (about 5 dates)
- 4 cups low-sodium beef stock
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- Salt
- Handful of chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Place a Dutch oven big enough to hold the lamb shanks over medium-high heat and add the oil. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pot, caramelize the shanks, turning them every couple of minutes so they brown on all surfaces. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
Turn the heat down to medium, add the onions to the pan, and cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and cook for 4 minutes more. Add the wine and reduce it by two thirds, about 15 minutes. Chuck in the tomatoes, dates, and stock, then nestle the shanks back in on their sides so that they're mostly submerged in liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, and put it in the oven. Cook for 3 to 4 hours, until fork-tender.
Remove the lid and stir through the molasses. Pull out the shanks and wrap them in foil to keep them warm. Place the Dutch oven over medium heat, bring the cooking liquid to a simmer, and reduce it down until thick and glossy. Stir it regularly to keep the sauce together.
Taste the sauce and add salt as needed. Place the shanks on a big serving platter and pour the sauce over the top. Scatter with cilantro and serve. Or you can pull the meat off the bones, drizzle it with the Spiced Yogurt Dip (page 160), and serve in Homemade Pita Bread (page 157) for some tasty sandwiches.
Source: Cooking, Blokes & Artichokes by Brendan Collins [Kyle, 2016]