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Lamb Shanks in Hay
Recipe courtesy The Four Coursemen, 2011
- Total Time:
- 3 hr 45 min
- Prep:
- 45 min |
- Inactive Prep:
- 20 min |
- Cook:
- 2 hr 40 min
- Level:
- Intermediate
- Yield:
- 4 servings
Ingredients
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Four 1-pound lamb shanks, bone-in
- Olive oil
- About 1 pound alfalfa hay
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cups white wine
- 5 or 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Cabbage Slaw, recipe follows
- Black Tomato Jus, recipe follows
- Carrot greens, for garnish, optional
- CABBAGE SLAW:
- 1/2 head cabbage, cored and sliced thin to create strips
- Salt
- 1/2 cup chiffonade of de-stemmed Swiss chard
- 1/4 cup malt vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
- BLACK TOMATO JUS:
- 3 large heirloom tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 24 ounces stout beer
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Salt and pepper the lamb shanks. Sear each shank in a large skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil until golden brown on each side, about 3 minutes on medium-high heat.
Place a layer of alfalfa hay in the bottom of a Dutch oven or any ovenproof dish. Add a layer of the chopped onions, and then place the lamb shanks in the dish. Add the wine until the liquid mostly submerges the shank. Supplement with water if you don't have enough wine to reach the submersion point. Add the thyme and bay leaf. Cover the shanks with more alfalfa hay, and then cover the dish with aluminum foil. Braise in the oven until the meat has somewhat settled towards the bottom of the shank and it easily pulls with a fork, about 2 hours.
Once done, discard the alfalfa hay and the aromatics and gently rinse the lamb. (If necessary, re-warm the lamb in the oven with about 1/2 cup wine for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the temperature you desire.) Serve with Cabbage Slaw and Black Tomato Jus. Garnish with carrot greens if you'd like.
In a large mixing bowl, lightly massage the cabbage with 1 tablespoon salt and let sit, about 20 minutes. Pour off and discard the liquid. Toss the chard, vinegar, garlic and jalapeno with the cabbage and season.
Cook the tomatoes, sugar and 2 tablespoons water on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and appear jam-like, about 30 minutes. Add the stout beer to the pot and reduce the mixture by half. Season generously with salt and pepper.