Apple and Rosemary Lamb Shanks

Lamb Shanks for main course.

To be honest I didn't have a recipe put down for these shanks. I was actually planning on making something else but the shanks at the butcher looked mighty fresh and yummy so here I was with 10 shanks and no particular recipe.

Now remember how I had those bottles of sparkling juice. I had three bottles remaining which I somehow had to drink or use up so I could fill them with the lemonade. I was browning the meat in the pan wondering how to make the sauce, when I decided to empty the bottles into the shanks. Sheer spur of the moment.

I cooked the shanks on the stove for about half and hour and then put them into the oven for about 2 hours till the meat was soft and falling off the bone. The veggies you can see in the picture are baby corn, beans, asparagus and enoki mushrooms wrapped with a strip of nori seaweed. The mash is a sweat potato and potato mash that I piped very unsuccessfully into a circle so that the shank would sit.

Apple and Rosemary Lamb Shanks

For the lamb

• 10 lamb shanks
• 900ml sparkling apple juice
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 10 cloves of garlic
• a bunch of rosemary sprigs
• rosemary and olive seasoning (i use the Ina Paarman one, you can use any other seasoning)
• a good lug of worchestire sauce
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Cut a slit on each lamb shank very close to the bone and stuff a glove of garlic and a sprig of rosemary inside. Sprinkle and season with desired seasoning. The seasoning I used has pepper and salt so I did not add more

Heat oil gradually in a large heavy bottom saucepan.

Add the chopped onions and sauté till translucent.

Place shanks in the pan and turn when required browning the meat evenly on all sides.

Add the worchestire sauce and chilli powder while browning.

Preheat oven at 180 degree C

Add the sparkling apple juice. Close pot and allow to simmer for half an hour.

Remove the shanks from the pot and place on a large roasting pan. Cover with foil and slow cook in oven for 2 hours.

Meanwhile allow the sauce to boil and reduce till it forms a thick consistency. You can sprinkle flour or use gravy granules to achieve this.

For the mash

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 large potato
• dried basil
• salt and pepper to season

Peel and grate the sweet potato and potato.

In a large saucepan of boiling water, add salt and boil the grated potatoes.

Once boiled, drain and season to taste. Add the basil.

Using a sieve or a masher, purée the potato till smooth.

Spoon the mash into a piping bag and pipe a circle onto the plate. Place shank over the mash

For the veggies

For the veggies, all I did was just steam the veggies, butter and season them. I selected the veggies I mentioned earlier because I wanted thin long veggies that I could bunch up. You can use any veggies you have at home for this, keeping in mind that different vegetable table different periods of time to steam.

Serve with sauce poured over the shanks